COLUMN: For the love of siblings
Siblings. At times, you can’t stand them, but you know you can’t live without them. For all of you who have siblings, I think we can all agree that, occasionally, they can be extremely irritating, especially when they express their competitive traits.
My older brother and I are always head-to-head in competition, solely because he attends the most unappealing college, also known as Western Michigan University. Let me tell you, I have yet to hear the end of their victory against us in football.
Listening to my brother’s non-stop babbling and trashing of CMU definitely gets on my nerves, and NO ONE knows how to push my buttons like he does, but I know that he is just being a brother. As siblings, it is natural to pick on one another. I mean, who doesn’t love to get better grades than their siblings or even beat them in a silly game of Wii "Just Dance" and then rub it in their face?
A more recent and bigger example of sibling rivalries is the Harbaugh brothers, the coaches of the Super Bowl XLVII. When I first heard that both Jim and John Harbaugh attended Ann Arbor high schools less than a year apart, I instantly thought of how competitive they must have been during their teenage years. But now, knowing that they were the coaches of both Super Bowl teams, I couldn’t help but think about how much fighting would be on that field on Sunday.
Now that the Super Bowl is over and John Harbaugh, head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, has a nice, big, shiny ring to show off, just imagine how Thanksgiving dinners are going to be. If that were my brother, I know he would make a snarky comment, most likely saying, “I am thankful for winning the Super Bowl,” all while wearing that blinding ring and smirking right at me.
While John might have beaten his brother, I’m sure it made it worthwhile knowing his brother and family were there to celebrate the moment with him.
We are siblings; we are meant to be supportive, create memories, and, occasionally, we fight with each other, and the Harbaugh brothers did just that on Sunday.
I do not think my brother and I will be competing in the Super Bowl any time soon, but I do know we will be in many more battles. I just can’t wait to see what my younger sisters have in store for me.
