Any Given Sunday

My husband was the first man I ever met, outside of my father and brothers, who talked about sports in an intelligent way.

Most guys I knew, when asked about sports, their response would include something like "the (insert favorite team name) ROCK, and the (insert least favorite team name) SUUUUUUCK!". And the bouncer in my head would immediately call security to usher the speaker out through the back alley door.

Eric, on the other hand, when asked about sports, would give articulate answers as to what he liked about said sport, and what aspects of the game intrigued him.

When I decided in year 1 of our marriage to show a little interest in football, he actually explained how the game worked. And his explanation didn't include crushing beer cans on his forehead or shouting "KILL THEM!!!". Because he did such a great job of explaining the ins and outs of the game, I became somewhat interested. He took one team, the Eagles, and gave me some history of the team; history of the choices that the coaches had made, the history of the city of Philadelphia in relation to the Eagles, the history of each of the current players, the history of the stadiums, etc. Knowing all of that made watching an Eagles game suddenly interesting to me.

He spoke nothing like the sportscasters, who have a tendency to use words like "trickeration" and phrases like "From the waist down, he's got the biggest legs I've ever seen on a running back".

Now, I will say, the forehead-beer-crushers are very entertaining. When Eric took me to my first Eagles game, and the guy sitting in front of me got punched in the face because he farted, I thought I was in heaven. When I started making fun of the drunk guy sitting next to me who wanted to high five me after every touchdown, and Eric nervously whispered in my ear "PLEASE be quiet, I don't want to get into a fight", I knew I was in for a grand evening!

But none of those guys would have ever gotten me interested in football to begin with. So I would never have had the opportunity to experience the hilarious ignorance that is the "700 level" Eagles fans.

So thank you my darling, for not being a traditional jock, but instead an eloquent connoisseur of the pigskin. You have expanded my mind.




DALLAS SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS!!!!!!!!!