Diversifying Your Portfolio

Fifteen years ago, Monday morning’s would have been horrible. I would have gone to school/work and some wise guy would have made a crack about my beloved Wolverines losing to who??? But today, I am absolutely content with my college football life. And I was actually able to enjoy App States big upset in the Big House. Here is why - I have discovered a profound truth over the last few years that I would like to share with you. When choosing your favorite college football team it is absolutely necessary that you diversify your portfolio. Case in point: the 2007 Michigan Wolverines. There was a time when the Wolverines were my favorite team and I lived and died with their success and failures. That time has passed…

I’ve had several events shape this conviction beginning with my Dad’s profession. Since Dad was a coach, we naturally had a few loyalties. We had Michigan, my birth place, Dad’s first college coaching job, and my first football love. We had the Colorado Buffaloes, where pops coached for fifteen years - during that time I think I really did bleed black and gold. We had Mizzou, his alma matter. We had his assistant coaches that went on to be head coaches at other schools. I had brothers go off to college and give me a sense of loyalty to schools like Ft Lewis, Washburn, and North Carolina – all three of those thanks to Mike. My nephew TC is a freshman on the LSU football team. Then of course, I had my own collegiate experience where I became a Baylor Bear for life.

This enormous puzzle would confuse most people, but I have embraced this schizophrenia and even created an approach that I believe I have perfected into a science. Today was not horrible, it was actually quite pleasant. When I walked in the office this morning and the guys began to gather to discuss the weekends events, I had a sense of superiority come over me as I awaited their question. And the question came, how was your weekend? Of course I knew that the question had nothing to do with family, church, or actual newsworthy events. They were asking about my portfolio. So I replied proudly, “4-2. Buffs won, LSU won, Baylor lost, Michigan lost, Oregon won and Rutgers won.”

“Rutgers?” someone questioned? “Yes, I decided last fall to add them to my portfolio because my brother said they were good. Besides I needed an East Coast team anyway.”

You see when choosing your portfolio you have several things to consider. First, your childhood loyalties, thus CU & Michigan. Then your alma matter, go Bears! Next you can add any additional family ties. This gets tricky for McCartney’s. Of course LSU rises to the top because of TC, but it is also bolstered by the assistant coach clause. Any coach that at one time coached under my Dad is a candidate to become one of my teams. We’ve had several assistant coaches through the years to choose from. I could add UCLA, Washington, Penn State and probably other’s I’m not thinking of. Don’t forget to add any of your spouse’s loyalties in here. Now you look at your region and add those teams – it’s always good to be a fan of the home town team (SMU). Finally, you get to add some wild cards, Oregon because we did a PK event there and I liked Eugene and Rutgers for the aforementioned reason. Now is where it gets tricky, the trimming of the portfolio. Here are a few rules to reflect on.

• It is illegal to choose more than one team per conference (unless they are in different divisions). Because of this I must choose between UCLA, Washington, and Oregon - only one of these has made OU cry - so I choose the Ducks. (By the way - Conference loyalty is way over rated, get with the new millennium!) Penn State was also eliminated because of this rule.
• You may not choose teams that are rivals.
• You may not choose teams from Florida.
• You should consider including teams from the major regions: West Coast, East Coast, Midwest.
• You can’t choose teams that your Dad decided not to coach, when everyone else thought he was going to go and coach them – sorry SMU.
  

I hope this helps you to better enjoy your fall.