More football reading before the Super Bowl...

This is another story for anybody who's not that sure if they like football, not so sure they understand football, know they want nothing to do with the sport - a beautifully written essay by Aly Semigran on the show Friday Night Lights, which was about small town Texas high school football, but really about so much more. I was also never really into the high school football culture and was also reluctant to watch this show at first, but when it was on top of its game (pun intended), which it usually was, this was one of the best shows on television - you fell in love with the characters, and they made you kinda sorta fall in love with football. So, read the story at Television Without Pity here, and then even if you're not convinced that football is for you, don't worry about the Super Bowl - go and watch Friday Night Lights instead!

Go now - go! :)

Less than a week until the Super Bowl, y'all...

I've been ignoring a lot of big sports news out there - Alex Rodriguez's suspension from the 2014 MLB season, Dennis Rodman defending his new bestie Kim Jong Un. It's been crazytown overload. I actually get a sports break for the most part from now until April because I don't watch basketball or hockey but this Sunday is the Super Bowl of sports events - the Super Bowl. Yes, it's that time of year again. This year, the big showdown will be between the scrappy Seattle Seahawks and the heavyweight Denver Broncos. I used to hate the Super Bowl because I didn't like watching grown men cry whenever they lost it but now I love it - the social aspect if you choose to go to a Super Bowl party, as well as the fun of the game. Some years, of course, I get more invested than other years. Last year, I wasn't rooting for anyone until I realized I got a rush of excitement every time the Ravens scored...that's when I knew I at least had a preference. Obviously, whenever the New York Giants make an appearance, this fan girl goes wi-i-ild. This year, I have no horse in the race yet again. Of course, it kinda rocks that it will be played at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands, home of the New York Giants and New York Jets - at least we're representin' somehow! But this whole postseason wasn't about rooting for anybody, since my team embarrassed me so terribly during the year that they had no chance of showing up - basically it was about rooting against Tom Brady. But actually, I should amend what I just said - there was no TEAM I was rooting for; I am, however, a huge Peyton Manning fan. So it was sweet sweet SWEET when he and the Broncos showed Brady and the Patriots what for...so to keep things straight, I am not rooting for the Broncos in this Super Bowl. I am rooting for Peyton Manning in this Super Bowl. I even have a jersey to wear to prove that - I'm going to wear my Peyton Manning jersey on Sunday. It's a Colts jersey. So yes, I hope the Broncos win...my brother-in-law will be over the moon if they do...he may never come back down. But I hope they win so that Manning wins. And then I will happily embrace my sports respite until baseball starts back up in April.

Wait...the winter Olympics start in about a week, don't they? I don't usually care if there's no one big name competing but I think my 10 month old daughter is totally going to love the colors and music and movement of figure skating. But after that, THEN, I will enjoy my sports respite...unless the Knicks or Islanders or Rangers make a playoff run.

It never ends, does it? :)

And for anyone who doesn't really understand football who might need a bit of a primer before Sunday's big game, here's a fun little British instructional video on the ins and outs of American football...

This New York sports fan puts 2013 behind her, looks forward to 2014

2013, as I have stated before, was a terrible year for New York sports teams. I'm glad to be able to (almost) put it behind me. I'm looking forward to a fresh start with all my teams in 2014. Until then, though, what do we have to distract us...we have the Winter Olympics coming up in a few weeks. I don't usually get into the Olympics too much unless there's a big storyline going on, a la Michael Phelps or the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan rivalry. My 9 month old daughter however recently enjoyed watching Blades of Glory with Jon Heder and Will Ferrell so I imagine she'll like the costumes, music, and movement of actual figure skating. We also have the NFL playoffs. I don't have any teams to root for, but there are two quarterbacks in it who I love - Aaron Rodgers on the Green Bay Packers and Peyton Manning on the Denver Broncos. Of course, I rooted for both of them last year in the playoffs and jinxed them into losing, so I'm not going to say I'm rooting for them or that I want them to win...just sayin' I like 'em.

A happy, fun, and most importantly, a safe New Year to you all - may we all have a good year in sports to look forward to in 2014!

This year in sports (or how I want to bang my head against a wall)

Well, the Baltimore Ravens win last night on Monday Night Football eliminated the New York Jets from the playoffs, officially making this the Worst Year Ever for New York Sports. ::Sigh:: I'm not a Jets fan, but they were my last hope to root for any New York team in any sport to have a shot at maybe not the title, but at least a postseason appearance. I know Jets and Mets fans are used to this kind of disappointment, but in addition to those perennial losers (no offense intended), we saw the Yankees suck and miss the postseason, we saw the Giants suck and miss the playoffs...hockey and basketball are in the middle of their seasons but the Islanders are in last place, the Rangers are middle of the pack, and the Nets and Knicks aren't looking good either. What's a sports fan to do? I'm tempted to take up some other pasttime, such as needlepoint or taxidermy. I'm just glad my daughter is too young to remember this year in sports - I want her to be proud of being a New York sports fan, not want to bang her head repeatedly against a wall in frustration. Although she does seem to be leaning toward being a Jets fan, which might cement her as her grandfather's favorite grandchild (she's his only grandchild) but might mean she'll have to get used to banging her head repeatedly against a wall in frustration.

Here's looking forward to 2014!

Just because there is nothing good to write about New York sports at the moment...

From Sports-Funny Page on Facebook...this cracked me up. Even though the New York Giants (just barely) won this week, I am overall in need of a good laugh to get me through this entire year, across the board, sports-wise. Although I'm a New York fan first and foremost, I do love me some Peyton Manning. I have 3 Manning jerseys, and only 2 of them are Eli, but I think my most favorite member of this tongue-in-cheek but really quite accurate list is Uncle Rico. Dude spends so much time taping his passing practices instead of watching his nephews Kip and Napoleon, he best be on this list!!

For those of you who didn't give up and kept watching...

 

They did it, they did it! The New York Giants finally won their first game...it's only the end of October, after all... My daughter wore her Giants onesie for the first time this season in the hopes that it would bring our team good luck (we're Irish...we can't help but be superstitious...), and whaddyaknow, it worked! Good thing she has three of these cuz she's gonna be rockin' them every Sunday for the rest of the season.

Of course, it was a really sloppy win, but at this point, I'll take it...anything that gets the players over what seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle of simply, y'know, winning. Maybe now we can start to look forward to seeing more Victor Cruz salsa-dancing and not having to hide our faces in shame in public anymore!

From TelevisionWithoutPity, a post tailor-made for this blog: Throw Like a Girl: My Boys, Friday Night Lights and Sports Night‘s Fiercest Females

I couldn't have written this post better myself, though the idea of a round-up of some of TV's fiercest sports-loving females is one I plan on stealing and expounding on in the future. Since Aly Semigran's post is so spot-on, I'll just let you read it at TelevisionWithoutPity.com here, and just add that My Boys used to be one of my favorite shows, and P.J. Franklin is one of my favorite characters and totally makes me want to be a sportswriter. I AM in need of a job, so maybe that's something I should look into - I have a background in journalism and a love of sports, if anybody reading this is hiring! ;)

The cast of My Boys