Here's the thing about me and football: I've always loved it.
When I was growing up it was totally normal to randomly hear the shout of a four-letter word on Sunday afternoons.
My dad was a big football fan. Mostly Vikings but he'd watch anything. And the thing about it was, my mom liked it too. I think that's how I really learned that it wasn't just OK for girls to be football fans but it was also OK to understand the game, really understand it.
We'd all gather in our small 8'x8' den after morning mass. The Sunday paper would still be spread on the kitchen table, the cereal bowls still in the sink. My dad would crack his first beer of the day: a Grain Belt Premium, always. My mom would open the potato chips and get to work on her famous but oh-so-easy cream cheese and garlic salt dip. The clock struck noon and kick-off commenced. It was game time.
And while I'll always call myself a Vikings fan it was Brian who made me a college football fan.
When I first met Brian there were a lot of qualities about him that led me to believe we were a match made in heaven. It wouldn't have been a deal-breaker, but I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a sense of relief when I found out he loved the game of football.
But Brian didn't just love football. He was a Nash. Nashes are born with football wound deeply into their DNA. And thus, football was often a common denominator in our dating years.
Early in our relationship I was invited to Brian's younger brother's high school football games. (Once I even wore his jersey to an away game. 51, baby!) Later I would meet much of his extended family at a Wisconsin vs. Penn State game in Madison.
After Brian and I got married our love of football, mostly college, crossed the line from a fun pastime to an all-day Saturday obsession.
First it was just Wisconsin OR Notre Dame. Then it became both. Then we would maybe flirt with the Goph's game a little. And then we became sincerely interested in the top 25. So of course we had to watch the ranked match-up (or two or three!) of the week.
Then we had kids and I wondered if maybe our priorities might readjust. But instead we just gifted ourselves with a DVR, which, if I'm being honest, just enabled our addition even more.
Often, in the midst of our Saturday rendezvous, I'd turn to Brian and remind him that he had the best wife in the entire world. What wife willingly gives up her Saturdays to watch football for eight plus hours and enjoys it and can competently converse about it? Me. That's who.
Brian's been bugging me about starting a college football blog from a female perspective for a while now. I admit it. I secretly covet the Sports Guy's job. Shouldn't there be a Sports Gal? And if there was, shouldn't I be that gal? (In truth, I'd never get that job because I couldn't tell you a lick of information about basketball or other brown crayon sports like, say, bowling or curling.)
I'd hemmed and hawed about the idea for months but one night I went to bed and got a lightbulb idea. What if I started this so-called blog with Sara? Sara is the only other wife I know who commits herself to college football as much as I do. Why? Because she also married a Nash brother. Sara is my sister-in-law. Our husbands are brothers.
I shared my idea with Sara and she was sold before I even finished speaking. Sara's awesome like that.
And so we begin...
...but before we do I must mention that if you're a reader of my other blog, mamanash.com (shameless plug), you should know that I intend for this blog's style to be a lot different. There probably won't be a lot of touchy feely posts. If you cry, I hope it's because you're laughing. I probably won't always be politically correct and when that happens, try not to be offended. It's all in good fun.
Now, it's game time!
When I was growing up it was totally normal to randomly hear the shout of a four-letter word on Sunday afternoons.
My dad was a big football fan. Mostly Vikings but he'd watch anything. And the thing about it was, my mom liked it too. I think that's how I really learned that it wasn't just OK for girls to be football fans but it was also OK to understand the game, really understand it.
We'd all gather in our small 8'x8' den after morning mass. The Sunday paper would still be spread on the kitchen table, the cereal bowls still in the sink. My dad would crack his first beer of the day: a Grain Belt Premium, always. My mom would open the potato chips and get to work on her famous but oh-so-easy cream cheese and garlic salt dip. The clock struck noon and kick-off commenced. It was game time.
And while I'll always call myself a Vikings fan it was Brian who made me a college football fan.
When I first met Brian there were a lot of qualities about him that led me to believe we were a match made in heaven. It wouldn't have been a deal-breaker, but I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a sense of relief when I found out he loved the game of football.
But Brian didn't just love football. He was a Nash. Nashes are born with football wound deeply into their DNA. And thus, football was often a common denominator in our dating years.
Early in our relationship I was invited to Brian's younger brother's high school football games. (Once I even wore his jersey to an away game. 51, baby!) Later I would meet much of his extended family at a Wisconsin vs. Penn State game in Madison.
After Brian and I got married our love of football, mostly college, crossed the line from a fun pastime to an all-day Saturday obsession.
First it was just Wisconsin OR Notre Dame. Then it became both. Then we would maybe flirt with the Goph's game a little. And then we became sincerely interested in the top 25. So of course we had to watch the ranked match-up (or two or three!) of the week.
Then we had kids and I wondered if maybe our priorities might readjust. But instead we just gifted ourselves with a DVR, which, if I'm being honest, just enabled our addition even more.
Often, in the midst of our Saturday rendezvous, I'd turn to Brian and remind him that he had the best wife in the entire world. What wife willingly gives up her Saturdays to watch football for eight plus hours and enjoys it and can competently converse about it? Me. That's who.
Brian's been bugging me about starting a college football blog from a female perspective for a while now. I admit it. I secretly covet the Sports Guy's job. Shouldn't there be a Sports Gal? And if there was, shouldn't I be that gal? (In truth, I'd never get that job because I couldn't tell you a lick of information about basketball or other brown crayon sports like, say, bowling or curling.)
I'd hemmed and hawed about the idea for months but one night I went to bed and got a lightbulb idea. What if I started this so-called blog with Sara? Sara is the only other wife I know who commits herself to college football as much as I do. Why? Because she also married a Nash brother. Sara is my sister-in-law. Our husbands are brothers.
I shared my idea with Sara and she was sold before I even finished speaking. Sara's awesome like that.
And so we begin...
...but before we do I must mention that if you're a reader of my other blog, mamanash.com (shameless plug), you should know that I intend for this blog's style to be a lot different. There probably won't be a lot of touchy feely posts. If you cry, I hope it's because you're laughing. I probably won't always be politically correct and when that happens, try not to be offended. It's all in good fun.
Now, it's game time!
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