Safe bet

It's a safe bet that this story about a South Carolina fan killing a Clemson fan makes it into an upcoming edition of News of the Weird. Regardless, it is a terrible and sad (and weird) story.

People often say in the South that college football is a religion. I love football (and hockey), and I'm as guilty as the next guy of taking sports too seriously. But how does this get this far? Yes, this story falls into the common NOTW category "People different from us," but I think we all get carried away frequently by stuff that just doesn't matter. Why is that? Is it because it's safer than focusing on things with real substance, such as our friends and families, our mortality and the contributions we hope to make while we're here?

I've had some awful, awful arguments in my lifetime, I've done some really stupid things and I've at times consumed a high volume of alcohol. A few times those things have even overlapped. I still never thought it made sense to collect on a bet with a firearm, not that I own one. Maybe that's a good thing.

I hope I can remember the next time that I'm really upset about something to ask whether whatever it is is really all that important. Odds are, the answer may be no. Did I mention that one of my coworkers owes me a six-pack for a recent bet? It's true, but I think I'll wait awhile before I ask whether he is going to fulfill his end of the bargain.