ACC tournament
It's time for the ACC basketball tournament and I'm embarrassed to say I will be watching the games, back-to-back, until I fall off the couch or stop breathing.
Every spring I am mortified by my ability to watch the tube this way and by the end of the NCAA tournament, feel fairly brainwashed by the commercials.
Advertising is mind-numbing, brainwashing ... no doubt about it. When I lived in Prague, Czech Republic, there was little or no advertising. This was just after the end of Communism and there was no consumer-consumption-advertising machine on the prowl for hearts and minds.
When I returned to America after two years, I was a different person, able to focus and concentrate and utterly indifferent to pop culture, materialism and consumer tastes.
How the mighty fall, I must say.
Today I can hang with the best of the TV watchers ... through countless dumb beer ads, phone and car ads, even the fast-food. I see how it infects our thinking, too. How many times have I been sitting in front of the TV when I got a sudden urge for ice cream or chips?
I digress.
Despite the poisonous commercials, there's nothing like basketball this time of year. At least the commercial breaks are predictable and timed, no more than the regulation time-outs called by coaches or umpires. And at some point, the breaks will serve a purpose ... when I need to take one of the dogs outside, feed the cats, fix someone's bedding, clean up a hairball or fix myself some Lotus Tea.
As long as I don't miss tip-off.