A House Divided

In Iowa, a house divided by sports teams is a common occurrence. One kid grew up liking the University of Iowa. The other grew up liking Iowa State. Once married, they fight about which sports team to support. Chalk it up to Iowa stubbornness, or the fact that we don’t have a professional sports team. (And no, I don’t think the Kernels, ICubs, Barnstormers, Wild, or Energy count.)

From a college standpoint, Lemur and I both graduated from the University of Northern Iowa (who stuck it to the University of Iowa Hawkeyes last night in basketball–GO PANTHERS!)

Lemur and I differ on a more professional level. His family moved here from Michigan, and he was raised a Detroit Lions fan. My Dad worked twenty years in a meat packing plant and grew up in a Green Bay Packer household, so we are Green Bay fans. (My mom likes hot linebackers, so she’s a Matthews fan, in case you were wondering.)

Since I’ve known Lemur (hell, since 1957, according to Lemur’s dad) the Lions have been rebuilding. Sure, Green Bay and Detroit are rivals in the same division, the NFC North, but our usual competition has been from outside our division. San Francisco. Seattle. New Orleans. This year, Detroit is giving Green Bay a run for the NFC North Championship, to be decided next weekend when Green Bay and Detroit play in Green Bay for the final game of the season.

Dude, we have to have Christmas before then. Christmas is going to be brutal. To add some fuel to the fire, here’s my favorite Lions meme:

Let me tell you about Super Bowls, little Lions:

Lemur and I have a fun rivalry. We poke fun at each other, but we show support no matter which team wins. (You know, mine.) No matter what happens this year, Lemur and I will be just fine. We may cheer for different teams, but at the end of the day, the only team that matters is Team Us.