We Interrupt This Marriage to Bring You Football Season

This Sunday, the most anticipated sporting event of the year will take place.  The New York Giants and New England Patriots will face off at Super Bowl XLVI which is taking place at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

My husband has been eagerly waiting for this pseudo-American holiday since the beginning of football season.  Jason is already preparing to buy his squares, consume copious amounts of beer, and fist pump for Tom Brady more times than I can count.
Jason has always been a sports enthusiast.  He played semi-professional tennis and volleyball while in college and afterward.  He is an avid golfer; skier; basketball, bocce ball and horse shoe player; and, by God, he is even a great bowler.  Jason never met a sport that he didn’t play. 

So in the early years of our marriage, Jason enjoyed watching and attending sporting events here and there – but he really wasn’t obsessed – particularly with football – until he joined a Fantasy Football League.
I have to admit, I was jealous of football in the beginning.  From September until February, our marriage was interrupted and I was a football widow every Sunday and Monday.

When I was pregnant with Shane, he won his first “League” season.  We used the money to purchase a big screen TV because, with a baby on the way, I told him he would be watching a LOT of games from home.  And he did when Shane was little but, once our boy got a bit bigger, Jason started going back to “church” on Sunday mornings.
Church was anything but church.  Jason worshipped the almighty “League” at various sports bars in the beach cities.  Sometimes with his buddies (Yarn!) and even sometimes by himself.  On occasion, Shane and I could be found at Underground (formerly known as Besties), Shark’s Cove or On the Rocks, joining him for a little tête-á-tête. 

With a toddler at home, I realize that this was Jason’s time to decompress after a long week at work.  But, the bigger picture was that he loved the research (and gambling aspect) of the Fantasy League.  Not being a big football fan myself, I would moan and groan until he won and came home brandishing cash.  In that hypocritical way, I would admire his analytical tenacity. I’m sure it was a little bit of luck, but mostly that he did his homework.
In recent years, I have grown accustomed to my periods of widowhood. I have even grown to enjoy the benefits of having no husband for most Sundays and part of a Monday. 

Shane and I would take this time to have fun adventures or, when Shane napped, I could curl up in bed with a book or spend a few hours catching up on my vampire movies and shows.
Then, when Shane was four years old, we took him to Vegas.  While at the arcade in the New York New York Casino, he won a small Tom Brady action figure and he has been a Patriot and Brady fan ever since.  Today, father and son will watch in excited anticipation as Tom Brady and Eli Manning go for the gold.

However, Super Bowl is a whole other ball game for me.  When I first saw the Roman numerals used to identify this year’s game, Super Bowl XLVI, it wasn’t gold but the Louis Vuitton logo that immediately came to my mind. The number 46 never looked so luxurious to me.
Most years, I look forward to the socializing that takes place during Super Bowl, and this year is no exception.  I openly admit to being an “early” American Idol fan and I’d be lying if I wasn’t curious to see Kelly Clarkson sing the National Anthem; all those hysterical – and expensive – commercials; and, the highlight of my evening will be the Madonna Half Time show.

[Side note: I had the chance to see Madonna up close and personal on her Hard Candy Concert Tour a few years back – best concert of my life – ever!]
But I would totally be lying if I said that I wasn’t a little bit more excited about this year’s game since the Giants are in the running.  Even though they represent with the New York name, they are based in New Jersey and well…you know…you can take the girl out of New Jersey, but you can’t the Jersey out of the girl.

Jason and Shane are both Patriot fans and will be rooting for Tom Brady on Sunday, but I will be cheering on my G-men with hopes that, after the game, Eli Manning gets to say, “I’m going to Disneyworld.”

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