contact with someone famous. Before my brain caught up to tell me who it was, I felt the feeling you get when you see someone you know. I usually see people I know, make eye contact and start to smile and wave or say, "Hi" almost immediately. Often it's before I remember the name of the person that I have that reflex. In the case I'm thinking of, before I waved I realized the famous person had absolutely no recognition of me in his eyes. After the first half a second, I remembered who it was and I understood immediately that he had no recognition in his eyes because he had never met me. We didn't know each other. At all.

Whether it's an actor that plays a character we like or the coach of our favorite sports team, there's a weird feeling that we know these people. They feel familiar to us. We read human interest stories about them. Often we read or hear about positive things they've done behind the scenes. Because we want to, we tend to think of them as really good people. Sometimes better than they actually are. It's almost like they're a friend.

With respect to our favorite team, the team becomes almost a part of our identity. Not the largest part I hope. And in most cases it isn't. But it's a part of who we are. I'm a BYU fan, for example. That isn't more important to me than Child of God, husband, father, friend to people that actually know me etc. But it is an important part of me.

When the coach of our favorite team makes it clear he doesn't want to coach the team anymore, or even that my team isn't his favorite team even though he was the coach, it feels personal. It feels like a personal rejection. If you think it through, it isn't.

I used to say this all the time when Bronco would say things that would hurt people's feelings. I don't need BYU's coaches to be my friend. They don't know me. I don't really know them. As long as they're living in such a way as to have a positive image and cast a positive light on BYU, I'm happy if they're winning and not happy if they aren't.

Mark Pope wasn't my friend. He didn't know me. At all. That is true for over 99% of those reading this post.