I feel the hate growing within you...

I think I might need an exorcism for this to work... Let me explain.

Over the past two days, I've been fairly successful at my purging. No sports channels even appear on the guide on my TV anymore, I've blocked ESPN and SI on my computer, and unsubscribed from most emails (not Pirates emails yet - do they still qualify as sports?) It was not cathartic, it was not momentous, but it did feel final today when I came home from work, punched in the usual 9424 on the remote that leads to ESPN (usually the program Pardon the Interruption where two excellent sports writers debate lead stories of the day), and instead was directed to channel 9423 - which was featuring upcoming HD movies. That was a moment that caused me to think about how rote sports has been in my life - a daily ritual that was part of breakfast, coming home from work, and tucking myself in before bed. It's not that I haven't found other outlets - I am a busy professional after all - it's that it has been jarring just how often I turned to sports to numb my mind. Sports as brain anesthesia - nice for relaxing maybe, but not perhaps good for the grey matter otherwise. But that's not all.

Tonight, there was a promo for some Fox animation show (i forget which one), but LeBron James is guest voicing a part. And I saw him, and I shouted "You SUCK". Why? No idea. I don't even watch the NBA, but somehow after being told by so many talking heads that he's a villain, I owned it. I felt ashamed for that, but I also want to explore it some. I think it's a part of a bigger idea I've had about how life is imitating sport more and more - and not just the day to day banal stuff, but the important stuff too. More to come on this...

My lesson for the day: My life needs more variety and change if when I hit the living room couch, your muscle memory is "on, 9-4-2-4, enter, set down remote, turn brain off" This is going to be a good change