With only 10 teams in the conference, there is also much familiarity; teams face each other several times during the season.
But viewers also crave familiarity – surely the only explanation for William Roache's continued employment as Ken Barlow in Corrie; EastEnders' success appears in part to rest with its never-ending flock of returnees.
Anderson, although second behind Marin Cilic in the tournament aces count with 71 and high on confidence after winning at Winston-Salem, also brought familiarity (without the contempt), as Murray bossed him in the final at Queen's and soaked up the South African's power.
Albala traces the history of the bean as symbol of fertility, and the relation of beans to the Egyptian god Horus, but he also demonstrates familiarity with Monty Python sketches, with the writings of the Nation of Islam's Elijah Muhammad, and the music of the Black Eyed Peas.
Then again, he also loved familiarity — the swashbuckling camaraderie with his longtime staff members, the P.O.W. band of brothers who frequently rode the bus and popped up at his campaign events, the Sedona ranch where he unwound and grilled wagonloads of meat.
(Saratoga Race Course's season, its 132nd, runs this year from July 26 until Labor Day; Saratoga Raceway, a nearby harness track, with which I also gained familiarity during my four years as a correspondent in The Times's Albany bureau, offers nighttime racing about 10 months a year).
It is hardly surprising that many of their sentences end with the wan, hopeful words, "You know?" The anguish and inadequacy with which these people approach the basic art of conversation give "Shining City" an almost unbearable air not only of poignancy but also of familiarity.
