Can you die of deja vu? Michigan is in the NCAA basketball final and that brings up the curse of Chris Webber. A few days ago, I had an experience involving Michigan, memory and madness, and it will forever effect my writing.
I hated Michigan since they didn't take me for law school. Go Blue! Ha! I took joy in remembering that Michigan was seconds away from winning the national championship, but Chris Webber called a time when they were out of time outs. There was a technical foul and Michigan lost. Despite his years in the NBA and as an analyst, Webber has never lived it down. Or so I thought...
A few weeks ago, I was on elliptical machine at a Sports and Wellness club, doing forty minutes while watching an ESPN had a documentary on the Fab 5, Michigan's amazing freshmen basketball recruits. The documentary showed the Fab 5's hardscrabble roots and their friendship. I found myself rooting for them in spite of myself. Go Blue!
I had been on the elliptical machine for quite awhile, and it felt like the flow of oxygen had stopped coming to my brain. The doc seemed to be ending when it came to the national championship game. Michigan lost. Chris Webber did NOT call time out. I repeat Chris Webber did NOT call time out. The program went to commercial and appeared to be over. Go Blue?
Had my memory failed me? I thought I had seen the game, but perhaps I had confused it with another final. Maybe it was Michigan STATE and not Michigan. In the last Star Trek film, the time line was altered, perhaps there had been a temporal shift and we now lived in a world where Chris Webber had defied his curse. As someone who had cost his teams several games over the years, I had undeniable joy. Perhaps my own curses could be lifted. Who knows, when I got off the elliptical, Fox had optioned Rattlesnake Lawyer and I was really a millionaire. Go Blue!
Remember, I had been on the elliptical machine for quite some time. I stayed on the machine, kept eclipsing or whatever one does, I just wanted to make sure that the program was over. My heart was literally racing. When the show resumed, I heard some chilling words. Something like, "After losing their freshman year, they Fab 5 decided to return for their sophomore year."
I let out a gasp. "Don't do it!" The woman on the next machine told me to be quiet.
I stayed on the machine for another half hour as the program recounted the team's sophomore basketball season. It felt like watching Titanic for the tenth time, after putting down money that this time the ship would avoid the iceberg. Go Blue . . . Sure enough, Michigan made it to the finals. Sure enough Webber calls a time out and costs his team the game. Out of the blue and into the black....
So what does that have to do with writing? As I stumbled off the machine panting, I made a vow. I had never been so gripped by a TV show where I already knew the ending. I wanted people to be equally gripped by my writing, and will stay until the very end, and perhaps even further. I want people to experience the stories again and again.
Deja Vu? Call it Deja Blue!
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