"Game day! Play 'til the whistle blows!"

I love football season. I love the excitement, the tailgating, the smells, etc. I've had some involvement with football my whole life, but in recent years football has really taken a hold on my life.

I grew up in the town where my parents' alma mater is located. When I was growing up, the football program was big shit. I'll just say the team was the "winning-est team of the 90's." I loved tailgating with my parents and their friends. I only had to sit through the first half of the game, because the mommies of the group would rather go re-open the tailgate and drink during the second half, which meant that I got to eat more yummy food and hang with the ladies. I was only 12 or so, but I knew tailgating was more fun than sitting in the bleachers.

I went to a very small private college in the South. Tailgating was different there. Frat boys would ask dates to tailgate at "the houses." Everyone got dressed up - sundresses and pearls for the girls; nice slacks and bow ties for the boys. We'd start drinking in all of our finery at 10 am. Since my school was so small, I never gave two hoots about the actual game. Never went to a single one in my four years in college. I never wanted to interrupt the great buzz I had going on. I love an excuse to drink during the day.

Grad school was a total 180. I went to a big university, where you couldn't just tailgate - you went to the games (what???). The Husband and I were dating at this point, and he would explain what the actual game was about. And I started learning. To my shock, I found that there is more to football than binge drinking, and I actually enjoyed what was going on on the field.

Football is something The Husband and I enjoy doing together. This is wonderful, since we pretty much have no similar interests. We agree on most ideas and principles, and we share a profession, but as far as activities go we couldn't be more different. My love for football has extended to pro-football. We got engaged on Super Bowl Sunday. This is no lie. When people say, "when did you get engaged?" I say, "on the most romantic day of the year." They inevitably say, "Awwww. Valentine's Day?" And my reply is "No. Super Bowl Sunday." His team, the NY Giants (how did such a southern girl end up with a raging Yankee?) won that night. He was jumping around and screaming at the end of the game. Our friend looked at me and said, "Was he this excited when he proposed this afternoon?" Not even close! The Husband likes to joke that he popped the question before the game, because if the Giants lost he'd be too dejected to ask. Nice, huh? Any how, I've become a total Giants fan by proxy and sentimentality.

I received a package in the mail today. My MIL sent me a NY Giants t-shirt so that I could support The Husband's team (I like to think of it as "our" team now) this year. I can't wait for the first Sunday game. We will put on our Giants t-shirts and jerseys, sit on our couch and eat pizza, and enjoy each other's company. But tonight...it's all about our grad school alma mater. I heart football. Go Cocks!