There are certain questions every kid asks his or her parents.
"Where do babies come from?"
"Why do people die?"
And, at least from me: "Who do you love more: Me or my sister?"
Explaining life and death is an easy thing because each one has a satisfying answer. But how can parental love be quantified?
It's a question that becomes more difficult when children play sports against each other. One of them wins, and the other one loses. At that point the question has to be answered in some way, because there's just one outcome to a game.
This was the case for the AU field hockey team's matches last weekend in the NCAA Tournament.
AU freshman Lauren Bacon had to face her sister, Penn State senior Chase, in the first-round game. Then the second-round game saw more sibling rivalry from the sisters Infante as AU's Camila and Denise faced Maryland's Paula.
The Infante storyline would be the biggest deal in the country - if only they didn't play field hockey. It's three of the best players in the country on two of the best teams in the country playing with the season on the line.
Imagine if the Giants and Colts reach the Super Bowl, putting Peyton against Eli Manning, but with Archie somehow making it out of retirement with a new skill set to play wide out for the Colts.
When sibling rivalries are taken to the field, it gives good fodder to pundits and writers, who press for some sound byte that can explain how athletes play these big games while having to go home to the same families at the end of the day.
The players shrug off such questions. They want to win, but it's not that bad if their sibling does.
But the parents probably get more nervous than anybody else. They're the ones who raised these kids, who watched them play together in the backyard or park, and then on middle and high school teams. And when college came, they could only hope they'd never have to play against each other. That's when tough decisions have to be made.
It's one Stephanie Bacon - the mother of Lauren and Chase - had to face when the Eagles met Penn State in College Park last Saturday.
"I wasn't happy," she said before the match. "I was hoping they would meet in the Final Four."
No question it was an uncomfortable afternoon for her. You could even see it in how she dressed. She was wearing a dark-blue sweatshirt, so she could easily fit in with the Penn State section. But she also had a pin with Lauren's name on it, so her AU affiliation was clear.
Between her and her husband Robert, a Penn State graduate himself, the couple had made it to just about every field hockey match in Washington and State College, Pa. And all that sweat for players who weren't even guaranteed to hit the turf: Going into the game, Lauren had seen action in just three games while Chase had made it to a dozen.
To save parents all that grief, maybe it's best if athletes ride the legacy of their families. The Kuykendalls are the closest thing AU has to that. Sophomore J.P. Kuykendall is the latest in the long line of men's soccer progeny that includes graduated brothers Shawn (class of 2005) and Kris (class of 2003), and father Kurt (class of 1973).
It all makes me glad that the closest I ever got to a sports rivalry with a sibling was when I was 8 and smacked my sister in the face with an aluminum bat while playing tee-ball in the backyard. The fact that she survived is either proof that I'm not a power hitter or that she's hard-headed.
Whatever the case, that's probably one situation where a parent can easily favor one sibling over the other.
