Team Searching...

I'm not here to rag on The Hub. I'm going to tattle that he watched football for no less than 7 hours straight yesterday. But I don't mean it as a bad thing. I'm actually kind of in awe. The man does not like TV shows, occasionally watches the news and doesn't have a "sit still" personality. So to watch game after game, after game yesterday is actually quite impressive. We're a football-loving family so Soccer Chick and I dropped in on a few parts of each of the games. And then we moved on. But with all that football in the house, it left me reflecting on my thoughts of the game.

Our family went to the Chantilly High football game this past Friday. Watched them stomp all over Edison High's poor team. 70-29. You read that right, 70. As in seventy! At some point in this killing Bball Girl asked me who we knew on this team we were cheering so loudly for. Um. No one. All our son's friends have graduated and this really is a squad we don't know. After she said that I kind of realized it is much more fun to watch a game when you know someone playing, or at least when you know OF someone playing.

Fast forward to Sunday evening, I watched a bit of the Packers and Broncos game. I watched highlights of the Eagles and 49ers game (they lost to them?) and I watched some of the Lions and Cowboys game (the Lions told me to tell you "roarrrrrrr"). As I watched each of these games I realized, once again, sadly, I do not have a "team." Almost everyone has a "team". Almost everyone has an NFL jersey and announces their loyalty to their football city of choice. But, then there's me. I don't have a team. I have been saying I am going to get one for quite some time now. But, how exactly, does one develop this incredible loyalty. Have you seen actual fans at actual football games? If you don't get ridiculous with your fan-game, you got no game at all.

As I have pondered who should be my team of choice, I have come up with the following reasons to like one team over another. First, I like Michael Oher. I'm ready to sign up as a Baltimore Raven. Why do I like him? Well, I love the underdog. I could watch the movie Blindside many, many times. I love the story of the one who came from nothing and battled to be something. So like a great groupie, once the movie came out, I feel in love with the idea of Michael Oher's life story. I want his adopted mom's story to be my story. If I was a rich woman I would adopt all those children who need love, stability and support. Yet, I couldn't tell you the name of one other player on that team. There's a Flacco, I think? For the official record, I did catch a few minutes of my boy Michael doing his thing yesterday.

Second, I like Aaron Rodgers. To combat your thoughts of my groupie-ness, I don't like him because he won the Superbowl this year. Although, confession: I never heard of him before that. Laugh with me. So, alright,

that's how he became a somebody to me, but I like him. I like the way he plays, his after game interviews, the way he interacts with his team. I love his championship belt move after each touchdown, and the way he does that dive into the crowd when he runs a touch down in.

Third, I like Michael Vick. This sort of goes towards the underdog story, and no, there is no pun intended there. I feel bad for him. I am that person who, like my mother, will say everyone has a good heart. Right ma? I think that putting massive amounts of money in the hands of young people without proper guidance is a recipe for disaster. Mike's tragic decisions with dogfighting weren't surprising. Sad, but not shocking. Yet to me, he stands out as someone trying very hard to redeem himself. And let's face it, the man is incredibly talented. Try as I might, to sign on as an Eagles fan, I'm having difficulty doing it. Perhaps if they were playing better these last few games it would be easier. But hey, I guess that statement alone shows I am not a true fan. True fans will fight someone over speaking badly over their team, even if their team is down in the dumps in performance. I'll keep looking for my team.

Fourth, and finally, I can tell you who I don't like. I'm not a fan of Romo. He, and his cowboys, can go on home. I'm not a fan of Rothlisberger, although Soccer Chick is a die-hard Steelers fan (how did she do that exactly???). And anything Manning rubs me the wrong way.

So what are my choices, friends? Eagles, Ravens, Packers and definitely not Cowboys or Steelers. Well, that's funny to me. Because we're supposed to grab ahold of a team and declare our unwavering loyalty, but these guys switch teams all the time. Why can't we? Why can't I like a guy instead of a whole team? I mean, if your favorite player leaves a team, you still like the team, right? Strangeness. My head was spinning yesterday listening to Oldest and the Hub talk about who used to play for them, but now plays for them, and soon will play for the other thems. My goodness, who can keep up? I think I might be better suited to sit on the sidelines of nobody. I think I'm safer being a fan of individual players, rather than swearing my face-paint to one specific color code. I'm fascinated by people and personalities. I'm making my judgments of an entire team based on the behavior of a few players I like and don't like. Makes complete sense to me. But then, I'm the one with no team to swear my allegiance to. Everyone else has one.

Still haven't quite figured out how people do that exactly. At what point in life is your team determined? Puzzling. I certainly missed my window of opportunity during my youth. I can't say I knew what downs and pass interference was until Oldest was in high school. Sad, I know. It's confession I told you. Appreciate my honesty, and understand that I'm working towards a goal here. One day...have a "team".