It's just product.

I have a hard time grokking the whole local pro basketball thing. Here's what I see:

A group of businessmen get together and buy this team – a thing, a product – from some other businessmen, and bring it home with them. It's like you buying a sofa at a garage sale, only no tax dollars are spent building a home for your sofa.

Then, much money is spent on advertising. SOFA UP, EVERYONE!

And, for reasons I don't understand, thousands of people dig deep into their psyches, uncover some primitive sense of tribal bonding, and apply it to this product. They even pay money for the privilege.

I get tweets and Facebook messages exhorting me to THUNDER UP! What do these people expect me to do? If I give a damn about pro basketball, I've already Thundered Up. But if a bazillion dollars in advertising, car pennants, multi-story tall posters and a guy dressed up as a buffalo can't get me to THUNDER UP!, what difference is a tweet or a Facebook message going to make?

A few years ago, a female friend and I were discussing some project or event. I don't remember what the event was; I don't even remember who I was talking to.

But I remember that finally, frustrated by my lack of enthusiasm, she said, "C'mon, mcarp! GET EXCITED!" And then she just stared at me, with a wild, wide-eyed grin frozen on her face. She looked like Cesar Romero playing the Joker.

That's sort of how I view these 'THUNDER UP!' people.

It's just a game, folks. It's just product.