Word of the Day: Hardcore

Hardcore, as defined by Dictionary.com means "unswervingly commited; dedicated." In today's world the meaning may be a little more, shall we say, abstract. Let me give you a few examples of hardcore things in today's world.


North Dakota is hardcore. The people living in North Dakota are hardcore. Think about it. We, as North Dakotans, spend our winters outside shoveling when it is cold enough to freeze our snot. We spend our summers baking in the sun like lemon poppyseed muffins in Jamie Oliver's oven. We are hardcore because we uses horse drawn carriages to travel long distances and we don't have indoor toilets. That's a joke. Ha. But seriously, some people do think we are that far behind on the times. Going beyond that stereotype also makes us hardcore.



Another hardcore thing is having two computer screens hooked up to one computer. My friend thought he was "special" when he figured it out, but I just laughed at him. My dad had it figured out weeks ago. Take that, genius.



If you are living anywhere within three thousand miles (give or take a few) from Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota, you are a Vikings fan. If you are not a fan, no one likes you so it doesn't matter anyways. Now, Vikings are hardcore. The ones who invaded North America were; the ones who beat the Green Bay Packers from September to January are and the ones who cheer them on dressed in their fake yellow beard and purple chest paint are too. Go to a game and tell me you disagree. Just try it. You'll fail.



Hardcore people do not fail. It's in their blood, becasue you see, hardcore people are born not made. This can be showed in two specific examples: runners and soldiers.



Runners are some of the most hardcore people. Think about it, they run in circles, for hours on end. Hours. Not stopping to eat, drink or pee. Nothing can get in their way. They'll just run over it. They are the steamrollers of sports. You can't get much more hardcore than that.



The military does try, though, to be more hardcore than any person or thing on this planet. And they succeed most of the time. Not everyone can make it through basic training. I'm willing to bet there is a wall, somewhere hidden inside West Point, where gnarled expierenced military officers who are missing an eye or a leg go to smoke cigars (hardcore) and laugh about the pansies who couldn't make it through and ended up with their picture on this Wall of Shame.



Now, let me clear something up. You don't have to be physically tough and enduring to be hardcore. I know a few hardcore individuals who couldn't life a dumbell to save their lives. The waitress, for instance, who knows how much I love pumpkin pie, brings a slice to my table complete with a dollop of whipped cream. She's hardcore.

But the most common way people are defined hardcore is their physical toughness. Take those who participate in the Iditarod. The Iditarod is a race through the Alaskan wilderness of over one thousand one hundred fifty miles during the dead of winter. The mushers (people) and their dogs have to battle sub-zero temperatures, hunger and the wind just to win bragging rights. Bragging rights that say they are, legitimately, hardcore.

Now, there are not many legitimately hardcore people on television. With the exceptions of Regis Philbin and Barbara Walters, I can only think of two: Survivorman and Howie Mandel.

Survivorman is Les Stroud who goes out into the Canadian wilderness with limited rescources and tries to survive - thus the name - all the while videotaping his adventures to be broadcasted across the world. He would be hardcore even if he didn't tape himself eating squirrels; that just makes him that much more hardcore.

Howie Mandel is hardcore for a different reason: the infamous fist pump. One might also argue another factor making him hardcore is his job; spending most evenings with twenty-five beautiful models may also make you hardcore. One might argue.

I hope I have advanced your knowledge of the idea of being hardcore. Now what are you doing still reading this? You should be out running, or training for the Iditarod, enlisting in the miltary or buying me a pumpkin pie. Go on, go be hardcore!