My Husband is in the Playoffs

I have blogged about this before, but this time I will explain it at a whole new level, because, really, when I think about it for too long I laugh out loud about it. I will admit that occasionally I get annoyed or angry about it, but when I looked around this morning at what it left behind, and as my husband calls me about it to go on and on about them,

I have to laugh.

The Eagles and my husband.

I kid you not.

This man has actually called me 3 times today to see if I can really believe it. That they made it to the playoffs, that they beat Dallas by that much, that some really great teams lost yesterday so that they could have their victory. Andy has officially known me for 10.5 years, we have been in a relationship for that long, because as soon as he met me he knew he would be an idiot to pass me up. ;) (I will share our story sometime later) I am telling you that in 10.5 years I have never once shown any other emotion in regards to the Eagles then happiness and mostly disappointment for my husband, because as I have said before, he is part of the team. So why would he call me to ask me if I can believe it? Because my friends, he is obsessed. I am certain that not only has he called me 3x, he has called all of his friends 3x to ask them the same thing every time, and has probably emailed them on the subject as well. I guarantee, they have all done the same thing, so in essence, they have repeated the same conversation to each other more times than humanly possible. I would put a million dollars that his butt has been sitting in his chair at work all day, on the Internet looking at sport related sites to read about the game.

And guess what? He was there. I try to equate it to a movie I really enjoyed, but there is no possible way that the following day I would talk about the movie numerous times to every one I know, watch the trailer for highlights over and over again, and read about it over and over again.

Sometimes I wish I had the whole team spirit thing going on, but lets face it, I don't. I have Leto Sheppard's jersey. I think we actually got it for the super bowl party when the Eagles lost and Andy punched the visor in my car, shattering the mirror, awesome. I will sit and attempt to watch the game but within 10 minutes I am either making fun of what the commentators are saying, trying to decide who the best looking player on the team was, who as the best throwback jersey, or making fun of Andy Reid,(again, fat man coaching a team of athletes, strange. If he were yelling at me to run faster, I might look at him and say, 'your fat behind can't do it.' It is similar to Weight Watchers in my head, why would you want an overweight person counseling you on your diet? It just does not go together). I then move on to something else that I can do while pretending to be watching the game. I did this in high school as well. I would go to the games, and really make a whole hearted effort to pay attention to the football game, have the my favorite players numbers painted on my cheeks, wear my school colors, the whole bit, but within 10 minutes I was engrossed in similar activities and talking away in the bleachers to my friends. And similar to a conversation with Andy today about an Eagles game, I would say to my friends on the team if they asked if I saw this or that play they made, 'yup, it was awesome.' Now I am done pretending, I don't get that which is sports enthusiasm.

Soapbox: I know that there are girls out there who truly know about football and they watch the games and know all the fancy calls and all of that, yeah for them, I am not referencing them here. But a certain pet peeve of mine is girls in their pink Eagles jerseys acting like the love the Eagles, but lets face it, they might as well just wear a shirt that says, "I would have on my Eagles jersey right now, but it is clearer for you if I just say that I am only wearing it to look cute and to impress this hot guy I am standing next to." Because I can bet you that if you ask pink jersey girl to explain the last play to you, she would look at you like you had 4 heads or walk away.

Back to my husband and his team. I feel like the Eagles always make the playoffs. I sometimes feel like this whole NFL thing might be fixed. Those in the know that watch these kind of things know that Philadelphia Fans are like no other, you piss them off they are going to get loud and draw a lot of attention, which in the end only publicizes the team more = $. Now if we start to get them to improve when it really matters, when it really might count for something, they are like a super team, winning all the games that matter, and in fact crushing a team to smithereens, does that seem a little strange to anyone else?

I am NOT a total Eagles hater, if that's what I sound like. It is just sometimes a girl gets a little overloaded and I do find the obsessions quite funny. My basement, have spoken on it before. It was completed first when we moved into our home because Andy had to have the biggest HD television known to man to watch the Eagles on so that it seems as though we are right there, floating over the players like little guardian angels willing them to make the perfect plays. The decor; Eagles. A little less than half of the basement is the playroom, and it is as if there is this imaginary line that we are not to cross into Eagles territory with toy set up. Sorry Charlie, we are about to cross over to the other side.

To cap off the explanation, I will give you my husband on game day, ok, one step further, actually going to the game. I do not care what he thinks. He goes to a lot of Eagles games. I am not complaining, sometimes it is nice to have a Sunday to get this or that done and visit with people and do non-football related things, but he will actually try and tell you that he doesn't. Andy and his friends go to more Eagles games than anyone I know, lets put it that way. They have been to a playoff game or more every time the Eagles are in them, and actually contemplated the thousands of dollars it would have been to go to the Superbowl. The wives nixed that. You might think this may cost Andy quite a bit of money. Nope. He loves the Eagles so much that they are one of his contacts with the Chamber which of where he is employed. I would put up a stink about him getting free tickets through his friends or through work, but he knows the deal and covers, we just sat in box seats to watch Disney on Ice. I wanted to know who actually pays to sit in box seats for Disney on Ice? Seems strange, but it was nice. And you better believe I will be on him to get Kendall and I tickets to see the Dancing with the Stars tour.
So, game day. Let's say the game is at 4 p.m., like it was this past weekend. Actually, correction, it does not matter the time of kick off, Andy and his friends are there by 9a.m., cooking breakfast in the parking lot. His one friend actually has an Eagles vehicle specifically designed for tailgating. Could you imagine if I had a crafting RV parked outside that I drove to all craft fairs? If it were modge podged with pieces of scrap booking paper, pictures, and stickers? Sounds insane right? To the Eagles fan, this is not. So they get all decked out in layer upon layer of clothes, with their 'bigger' jerseys, because everyone has different jerseys depending upon the weather and what you may or may not have to wear under the jersey. They have so much man food that it would seriously feed a family of 6 for a month. Do they get cold? No they have a generator with a space heater. They pack silly games, yell, holler at each other, chant, what have you. Does it ever get old? No. Never. Not once.

So by the time they get to the game their adrenaline is so high thanks to the thousands of others doing the same exact things, and beer, that the game itself is do or die.

I have mentioned this also before in a previous blog its reasoning, but lucky for us, the Eagles won yesterday.

My husband's reaction again, is like he is part of the team. It is like a victory of a battle that he was part of. Sure I was happy for the team, but Andy I am 100% certain felt the same level of elation as Brian Westbrook. (He also would have felt the loss on the same level as well)

Don't even mention to me when they were having a stinky start and middle to the season. Andy was so angry with Andy Reid and Donovan that at times I think he felt personally hurt by them and their constant defeats as if they were doing it purposefully to him to make him angry.

So the remnants of the game? I don't even have to ask who was there and what they did it was clear by walking around my house this morning.

1. Gonzo was there. (yes my husband as a friend with the nickname, Gonzo, it is all starting to fit together now for you isn't it?)There is a new Under Armor hooded sweat shirt on the floor. Gonzo works at Under Armor so there is typically some new something or other every time they are together.
2. Things got a little rowdy. On the top of the railing to go downstairs is my husbands skull cap, under the cap, a brown long haired wig. I now have a collection of wigs my husband is gathering from Josh. Who thinks when they are packing to go to a game...'Don't forget the wigs!' Because they are essential for game day, right? Don't ask me.
3. It was a great game, ticket on bureau, because Andy wants to look at it every time he goes by and recall the sweet victory.
4. There is heartburn. Because my husband thought it might be a good idea to stuff a box from WaWa in the fridge that contained a 2 foot Italian Hoagie with just 2 small pieces left. Have you seen a 2 foot Hoagie Box? Does it seem like it might fit in a fridge properly? No, it doesn't. And why did we save the two pieces? So that every time we open the fridge the lovely smell of onion and italian spices can fill the kitchen air? It was good, I had a half of a piece, but it wasn't worth the box jam up in my fridge. There is also open packets of heartburn medicine left on the counter, yummy.

The season is almost over. Well not quite, there is an away game on Sunday, which means party at our house, because that is what we do.