Man, do I feel old

I woke up this morning and felt a little lost. Sunday morning and no football! GAAAA! I knew it was coming. The Super Bowl was last Sunday (go birds!) so logically there are zero games left to play. It happens every year and every year there is that little wrench, the tug at my heart, the what now feeling. In this house on Sundays we watch football. That's pretty much it. We have snacks, lots of snacks. Fritos and bean dip, M&Ms (always plain, never with peanuts), Cokes, pizza, Ruffles and green onion dip. You know, the healthy stuff. Now, (sigh) not a Frito in the house. Unless you count the stale crumbs that are all that remains of last week's bag still in my pantry. 

I didn't always love pro football. Growing up I watched college ball on Saturdays with my older brother and my dad. Dad wasn't much of an NFL fan, but man, did he love college ball. The Fighting Irish, the Crimson Tide, the Rambling Wreck of Georgia Tech, and of course, the local teams, USC and UCLA. While my brother and I sprawled on the living room floor, my dad would kick back in his recliner, explaining what the jumble of men (boys, really) on the screen was doing. There were calls from the screen of Clipping! Holding! Offsides! followed by his quiet voice telling us what those calls meant. When there was a pause on the field my brother and I would try to anticipate what the ref would call. I loved yelling Clipping! Of course I was mostly wrong and my dad would laugh and say "I don't know, let's see". But every once in a while I got it right and he would say "Good call, Susan", which made me yell it even more. I remember when my brother learned the phrase 'you are so obnoxious'. He used it a lot on Saturdays. 

At some point I started watching pro games more than college. I think it's an age thing. See, the difference between watching the NFL vs NCAA is that with the pros you don't necessarily notice the age of the players. You can root for the same player for 15 years and, while you know logically they are aging (along with you), it doesn't hit home the same way watching college players does. A while back I was watching an Alabama game and remarked to my grown son that it was odd watching college ball. You start out watching guys who are a little older than you to rooting for players your own age. Then they are a little younger, then a lot younger until you realize wow, they could be my sons. At which point my son turned to me and said "Mom, they could be my sons". Man, do I feel old.