March 26, 2023: as we sit on the edge of the couch in my grandparents’ apartment, not a single heart beats at a normal rate. Some, like my own, going 100 miles an hour, and others, like my pacing grandpa’s, feeling as if time has stopped entirely. In a split second, the blanket of tense silence breaks and screams of joy fill the room as the buzzer on the TV goes off and the University of Miami men’s basketball team officially makes it to the Final Four for the first time in history.
As a diehard UM basketball fan thanks to the countless games I have attended with my alumni grandparents, I cannot remember a time when I was more excited about college sports than on that fateful Sunday. If you know me, that probably comes as a shock. With my dad being a proud Gator and my mom’s alma mater being Syracuse, I cannot remember a time before I was drowned in college sports merchandise and forced to watch games of almost every sport.
So, armed with a list of rival colleges that will earn us a four-year-long cold shoulder from our grandparents, my 16-year-old cousin and I have officially begun looking for colleges that “at least have a solid basketball team to bring into the family.” However, sometimes the trash talk gets intense enough with the three rival schools.
For some context: back in the olden days when UF and Syracuse both had stellar basketball teams, my parents made a bet every year during March Madness that whoever’s team was eliminated first had to carry around a house key with the other school’s logo on it. Living in Florida, the years when my mom lost said bets were filled with torturous “Go Gators!” awaiting her around every corner.
Another constant point of conflict is the annual UM versus Syracuse basketball game, which is usually both preceded and followed by obnoxious messages, braggy reposts on Instagram and a whole lot of snarky, totally-not-intentional merch-wearing.
Despite the continuous trash-talking, my family members’ respective passions for sports combined with their school spirit has given our household more than just inside jokes and an excuse for me to have triple the amount of college sweatshirts I probably should; it has given us something to bond over.
Whether it be my mom, dad, sister and I going to prime snowstorm Syracuse in January to watch a basketball game in The Dome, my dad taking my cousins to a football game at UF after giving them a tour or my entire family showing up to the Watsco Center decked out in UM gear to cheer on my grandparents’ alma mater, our love for sports is a unique commonality that ties us together. I mean, do you know how much love it takes to root for another family member’s team over our own bracket winner? The answer is a lot.
