Monday, January 12, 2009

ESPN v. MSNBC

For around a year now I have been playing this game. Its not the wii or a crazy midwest card game. Its not the latest party game of the year or cornhole. Its a game that I would guess none of you have played. I started playing it unknowingly but have thoroughly enjoyed myself. The game has no name, at least for now, but I like that about it. Let me just explain it to you this way.

For over a year now Katie and I have been members at the local wellness center. (for those of you who don't know this is a gym, but don't tell the people who work at the wellness center cause they get pissed when you call it a gym, its a wellness center) Like many people I don't get overly excited about getting up at 6:30 am to workout, but the opportunity to catch mike and mike and sportcenter in the morning before my day begins was not a bad trade off. Each of the treadmills has its own tv built into the unit. I can jog in the morning while watching golic and greeny catch me up on all that is happening in the sports world. But before I ever get to the treadmills I must get changed out of my winter clothes and into my workout clothes. This is where the game begins

As I walk into the mens locker room there sits in the corner of the room is a tv. Every single morning that I have gone into the gym the channel is on the cable station that covers all the stock market prices, economic situations and lots of other depressing and uninteresting news. You know the station its the one that has 15 lines of numbers scrolling in every single direction while someone blathers on about some ceo and why we should buy into his company. So, before I go to my locker I change the channel to either ESPN 1 or ESPN 2. Its either sports center or mike and mike in the morning. While I get changed I listen to all that is being said on this fantastic network and if I am close enough I can even watch it from my locker. If I am not close to it I will wait to put my shoes on until the very last thing and I will go and lace up my shoes in front of the tv while I watch this program.

From there I go to my workout. Upon returning to the locker room after my workout the channel has been changed back to the same station I had turned it from. The boring economic talk is once again tainting the locker room with its depressing information. So again I turn the TV back to ESPN and get back into the clothes I came in.

I have played this game almost every morning I go to workout. I have quite enjoyed this game and have looked forward to this morning ritual. But last week the game changed. I went to the wellness center a little later in the morning than usual and approached the TV as always and as I flipped through the channels to change it to ESPN a voice came from behind me.

I was watching that.

I spun around to see a man I had seen in the gym every morning. My opponent, my adversary, my nemesis. The MSNBC economic tv show guy! I couldn't believe my eyes.

This new developement in the game has not discouraged my play it has actually helped it. We continue to see each other in the gym in the mornings and I can't help but wonder if he is thinking the same thing that I am thinking. Is this a game for him too. Does this tick him off or does he think its fun. Maybe he is normal and doesn't think about it at all. Either way I have thoroughly enjoyed our game and look forward to it every morning.

1 comment:

Betsy said...

hahaha, that guy probably hates you! maybe you can laugh about it with him, but then the game would probably stop so that would take the fun away. maybe he is the kind of person that goes there because it is a "wellness" center and he wouldn't want to talk about it.

as an aside, maybe since it's a "wellness center" people get insurance or health care benefits.

the end.