Football Obsession

I love football. More specifically, I love REDSKIN football. I love everything about the team that has become my obsession for the past 20 years. I admit it...I am totally nuts. Everyone who knows me knows I am completely and totally crazy for anything and everything burgandy-and-gold (for the uninitiated, those are the Redskins colors). This is a blog about my hobby...my obsession...my die-hard fanaticism of the team I love. Join me on my wild ride through the football season and beyond. I guarantee you won't be disappointed, even if you ARE a Dallas fan, or even if you hate football altogether (gasp!)

I often say I'm the only mom in the pre-school carline pick up who listens to sports talk radio instead of The Wiggles. It's true. (That line, by the way, won me tickets a few years ago to a Redskins game when I was selected as one of the "craziest 'Skins fans" in DC by that very same sports talk radio station. I even got to go down on the field to watch the players warm up before the game...talk about a dream come true!)

I'm the crazy fan who watches all the games alone because I can't stand having anyone talk to me while the Skins are on the field. I watch hours of pre- and post-game coverage of each and every Redskin's game, including the preseason. I blog, I "chat" with other fans, and I sometimes even call in to the local sports talk radio station to vent if I'm really upset after a game.

Speaking of the games, I never, ever, EVER miss one. If we have family obligations or other events on Sundays when the Skins are playing, I either don't go, or I go and hover by any TV I can find to make sure I don't miss one snap. It infuriates me when people call my house when the Redskins are playing. I can't understand why people keep doing it, especially since I either won't answer the phone or I'm so rude I tend to scare people off. (You know who you are, people!)

I religiously follow a number of Redskin blogs and "insider" sites to ensure I am up-to-date on all the latest info on the team, even during the off-season. For me, there IS no off-season. I scrape and claw for any nugget of info I can find about the Skins, all year long. It never gets old.

It's weird, this obsession of mine, but I've come to embrace it. I love how being a crazy fan of a team like the Redskins makes me feel connected. Being a Redskin fan means being part of a community. It's a shared history between me and all of those other fans out there who love the team as much as I do. It's the promise of the future. There is tradition. There is pagentry. There is intrigue. You never know what the next season, the next game, the next play, will bring. How can you not get excited about that?

Of course, there are downsides. Like, say, being a fan of a team that hasn't won anything of import since 1992 -- my senior year of college. Or having to always remind Redskin haters of the "glory days", while knowing all the while how pathetic I sound.

Oh yes, there is heartbreak. But nothing in life is worth doing if it isn't done fully, with heart, with purpose, with optimism. That's how I view my "fan-dom"...it's part of the fabric of who I am. And I'm proud of it, even if I do look like an idiot on game days sometimes. That's a price I'm willing to pay...for the team I love.
Posted by gamegirl at 5:02 PM

1 comments:

  • Amy said...
    July 10, 2010 at 9:36 PM

    Awesome entry! Love the picture! Picked days to go to camp yet? I'm taking the little dude (who by the way wore that awesome shirt yesterday), heck, maybe I can get everyone to go.

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