I never said you had no attachments. I said your pulling away from community (and the community I meant is the one in which you live, the Sooner born and Sooner bred one) is selfish. There is damn little binding the folks of OK to the land they know is grand. You’ve got to give them football. Give yourself over.

All my love, Miss Snarkey Snarkerson

I don’t withdraw from all attachments. I thought that was clear. I think MCARP makes a mistake when he generalizes from “some attachments cause unnecessary drama” to “all attachments are mere drama.”

Your husband, your children, are attachments of which I approve. If you are losing your cool because Brittany lost custody of her children, then you have no one to blame but yourself and I don’t approve.

Mr. Relativity doesn’t recede from anything I’ve written nor anything I taught you as a child. I went to OU and gained several degrees over many years costing many thousands of dollars. I am more fond of the University of Oklahoma than other higher learning institutions with which I have no contact. I would prefer that OU do well in all its endeavors, whether it’s recruiting National Merit Scholars, obtaining endowments or winning at sports like basketball, wrestling, vollyball, gymnastics and, yes, even football.

That said, I’m less attached to OU than I am to you and my grandchildren.

If something happens to you or the kids, I’m deeply concerned (I “invite” the drama because I let my attachment to my family affect how I feel and act).

If OU loses a football game, I’m not so concerned.

If something happens to you, I might well drive to Tucson and leave other priorities undone here in OKC. If OU loses a football game, I will not let the work on my desk go undone.

Should we have attachments?

Yes, I’ve said so, written it and believe family, for example, is a necessary attachment for a happy life.

Should we attach to just anything for the purpose of distracting ourselves from “real” life? I don’t think that proposition is defensible.

Of those attachments we form, can we put them in some sort of hierarchy? Yes, I have stronger attachments to family than to my alma mater.

My position then becomes: now that I have decided to have some attachments and now that I’ve ranked them, may I also prioritize the nature of my response to events in those categories?

I think so. I think some things are emergencies and some are not.

How high a priority should it be when Parrish breaks his leg? Parrish breaking his leg is a big deal. He’s family and therefore a high priority and a broken bone is among my “emergency” criteria. OU loses a game? Nothing broken, no one dead, light attachment, thus no emergency.

As to this particular comment on this particular post, my little girl will be Sooner Dead sooner than she thinks if she don’t quit snarking on her daddy.

No highs without lows.

Invited drama is preferable to uninvited drama.

Distraction takes us away from pain caused by forces out of our control. Was it okay for me to give my kids movie night to ease the pain of their dad being in Iraq? Or should we have wallowed in our festering hatred of this administration and our fears that Jesse would return in a body bag? Can’t distraction take many forms? Some healthy (exercise) some not (twinkies) but none to be taken to an extreme (ripping the scrotum from a Texas fan).

I do experience a week-long high from my team winning. Not so much the loss. Today I turned off the television and cleaned the guinea’s cage and watched my kids eat popsicles. No pall here that will extend beyond the heat left in the tube.

Detachment from community seems so individualistic (selfish). You can call this “prioritizing” if you’d like, but it’s not at all how I was brought to view things, Mr. Relativity. Not fair how you teach me things like unyielding adoration for the Sooners, then decide later it’s bunk. What kind of father are you anyway? Certainly not Sooner Dead (my future epitaph). I can only hope that as I get older I won’t lose my soul the way you have. I won’t give another thought to the loss to Colorado, but I will forever mourn the loss of my father’s Sooner spirit.