Confessions From the Wife of a Fan

Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. The expectations were clearly laid out for me before I said “I do.” I had to convert. Not religion mind you, but teams. I had to convert from a Dallas fan to an Eagles fan.

I’ve always liked football - I grew up watching it. For the first 9 years of my life I lived in Dallas. My mom made me a little vest with the fringe and blue stars, which I would wear while watching “The Boys” with my dad. I usually lasted about 15 minutes before falling asleep on the couch. Then I got married and agreed to denounce “The Boys”. Now I am a member of the Eagles family. A year-round member.

You may think NFL football runs from September thru February. You would be wrong. The draft order is released in February, soon after the Superbowl. From then until the actual draft (towards the end of April) there is a lot of research to be done regarding who your team is looking at. The endless hours of discussion online and on the NFL network could tire even the most emphatic philosophy student. I refuse to even acknowledge this part of the season. It makes me tired.

The draft takes place in April and after it is over fans spend hours learning more about “their” new players. I say “their” because if you are a true fan you consider yourself part of the organization (even though I’m still waiting for my paycheck from the franchise). Training camps start in July. There are ample opportunities for fans to attend training sessions, dinners, and autograph sessions. It’s the best chance to get up close and personal with the players. It’s also time consuming and very expensive.

The pre-season starts in August. These games usually feature the second and third string players. If you are a true fan you follow all of the players, not just the stars. Unfortunately that means watching each pre-season game in its entirety.

The actual season begins around the first week of September and I lose complete control over my TV every Sunday. It starts with the Fox Pregame Show and continues until the late game is finished. We have been devoted Sunday Ticket subscribers for years, so sometimes we watch several games at once. It’s no wonder so many people have been diagnosed with ADD. Then there are the Monday games. I instituted Spaghetti Monday a few years ago. With Nick, my brother-in-law, and all their friends coming over to watch the game I had to find a way to feed them all for under $50. I get really tired of spaghetti.

So that’s my year. It could be worse. In football the teams only play once a week. I feel sorry for the baseball and basketball wives. Uh, oh I better wrap it up. My husband is nagging me to use the computer to check out the latest draft picks…

Happy Birthday Olivia!

It's official - my baby isn't such a baby anymore. Olivia is 4, but she acts like she's in her teens. We had a Care Bear party and invited her cousins and some neighborhood friends. The grandparents were all sad they couldn't attend, but made up for it by spoiling her rotten!

The kids created their own Care Bear symbols on their own shirts. It was fun to see them in action!