COLUMN: I might be alone on this

     You know that question people ask sometimes, the one that starts with, “Is it just me, or…?”

     I’m beginning to think it’s just me.

     Case in point: the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. I see posts on social media celebrating when Big Ten Conference teams do well, and I just can’t fathom it. The same thing happens when the football bowl season rolls around.

     I have a hard time rooting for the other teams in my team’s conference, just because they are now in the NCAA tournament.

     You cheer against these teams all season long, sometimes with a bit of passion or even anger, and now that the tourney has started we’re all supposed to be best buddies? I struggle…

     I realize I’m wrong on this, or at least in the minority, but that’s the way it goes.

     Another example involves my son Levi and the Chicago Bulls. I long for the days when Levi and I would watch a Bulls game and over-react when somebody in a red and white jersey canned a big three-pointer.

     This season, Levi has been rejoicing every time the Bulls … lose.

     He’s right, of course. As he repeatedly tells me, he’s thinking long-term. The Bulls are one of the worst teams in the NBA this season, and Levi wants them to be THE worst, to improve their chances of getting the top draft pick and Zion Williamson of Duke.

     In the NBA it seems like your best bet is to be near the top or near the bottom of the league standings. My younger son Ian is in the middle, a fan of the Miami Heat, who at this point figure to barely make the playoffs. A team like that is likely to lose in the early rounds, but because they are better than half the teams in the league, they also are unlikely to get much help in the draft.

     Levi wants his Bulls to have the best chance to improve later, by losing now.

     Me? I can’t do it. The Bulls are my second-favorite team, behind the fast-fading Timberwolves. When I see a Bulls guy take a shot, I want it to go in. And when a game is close at the end, I want them to pull out the win.

     Then there is the flip side. Whereas I can’t root against my favorite teams, even when it will help them in the long run, I also can’t ever root for the ones I dislike most, even when I should.

     I don’t recall this situation ever happening, so I haven’t put it to the test. But if my favorite team needed a win from my least favorite team in order to reach the postseason, even if the least favorite team was hopelessly out of the race, I’m still not sure I could root for it.

     I don’t know what has happened over the years to drill these misguided attitudes into my aging brain, but they are there nonetheless.

     Pretty sure it’s just me.