I Am So Ready for the Game Tonight...Are YOU?

football dishcloth by Bunny Stamping
free knit pattern available here

My love of football is part genetic and part accident. I grew up watching the games (mostly whining that Dad was watching the games) with my dad. Still, I was all about Steve Grogan. Do the math. Yes, I AM only 29!

I loved football in high school. Okay, I had a crush on Dennis whatshisname who was on the team. Our team was awful, but they were ours and they tried. I doubt any of them went on to play college ball.

Then I began a job selling men's dress clothing (on commission) which required me to work two Sundays out of three. That was when I REALLY learned to LOVE football. You see, the rest of the store could be an absolute mob scene, packed with female shoppers on Sunday afternoon, but the men's department would have crickets chirping and salespeople praying that those women would reward their dear, hard-working husbands with something, anything, just so we would have someone to help, something to DO!

It took me about a month to figure out there was a rhythm to Sunday business, a pattern. And that pattern followed the New England Patriots schedule. So I started timing my lunch hour on Sunday to coincide with the start of the third quarter because THAT was the slowest part of the business day. I'd be in the employee lounge for most of the second half. Pretty soon, the guys were asking ME about player stats and injury reports.

football helmet dishcloth by Knitted Kitty Designs
free knit pattern available here

I fully understood the heartbreak that once was the fate of the native New England sports fan. Our mantra for so long was, "There's always next year." But next year never seemed to arrive.

Enter the holy Trinity of the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick, and Tom Brady, who proved that yes, it was possible for New England to win THE BIG GAME. And they brought home a trinity of those glorious trophies in four years.

So, tonight, it's easy enough to predict where I'll be. And you all know who I'll be rooting for. But I will also say this: The Bills are one hell of a football team, and if our boys can't get it done tonight, at least they won't be losing to the Jets.

Happy Footballin'!