Really?! Together we make football?!

I don't know about you but I've been seeing these ads that are supposed to pull at the heartstrings about everyone's different experiences about why they love football. Obviously geared towards women to pull them in. Well, honey, let me tell you something. I don't need any mushy gushy nonsense. I am safe and secure in the reasons why I love football. I'm sure their stories are nice, but crying isn't my thing (at least crying for no reason). I am sure this is all nice and everything, but they have it wrong. We don't make football. Football makes us. 

Yes. You read that right. Football Makes Us.

I've heard several football players make the statement "Football is what I do not who I am". And I can appreciate that. But we aren't talking about that. We are talking about fans.  

Speaking from personal experience, I can safely say I've never been a bandwagonner.  Nor will I ever be. My loyalties lie in a place that is impenetrable. Can you say you would remain loyal to a team with an iconic coach who for the last 7ish years of his career at FSU continued to coach in the same manner that he had for the last 40 yrs and felt no need to change? I love Bobby but it was time. Can you say you would remain loyal to a team that promised 8 of the last 10 yrs you've been a Jacksonville Jaguar season ticket holder that they were in the midst of a rebuild and it would be "1 more year"!? No. You have no idea.  Because most of you have rooted for the Broncos, Patriots, Packers and Giants. You have no idea what it's like to sit in seats in 90+ degree weather and lose close and sometimes not so close. You have to put up with a league that relishes in belittling a small market franchise albeit one of their own franchises. It's an act of humility, loyalty, perseverance, and at times self-loathing to continue to believe in the team I love. It makes you a tough person. It makes you thick skinned. So while your watching all that PC mushy gushy non-sense, know this. Somewhere in North Florida a girl, a woman, a lady sweats in a teal seat and football has made her.

MDK In The House

We Must Protect This House

Not vicious or malicious just the lovely and delicious. 

Always imitated. Never duplicated.

PS: To the woman at the Titans game taking my cup after the game: good luck to ya. I didn't need it. And besides I left everything on the field. 

It's Not Called the Naive Football League.....

Guys, it's been awhile. I've missed this. Life has been a bit hectic lately. All of the football games, college and professional, kept me very entertained. You may ask why I have titled this post regarding naivete. Because it is a condition. A state of mind. It's suffered by most all of professional football fans. Even I suffer from it, occasionally.
Naivete: Believing that your team would never forsake your prize player. Hey, I wouldn't even say prize in some cases. More like beloved I guess.
What has brought me to this epiphany? The "recent" case of Peyton Manning. I'm not going there on when or if he will play for the Colts or any other team again. I am speaking of something a little more hidden but actually in plain sight. The highly anticipated Stanford vs. OSU Fiesta Bowl on January 2, 2012. I learned more in that game than I ever really wanted to know. Earlier in the day, Bill Polian, Indianapolis Colts GM, and Chris Polian, VP of the Indianapolis Colts, father and son I might add, were fired from the Colts. This event is seemingly out of the blue. As I am watching the game, different coaches and players are discussed. Todd Monken, the offensive coordinator for OSU is seen hovering around WR Justin Blackmon. Justin Blackmon is supposed to be a highly touted draft pick come April. Any idea who Todd Monken's previous employer was? The Jacksonville Jaguars. Then they pan to the other sideline. You know, the one with Andrew Luck on it? Oh, guess who one of the special teams coaches is? Brian Polian. His official title according to Stanford's website is: "Assistant Coach-Special Teams Coordinator/Recruiting Coordinator. Recruiting what? College players to the NFL? Yeah I just went there. In other words, Brian Polian has allowed unfettered access between Andrew Luck and his father Bill Polian. It supposedly began in September when Bill Polian went to "scout" Andrew Luck at the Stanford vs. Duke game. I'm sure it began way before that. Possibly with Andrew Luck not going into the 2011 draft. He was waiting. Peyton was getting older with a crappy offensive line. An injury was lurking. It sprang in the form of an injured neck, that to this date has had 3 surgeries. Did I mention that Andrew Luck has hired an uncle who is a "newbie" in the NFL agent business. Oh and by the way, Andrew Luck's dad Oliver is the Athletic Director for West Virginia. He played in the NFL and he's a lawyer. Andrew Luck coming to Indianapolis will be no mistake. It has been a well planned coming out party. So what about Bill and Chris Polian getting fired? Bill and Jim Irsay, the owner of the Colts, have apparently been friends for around 30 yrs. No real animosity was shared when he was fired. I think he knew his job was done. He had brought Indianpolis to the limelight with Peyton Manning. Now, he's brought the draft's fatted calf- Andrew Luck. Also, I believe he was fired from there being a paper trail just in case "something" came up. He's probably about ready to retire anyway. The point of all this? Indianapolis fans quit being sheep and don't think for one minute that hasn't been collusion to lose the entire season-by the way lose to Jacksonville twice the first time that's happened in franchise history-gain the Number 1 draft pick and try to rule for the next 12 yrs. Jim Irsay has worked a beauty. Indianapolis quit crying. NFL is a business. Peyton's made plenty of money. As a formidable opponent, I really hate to see him go. What I would hate even more was if he was carted off the field on a stretcher and lived his days like Christopher Reeves spent his last days. Peyton Manning is definitely one of the greatest Quarterbacks to ever play. I have been blessed to watch him and stand 5 feet from him. But I know his injury and his surgery. I'm telling you he doesn't need to play more football. He WANTS to and somebody should talk to him about that.
God Bless Y'all Indianapolis. You've got master manipulators up there. Y'all gonna be all right.

Things I have seen...

This blogging thing is new for me. I wanted to let everyone know about my story-how i feel and see football. Although, some may not care, I'll try to give insight from a girl's (chick's) perspective.
I am the third and last child in my family. Some even say I was the caboose. At any rate, I am much younger than my siblings. In an attempt to gain attention, I tried to like the things my family liked. I was lonely and I learned lots of interesting stuff. One of those things was football. In the eighties, Jacksonville was abuzz with trying to get in the NFL. All you would hear is "When we get an NFL team".. or "We want an NFL team NOW". Because there was no NFL team, my father always watched college football. In particular, Florida State Seminoles. He had gone to the University of Florida but for whatever reason hated them. Imagine that. He lived and breathed the Noles. He sometimes wrote letters to Bobby Bowden!? So, I began to watch FSU football. Through the years, I watched and loved the Noles through wide right and wide lefts, through disappointing seasons and 2 National Championships. Painful and prideful though it was, I loved them all the more!! How is that possible? They are MY team. They are not just my dad's or my brother's team...they are MY team. I never even saw them play live and in person until 1994, FSU vs. Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Even though I lived in Atlanta, I refused to Succumb to the UGA or GT bug.
I grew up in Jacksonville until 1991 when I moved to Atlanta. I lived there 13 yrs. and then I moved back with a new husband in tow. A Georgia Tech fan at that!!! I'll explain about boyfriends and sports teams later. When I moved back, the NFL team Jacksonville had begged for in the eighties was in full gear in 2003. I went to a game. It was OK. I didn't really understand how special it was until a couple years later and more understanding about the difference between college and professional football. I had seen "Any Given Sunday", in the theater. But I did not get the professional game until I started going to games. I became a season ticket holder for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2005. As the years have gone by , I have kept my ticket (now down to 1 due to the economy). Dare I say, it's like a 3 1/2 hr. vacation on home game Sundays. ( and the Tailgating doesn't hurt either!) The Jaguars disappoint. They excel. (We will be talking about the excelling at a later date.) These things ultimately do not matter. They are still my team. The team the city hoped for all those years. I understand why people show distress towards them. Ultimately, they don't want to lose this team. Jacksonville will lose it's identity and Tony Kornheiser will be right- "the JAGS stand for Just Another Guy".