Ba-KET-ball

That's what Bern and I call it in our personal patois--Ba-KET-ball. Just like we call 'sleeping' "see-pin" and 'comfortable' "comproble". I suspect people who've known each other one year short of half-a-century and have been married 43 of those years develop a vocabulary all their own.

We still call motorcycles "mo-mo-cycles" which is what Josh called them as a toddler.

But I'm writing about ba-KET-ball right now. It's March Madness and Bern is almost certifiably 'mad' by the sweet sixteen.

As far as I know, she doesn't have an athletic bone in her body, but she loves sports--basketball and tennis most of all.

I tried to teach her tennis when we were dating, but when she figured out you had to chase your own balls--that there weren't ball-boys-and-girls, she lost interest in learning.

What is wonderful this year is that she was in West Virginia last week and didn't get around to filling out a bracket. So, it's much more calm watching with her because she isn't always worrying about who she picked to win. (Five or six years ago, she won two consecutive bracket pools with some friends of ours and people they worked with. After the second win, they banned her....)

I didn't fill out a bracket either, so it's lots more fun for me. Normally, when I do pick winners, I lose the sheet of paper and don't remember who I picked. And woe unto me if I keep up with my bracket and do better than Bern....Hell hath no fury like a woman bracket is out scored....

We have this running argument because I root for the same teams I've always rooted for and she roots for teams she's come to like lately. It's just a psychological difference. For example, if Satan played for the Yankees, they'd still be 'my team'. But she doesn't like the LA Lakers (my pro ba-KET-ball team) because she thinks Kobi is a jerk.

We do agree on one thing in college sports: our three favorite teams are West Virginia University and whoever is playing Virginia Tech and Notre Dame that day....

Our agreed upon mutual hatred of Virginia Tech and Notre Dame has contributed mightily to our 43 years of marriage....