Saturday, April 28, 2007
Where Am I?
As you may know, I'm a big fan of the Utah Jazz. And they're finally back into the playoffs this year. Game 4 is tonight, and I'm sad that it starts so late out here on the East Coast (10:30pm! Really!). During this past week they've played two other games, and because of a too-demanding work week, I've had to listen to them on an Internet simulcast of the Salt Lake radio station KBER from my computer as I worked. This meant, of course, also listening to the Salt Lake-based ads.
It's times like these that I really feel like a Utahn, even though mentally I've truly moved away. For some reason, just listening to advertisements directed to a Utah audience makes me feel at home. I'm not sure what it is about them. Surely, I've never actually heard these particular ads before. I may have heard similar ones (one particularly reassuring phrase is "At your Utah Ford dealer!"). Perhaps they all have a familiar style. Maybe Utahns do have an accent that, while normally imperceptible, comes through enough to make me feel good when I hear it on the radio.
For all my love for the East in general and the DC area in particular, I don't feel the same affinity when I hear DC-based ads. I still don't know the names and formats of the DC area radio stations as well as I know Salt Lake's. True, I did live in SLC longer than I've lived in DC, but I'm not sure that's it. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that when I was immersed in Utah media, I didn't know about anything else. As an older, wiser, more well-travelled and experienced person, I might now subconsciously just think of DC as the place where I am, rather than my home. But then why did I give my daughter the middle name Virginia? Am I kidding myself?
Of course, all of this is meaningless. The true test is: when will I become a Wizards fan? The answer is: never.* Go Jazz!
* Sadly, I can't be a Nationals or Redskins fan, either. Having lived in Boston, I was brainwashed into Red Sox Nation, and I've always held a grudge against the Redskins. Hockey doesn't count, so DC pro teams don't stand a chance with me!
It's times like these that I really feel like a Utahn, even though mentally I've truly moved away. For some reason, just listening to advertisements directed to a Utah audience makes me feel at home. I'm not sure what it is about them. Surely, I've never actually heard these particular ads before. I may have heard similar ones (one particularly reassuring phrase is "At your Utah Ford dealer!"). Perhaps they all have a familiar style. Maybe Utahns do have an accent that, while normally imperceptible, comes through enough to make me feel good when I hear it on the radio.
For all my love for the East in general and the DC area in particular, I don't feel the same affinity when I hear DC-based ads. I still don't know the names and formats of the DC area radio stations as well as I know Salt Lake's. True, I did live in SLC longer than I've lived in DC, but I'm not sure that's it. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that when I was immersed in Utah media, I didn't know about anything else. As an older, wiser, more well-travelled and experienced person, I might now subconsciously just think of DC as the place where I am, rather than my home. But then why did I give my daughter the middle name Virginia? Am I kidding myself?
Of course, all of this is meaningless. The true test is: when will I become a Wizards fan? The answer is: never.* Go Jazz!
* Sadly, I can't be a Nationals or Redskins fan, either. Having lived in Boston, I was brainwashed into Red Sox Nation, and I've always held a grudge against the Redskins. Hockey doesn't count, so DC pro teams don't stand a chance with me!
Comments:
Marc, I have cable. I had to listen to the Internet simulcast because I was at work. Sadly, my office does not even have a TV, let alone cable.
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