I’ve never been a big follower of sports. The reason I usually give is that I don’t want to make the initial investment needed to get to know the teams and players. The real reason is probably that I love competition and can get easily worked up. The few times that I have gotten sucked in (e.g. the 2004 Red Sox World Series victory), it has not been pretty.

I have found a (?) more productive outlet for my competitive tendencies: politics, and it seems I am not alone. Interest in the election, and voting more specifically, is on the rise. I found myself continuously reloading CNN’s Super Tuesday primary results web last night and realized that it’s going to be a long year.

That said, there are still people who manage to maintain immunity to the whole process. Yesterday at work:

Me: Hey, [name withheld], happy “Super Tuesday”!

[name withheld]: What’s “Super Tuesday”?

Me: Are you serious? It’s the big election day.

[name withheld]: Oh, um, I don’t really know much about the local elections.

Me: (Wondering if by “local” he means “national”) You do realize that it’s the presidential primaries I’m talking about.

[name withheld]: I’m an independent…

Gives a new meaning to independent!