Are you ready for some football?!

Do you know what happens this weekend? Do you? This and this. Two of the sweetest sounds I've ever heard. Well, besides "Mama" but you and I both know that starts to grow a little thin after a while, right?

This weekend the Dawgs take on Oklahoma State "between the hedges." The spelling "dawg" really bugs a girl I work with (Hi, MacKenzie!), but I kind of like it. I'm a little nervous for my dawgs, playing OSU, but I think they'll be okay.

I love football. Pretty much always have. Well, since high school anyway. In fact, I never missed a single football game the entire time I was in high school. I even skipped my cousin's wedding because attending it meant that I would miss the first game of the season my senior year. Given my top tier nerd status, one might wonder how I got to be such a football fan and I really don't know the answer to that question. Neither of my parents really followed football back in those days.

My mom was a baseball fan, though. We used to watch the Braves back when they were really bad. I had a huge crush on Dale Murphy and my mom kind of had a thing for Glenn Hubbard. I remember once after a huge dugout clearing brawl I turned to my mom and said "Now I know why you like baseball!" My mom liked baseball so much, in fact, that it completely confused my cousin Michael. Once, when he was about 5 he turned to my mom, who was engrossed in a game, and said "Aunt Mary, did you used to be a man?" We still get a good laugh out of that one. (Michael is also the cousin who misheard the lyrics to "Der Kommissar" by After the Fire. Instead of "Don't turn around, uh oh. Der Kommissar's in town, uh oh" he heard "Don't turn around, uh oh. Hold that sausage down, uh oh." THAT still gets a good laugh, too!)

Amazingly, while actually attending UGA, when tickets were cheap and plentiful, I only attended a handful of games. I think it was because I was usually working, but I look back at those days now and curse myself. Tickets to the game now are scarce as hens teeth. And you have to donate thousands of dollars to the University to get the good seats. Even if I had thousands of dollars -- which I don't -- I'm still not sure I could fork it over to the old alma mater just for the privilege of attending some football games. And yes, there's a little bit of sour grapes in that statement.

Although I've always loved college football, I've never been a big fan of NFL. Until last year, that is. We didn't have cable last year and so I didn't get to see many of Georgia's games and I was jonesing. So I started watching NFL games. I found that I was interested if I could get invested in the players or their stories. I was really rooting for the New Orleans Saints last year. I've always rooted for the underdog and the fact that they made it to the playoffs was just amazing. And of course I always watched the Falcons. And I'll watch this year, happier with Michael Vick gone. I never really liked him before all this dog fighting mess.

I don't know if my love of sport is normal or not. Fred used to tell Mr. Daddy that he was a lucky man to be married to a woman who liked football and baseball, could discuss them intelligently AND read ESPN magazine. For fun. All I know is I can't wait for fall. And football! Go Dawgs! Sic 'em.

(Fall 2006)