Guilty Pleasures

Today, I watched the UNC-Duke basketball game, held at the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill. (Fortunately, UNC won by two points.) I would consider myself a moderate or tangential fan: While I try to follow the progress of the Heels via evening newscasts, I usually don't watch regular season games (and not many post-season contests, for that matter). A few years ago, I tried to watch more games and to get more "involved" as a fan, especially since I live in this bastion of basketball greatness; however, my attempt at Tar Heels fanaticism occured during the brief tenure of Matt Doherty, the coach who was quickly fired after a couple of disastrous seasons. Watching the team at that point in time proved too painful, and I quickly lost interest.

Now that the Heels are back at the top, I still find it hard to move beyond my "moderate/tangential" fan status. However, this time, my reasons stem from justification (or the lack thereof); I simply cannot justify spending time watching college basketball. I always have something else more productive, more edifying on my plate, whether it be a chore, catching up on my reading, or posting on my blog (though some would argue that the latter is of dubious value).

Yet, I sometimes watch "special" games such as today's clash. As my wife can testify, I even care about these games, yelling at the refs when they make calls antithetical to the Heels' interests. How do I justify this occassional wallowing in pedestrian pursuits? By simply calling it a "guilty pleasure."

When we label something "guilty pleasure," we do not obfuscate its negative attributes; we acknowledge that deep down, in some way, the activity is "bad" and probably not the most edifying use of our time. However, we also imply that the activity is both relatively "harmless" (i.e., the probability of permanent damage is minimal) and somehow irresistible. I know that watching an occasional UNC basketball game is not the "best" use of my time, but I do not foresee it as permanently damaging my intellectual or moral life; I also find the excitement "irresistible" because so many other local residents get caught up in it (unfortunately, spectator sports has an almost inevitably fascist aesthetic about it). If I were to spend all of my time focused on college basketball, then it would move from the realm of "guilty pleasure" to that of "obsession," something not so harmless, something nearly impossible to justify.

For the moment, I will allow myself the occassional viewing of our current, tempered manifestation of gladiatorial combat, a "guilty pleasure" that perhaps allows me to blow off some steam. Upon leaving North Carolina, it'll be interesting to see whether my interest in Tar Heel basketball goes with me, or if this is merely a passing fancy, a byproduct of geographic circumstance.