On the day of Vanderbilt's football game against our sworn enemy, I wanted to start a thread to understand why we are the way that we are. We have many things that can divide us during these times, but I believe that we are truly united in one thing--our desire to see good triumph over evil today and forevermore.
I am truly torn on which is greater for me--my love of Vanderbilt or my complete and utter disdain for utjr. My mother taught me never to hate, but utjr and its minions have tested me several times over the years. I have several good friends who are afflicted with the disease, and other than the fact that they cheer for evil, they are otherwise good people. So now I turn to you. What is your story and why do you cheer for the Black and Gold?
This thread is not about ADCSL, CCL, or CJS. These are worthy points to discuss, and fortunately, there are 100s of threads to choose from if you want to try to cover new ground that has not been stated (or restated). This is not one of those threads. Please, let's keep the focus of this thread on why you choose the good guys and why you reject the bad guys.
Here is my story.
Fortunately for me, I was brainwashed at birth. My father was the youngest of four boys who grew up in Nashville. They were always Vandy fans, but they became that much more ardent in their fandom when the oldest brother attended Vanderbilt and played baseball there in the early to mid-60s. By the time I came along in the mid-70s, our family's vitriol for the vols was at an all-time high. My father, with whom I will eat lunch before the game today, wanted me to understand the fundamental differences of the choice of good versus evil, and he found a very effective way to illustrate that to his young son.
One of the many simple pleasures of being a kid was getting a new box of crayons. I distinctly remember being a young boy (maybe 3?), and as soon as we got home from the store with a new set of 64 Crayolas, Dad sat me down to talk. He then told me, "Golden Parachute, we don't like orange. No one in our family does. In fact, we dislike orange so much, we don't call it "orange." We call it "pumpkin." We dislike it so much, we don't even say the name of the color. And to show how much we dislike pumpkin, we must remove all crayons that are pumpkin--or even close to a shade of pumpkin--and we must break it. So, little 3-year old Golden Parachute removed orange, burnt orange, orange yellow, burnt sienna, melon, apricot, etc., proceeded to break them in half, and then completed the act by throwing the broken pieces into the trash can.
We'll skip over the awkward parts of what happened when I tried to break pumpkin crayons at church or when I refused to say "orange" as we were naming colors at school, but regardless to say, it was a simple and transformative act that helped shape who I am today. I am grateful to Dad for teaching me this simple yet incredibly important lesson.
So, what about you? Why do you choose the forces of good over the forces of evil?
Oh, and by the way, "Go to hell, utjr!"
I am truly torn on which is greater for me--my love of Vanderbilt or my complete and utter disdain for utjr. My mother taught me never to hate, but utjr and its minions have tested me several times over the years. I have several good friends who are afflicted with the disease, and other than the fact that they cheer for evil, they are otherwise good people. So now I turn to you. What is your story and why do you cheer for the Black and Gold?
This thread is not about ADCSL, CCL, or CJS. These are worthy points to discuss, and fortunately, there are 100s of threads to choose from if you want to try to cover new ground that has not been stated (or restated). This is not one of those threads. Please, let's keep the focus of this thread on why you choose the good guys and why you reject the bad guys.
Here is my story.
Fortunately for me, I was brainwashed at birth. My father was the youngest of four boys who grew up in Nashville. They were always Vandy fans, but they became that much more ardent in their fandom when the oldest brother attended Vanderbilt and played baseball there in the early to mid-60s. By the time I came along in the mid-70s, our family's vitriol for the vols was at an all-time high. My father, with whom I will eat lunch before the game today, wanted me to understand the fundamental differences of the choice of good versus evil, and he found a very effective way to illustrate that to his young son.
One of the many simple pleasures of being a kid was getting a new box of crayons. I distinctly remember being a young boy (maybe 3?), and as soon as we got home from the store with a new set of 64 Crayolas, Dad sat me down to talk. He then told me, "Golden Parachute, we don't like orange. No one in our family does. In fact, we dislike orange so much, we don't call it "orange." We call it "pumpkin." We dislike it so much, we don't even say the name of the color. And to show how much we dislike pumpkin, we must remove all crayons that are pumpkin--or even close to a shade of pumpkin--and we must break it. So, little 3-year old Golden Parachute removed orange, burnt orange, orange yellow, burnt sienna, melon, apricot, etc., proceeded to break them in half, and then completed the act by throwing the broken pieces into the trash can.
We'll skip over the awkward parts of what happened when I tried to break pumpkin crayons at church or when I refused to say "orange" as we were naming colors at school, but regardless to say, it was a simple and transformative act that helped shape who I am today. I am grateful to Dad for teaching me this simple yet incredibly important lesson.
So, what about you? Why do you choose the forces of good over the forces of evil?
Oh, and by the way, "Go to hell, utjr!"
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