Temptation

Basketball during Lent

Last year during the ACC and NCAA tournament, I wrote about the free "all you can eat" popcorn, soda and chocolate ice cream bars for the media . So what was I thinking when this year I decided to give up chocolate for Lent. Lent of course symbolic of the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. ( I had to look it up on the Internet to make sure I was clear). I'm a practicing Catholic not a devout Catholic so sometimes my recollections of Sunday school are a little cloudy. Well, the devil we know as the NCAA upped the temptation this year. They've thrown in "all you can eat" Reese Cups, M&Ms and my all time favorite, Snickers. What's a chocoholic to do. It's bad enough I have to remember to eat fish on Friday, which by the way was overlooked thanks to Jim Connors (another Catholic boy) who talked me into a pork pulled sandwich at "Pig Pickings" across the street from the "Joel". I can hear Father Mark now, "that'll cost ya three Hail Mary's, two Our Father's and an extra contribution to the collection plate. So it's popcorn, potato chips and soda for me. Not so bad considering the fasting endured some 2000 years ago.

See you on Sunday Father Mark. I'm bringing the checkbook.

MB
3/16