Clash of the Titan-Gnomes

For Mother's Day, my mom got a GU gnome from my little sister (who is not only a Gonzaga alumni, but could seriously win a contest for being the biggest Zag fan on the planet). You know, my sister who once bargained with me to get back my giant Gonzaga coffee mug (my 12-cupper) she'd bought me one year for Christmas, because they stopped making them and she couldn't live without it. My sister who took me to a GU/Duke game at Madison Square Garden and made me sit between rabid Kennel Clubbers. My sister who used to camp out for days at a time to get tickets when they were in the old stadium. Yeah, that sister.

She is as rabid (if not more so) a GU fan as I am a Duke fan. She also hates Duke, and is not afraid to say it. (Okay, I will admit, when we were at MSG at that game, the Duke fans were total douches to the GU fans... I never would have done that, and yes, it was classless.)

But because my sister has been such a GU fan for so long, now my parents have become fans as well. And my mom is as big a GU fan, almost, as she is an MSU fan. (Not quite, because she works for MSU, but close.) So when she unwrapped the GU gnome, she squealed like a little kid. It was great.

But then I went downstairs as she was rabidly taking pictures of it to send to my sister, put on Facebook, and plaster her office, and I said, "Oh, cool. I could get you a Duke gnome" because the company that makes these gnomes makes them for all collegiate teams (or so the packaging claims).

To which she looked at me cock-eyed and said, "I don't think so."

Apparently the Duke-hate has spread through my entire family now. Feelin' the love.

So I went on her Facebook page and said, "Maybe I could get you a Duke gnome."

To which she said, essentially, "I don't think they would get along."

To which I reminded her, they are not people. Plus, my sister and I manage to get along. So she has a Duke daughter and a GU daughter, and we haven't torn each other in half (yet). Why couldn't she have a Duke gnome and a GU gnome on her mantle?

To which she has not yet answered.

My guess: Duke hatery has taken over my family. What is this world coming to?