Well, gee – I’d love to say those two were connected, but I’m just being goofy today! Big excitement at our house Sunday morning when my husband finally succeeded in trapping the raccoon that has been frequenting our basement since some time in November. The live trap we bought didn’t work, so we finally borrowed one from a camp outside of town. At first that was a bust as well… raccoon just kept eating the food and not tripping the trap. But for whatever reason, the little critter finally gave up his freedom. You’ll be glad to know he was humanely transported to a rural location and set free!
And now for the sports talk. I must confess to being only a marginal sports nut. It all comes down to who is playing and what sport. This weekend, the number one and two teams in the nation in men’s basketball went head to head… and they were both Tennessee teams (UT and Memphis). That is kind of rare… it has happened with Ohio and North Carolina that I know of, but still not a frequent occurrence.
But I digress. To understand some of the nuances, I have to give you a bit of history. The University of Tennessee men’s #2 ranking is the highest they have EVER made it in the history of the sport at UT. The Lady Vols (and Coach Pat Summitt) have been the newsmakers with repeated championships in the SEC as well as national titles. So it is a big deal that the men are doing so well.
Leading up to Saturday night’s game, Memphis had a perfect 26 and 0 season, not to mention a 47-0 streak of never being beaten on their home court.
The game was fast and furious from the get go. Tennessee jumped out to a 4-0 lead immediately. After that, it was a battle until halftime – including unbelievable numbers of three point shots from both teams. At half time the score was 39-39.
UT trailed almost the entire first half, but never by more than 7… and lots of the time by only 2. Second half was a reverse. Now UT has it by 7 over Memphis. These boys are playing their hearts out. The score see-saws… sometimes only a difference of one point. With barely three minutes left in the game, Memphis finally pulls ahead… and it looks like UT will lose morale and be beaten. But they struggle back… the last three minutes are intense and exciting, and finally at the buzzer, the University of Tennessee men win it by 2 points (I think). It was so wild at the end, I didn’t actually see the last score…just knew we won.
Watching the intensity of these two men’s teams made me ponder the reality of testosterone. I myself can get very competitive in a card game or board game, but as a rule – we women tend to be cooperative and supportive rather than “in your face” competitive (which I consider a feminine strength).
As I watched these young guys going at it whole hog, you could see the testosterone oozing all over the court. It made me wonder what each of us could accomplish if we were that passionate about something in our lives. All of these young men were determined to win. One team had to lose, but no one gave up until the buzzer sounded. And I’d be willing to bet with all that that leftover testosterone, it was hours until any of them slept, winners or losers.
I guess testosterone is one thing that makes guys so fascinating! And now that I think about it, maybe there is a raccoon connection! After all, I wasn’t the one doing battle with a “wild” animal for three months. That would be my dear testosterone-laden hubby. 🙂
The men in our lives… Gotta love ’em!
So do tell ladies… any of you have some great “testosterone” stories?? Please share with the group!
Janice Maynard
Vamps and Scamps 
oh, man… now that topic will catch attention. :-O but I was almost scared to read it…
Funny, Shiloh… 🙂
I was checking to see if people were awake on a Monday morning!
Janice
I’ve played softball all my life, and I can remember as a teenager and in my 20’s I was extremely competitive. Now when I play, it’s a whole lot more for fun and recreation. I play now for our church team, and it’s co-ed so I see some of the young guys giving it their all! I know they cringe when the game is real close and some of us “older” players are up to bat.
Our oldest is a senior and when he has a soccer game out of town, he and three of his friends ride back with us and we love to hear them talk about the game. You can tell they are riding a testosterone high! Now the smell I could do without!
Lisa – I used to play on a church softball team, too. I’ll never forget one time when a new man joined the team… a very nice guy who was very good at softball. He quit after the first two games, because he realized that he couldn’t handle the “recreational” atmosphere or the fact that we had some “not perfect” players. He was rabidly competitive, nd he had the good sense to realize that a co-ed team was going to drive him nuts. Ha!
Janice
i am competive with card games. i did love that basketball game, wathed it, love sports.
Hello,
This is my first post here. This story reminded my of my poor hubby last summer. Our dogs, a cocker spaniel and a beagle were barking ferociously at the front door. I looked out and a BIG dog was on our lawn. I told my husband what they were barking at since he was stepping out of the shower.
Towel around his waist he comes to the door to see. The dog proceeded to begin to use the bathroom on our lawn. Of course my husband ran outside for all the world to see yelling att eh dog to stop and go home. He picked up the sprinkler and pointed it at the dog but the angle caused the water to just go limp and cut off. The whole time I am afraid the one hand he has gripping the towel will let go, or the dog would attack him, and I would have to explain what he was doing naked in the front yard fighting a Shepard-something mix. The dog could have been laughing certainly when he finished his buisness he walked to the end of the driveway and pushed his feet along the grass there as if saying–haha!
Then he walked off. Didn’t even run.
My husband came back inside and said, “There, I took care of that.”
My neighbor called and said,” Was that your husband out there?”
What could I say?
LOL
Gotta love em, I agree.
Kim – It was an awesome game, wasn’t it!
Cara – So great to see you here on the blog! I was cracking up as I read that story about your husband. That is such a “guy” thing to do. I guess it’s a good thing that the towel didn’t slip. 🙂
Janice
yep well tennese #1 did not last long lol. Go Blue Devils!!!!
Kim – You are so right! It was ours for only a fleeting moment. And of course, the irony is that we were knocked off by yet another Tennessee team!!
Janice
yea lol.