Are YOU Ready for Some Football?

What a great weekend! If you were unable to catch the Giants vs. Eagles game - it was awesome!!! Yes, I am a H-U-G-E football fan and even though I am a Pennsylvania transplant from Long Island, I am still a Giants fan through and through. I have learned that not a lot of ladies appreciate the sport - so you can either skip the post or read about how I became a fan of football.

I first became interested in football in junior high (now called middle school). It was January and I had been hearing the boys in my class go on and on about this thing called the "superbowl". Didn't know what that was. Prior to this year, I didn't really care either. I learned about the game because we actually played it in gym (I don't know what my teacher was thinking having 7th grade boys and girls playing football together!!!). My team captain wanted me to be a receiver because I was a fast runner but I wasn't sure about my ability to catch the ball and I didn't want to be tackled so, believe it or not, I played on the line. Yes, there I was, less than 100 pounds, trying to keep the other team from getting to my QB. Again, I am not sure it was the smartest decision for our teacher (definitely would not happen today) but I now could understand the game if I watched it on TV. But knowledge alone would not be credited with inducing that (watching football on TV)...rather is was a loud mouthed dolphins fan that would catalyze my journey into the world of football.

One of the boys was a big Dolphins fan who was spouting off about what the Dolphins were going to do to the Redskins. The others were saying that the Redskins were going to trounce them (the Dolphins). I didn't understand all the lingo but I did know that the Dophins Fan was "talking trash" and was getting on my nerves. It was there, after school, waiting for the bus, that I decided I was going to watch this thing that they called the "superbowl". I announced this to my family and my Dad and I got situated to watch the game - we had our soda, popcorn and M&M's. I rooted for the Redskins - I think my dad did too. They WON! I never said an unkind word to the Dolphins Fan (I don't see the need to be an obnoxious fan) but I was so glad to NOT hear him talk in such a taunting manner that Monday. And so my football journey began...

I had to get to know the teams before I could pick one - its my nature. At this point I was just enjoying football. I liked the Redskins because they beat the Dolphins in that Superbowl. I thought Joe Montana was amazing on the 49ers - he was an accurate QB and cute to boot! The Montana-Rice completions made TV football fun for me to watch. I also liked Jim McMahon of the Bears during the year of "The Superbowl Shuffle". I know, I know, McMahon had a "bad boy" reputation but you have to admit he had a good year. I didn't follow him much over the years but never stopped liking Montana or Rice - regardless of what team they played for. It took me some time to "pick a team". I didn't really watch a lot of football on Sundays - Monday night football was my weekly fix. During High School I started to get to know the Giants - Phil Simms, Carl Banks and LT. Soon after that (although I don't remember what finalized it) I became an official Giants Fan.

College introduced me to Simms who I learned was a Giants fan as well. Perfect. It was Papa that brought me to my first Giants game at the Meadowlands! We now have two boys and guess what? Jeter is a professed Giants fan at 5 and Barber (at 2)...well, yesterday he clearly said "Go Giants" with just a little prompting from his Mommy. LOL. As previously stated, we are not obnoxious fans - I didn't rub the Eagles loss in my neighbors' faces this morning at the bus stop and Simms was quite considerate of his friends' feelings last night - but we are dedicated none the less. All of our Giants paraphenalia came out last Sunday and is set up in the basement. For those of you that don't know, our garage floor is painted "Giants Blue" with a large, white "NY" in the middle. Yesterday I wore the Shockey jersey, Simms wore Barber's jersey, Jeter wore his Shockey T-shirt and Barber had on his Giants T-shirt. We were certainly a sight and will continue to be...Go Giants!

Here's to another great season of football!