For the Love of the Game

I am sitting in a bar (as usual) in Cave Creek, Arizona. With me is my husband, Big Sis, and my brother in law. Unfortunately, Middle Sis could not make the trip. She is however with us in a likeness on a cardboard stick…the best we could do on short notice. 🙂 I think she is really enjoying herself.

We are surrounded by a sea of black and gold Pittsburgh Steelers fans. All of a sudden the crowd breaks out into a huge cheer. The Steelers just scored! The room is electric! I look around the room, and we are now surrounded by high fives, dancing and just general celebration. I notice that Big Sis is really enjoying the jubilant atmosphere. I think she’s having even more fun than Middle Sis!

Amidst all the noise and chaos, my mind starts to wander (maybe its the beer)…..and I ask myself how did I get here?….. (not to Arizona, I know how I got here) but how did football become such a huge part of my life?

Where did my childhood aspirations of being the first female quarterback to ever play professional football begin? Where did I even get that idea and where was “MeToo” when I needed them?

Perhaps it all started when I played football with my older brothers in the backyard, wearing an old football helmet, t-shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots. (Not sure where the boots came from, but all my six year old mind knew was that the boots went well with the rest of my “uniform.” ) It was here that I learned to call signals that were a series of meaningless letters and numbers, how to scream, yell and most important of all, how to fake cry when they tagged me, amongst other valuable life lessons.

Or perhaps it was related to the fact that my parents were both avid football fans. I have many fond memories of us watching games together, and having debates with the refs on a bad call. It was a long standing tradition continuing well into my adulthood, to regularly schedule time to watch games with them. Dad was an expert on CFL rules and I became an outstanding armchair quarterback under his guidance.

Fast forward several years and the football theme continued. When we were dating, my future husband and I were surprised and pleased to learn that we were both devoted, bordering on fanatical, football fans. We both liked the CFL, and the NFL. The only difference was that I was a Packers fan, and he was a Steelers fan. Ultimately I chose to leave “my Packers” and devote my loyalty to the Steelers. Ours is thus a marriage made in “Football Heaven”.

Speaking of Football Heaven, we have a room in our house dedicated solely to Steelers memorabilia. We have:

• both home and away jerseys
• Terrible Towels
• hats
• bobble heads
• a dog bandana and a dog leash (Biscuit just loves them both)
• batting helmets
• memorial plaques
• tapes of every Steelers game for the last 10 years (My husband particularly likes to relive the glory days of 2009.)

My husband’s interest in football also started with his parent. His mom would watch every local football game on TV and argue with the refs in much the same way my parents and I did. He told me his Mom loved football so much, that she would regularly pack a lunch for him and his two sisters and they would spend many hours at the field watching team practices.

My mother in law was still watching football on TV and arguing with the refs well into her eighties. The really remarkable thing about that is that she immigrated to Canada at a young age, and fell in love with a game that was so foreign to her culture. I know in my heart she was the CFL’s biggest fan. We did not have much in common, but I knew that when we started talking football she would always smile.

All of a sudden, I am brought back to reality. The crowd at the bar is yelling and screaming at the TV. Once again the ref has made a bad call. I guess yelling at the TV will make the ref change his mind (every sports fan’s dream).

Again I ask myself why is this game so important to me? Well, first of all, its just a lot of fun to be surrounded by people who are as passionate as you. The singing, dancing, clapping, towel waving and cheering create an atmosphere that is electric and entertaining. You are surrounded by people who want the same thing that you do and there is a feeling of camaraderie as you interact with complete strangers.

More than this though, I have come to the realization that the love of the game is not just for the game itself, but for the love of the people you share it with. My husband I have shared many great times over football and I have such fond memories of watching the games with mom and and dad and would dearly love it if they were still here watching, celebrating and probably yelling at the refs. I would be so happy if we could all sit down and watch a game together just one more time and of course it goes without saying that

Betty Would Love That!

We plan to publish a new post every Monday, so stayed tuned for our next one entitled “How Are You?… No Really, How Are You?