It looked like a beautiful Labor Day weekend. Temps in the 70s, a little humid, perfect for anything outdoors. And the U was providing the perfect outdoors activity: the home opener. Our Wolverines would kick off against Western’s MAC champion Broncos at 7:30 in the Big House. The night game might have been to protect the students from the scorching they usually experience in the first game. The late start gave Kathy and I time to ponder whether we really wanted to attend the contest. With over 60 years of attending games, going was a strong pull. Plus, those season tickets ain’t cheap! But today, ‘twas not to be. We were both engaged in home activities we’d hate to drop. The machinations of gameday – driving there through gameday blockades, picking up snacks for the pre-game, walking *(tho’ Bob loves the co-eds) to the venue, sitting through the pre-game with loud hip-hop from the scoreboard, then the game itself, fine except the athletic department has decided silence is an enemy. So, Kathy and I will have a nice dinner while listening to Doug Karsch and Jon Jansen broadcast the game.
We’ve been doing this a lot: blowing off a scheduled event so we can stay home. Hard to say when it began, but it kicked into gear last basketball season. Despite our season tickets, we rarely felt moved to go see our boys. These national champions saw our eyes maybe 4 times last year. Games were often late, starting at 9 PM. Brian Bosch and Terry Mills gave a great account of the game, and we listened intently.
But it wasn’t just sports we eschewed. Many concerts went unattended when we decided we just didn’t want to go. Always a comfort decision, as we decided home was better than going out. Sure, there were losses from those unused tickets, but we figured home was worth it.
Now, we never blew off obligations from family or friends. These were only things we’d ordered for ourselves, so why can’t we make adjustments? I suppose these new factors should influence our future choices about outings. Harbal is the place to be!
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