Game Girl

It's so exciting, isn't it?  Another Superbowl set...two teams, and two regions, ready to celebrate.  Two fan bases ready to showcase their community pride to the nation and the world.  And two new sets of fans poised to experience incredible memories that will endure for a lifetime.  This is how life-long fan bases are built.  This is how fans become fans, through thick and thin. This is when memories are created, and then passed down from generation to generation.

My kids - both Ravens fans - are going to have that opportunity now, and I'm thrilled for them!  Yes, of course, I'm a Redskin fan.  Always will be.  And so many people ask me, time and time again, WHY are you a fan of that (insert curse word of choice here) team??  THIS is why.

Because when I was a kid growing up in Northern Virginia, the Redskins were good.  Great, even.  They won 3 Superbowls between my 4th grade and college senior years, and those wins -- and the entire experience -- made quite an impression on me that endures to this day.  The pride of knowing the team from your local region is now on the national stage.  The joy of watching the players you've supported take their game to the highest level.  The excitement of celebrating with your neighbors, your friends, the folks from your church, the kids at your school.  It is something that, as a kid, you never forget, and it binds you to your team forever. 

This new generation of local kids here in our area (and out in California, too) is going to have that same opportunity now.  What a thrill!  My kids will remember this moment forever, and they will most likely remain Ravens fans now no matter what happens.  No matter where they live, or where they go in the future, they'll never forget this moment in time.  When they grow up, head off to college, move away to start their lives, they will take a part of this experience and their civic Ravens pride with them.  I am so excited they will have that experience.

The NFL should never forget that THIS is where true fan bases are built -- at the grassroots level, family to family, community to community, over time.  I heard on the radio the other day that a kid who grew up as a Redskin fan was finally able to understand what its like to experience true pride in his team after watching RG3 play so well this past season and take the "legend" of Redskins fan-dom that he grew up hearing about from his parents and watch it be transformed into real-life experience.

My kids aren't going to have to wait that long, and for that, I say, Go Ravens. 

Ok so your time in 4th grade may seem like any other grade but have you ever wondered what a other 4rth grade glass is like? Well it all depends on what kind of kids you have in your class. In my class the girls and boys all get along great, some things we have in common are: we all like sports, we all like World Record Books, and we all like to talk. Also we do not have a lot of girly-girls. The girls mostly all play the same sports and watch the same shows; same with the boys. Well, there you have it a view of another 4th grade class.

That's all she wrote, folks.  After an incredible season, lead by an amazing quarterback and a team who fought like hell to get to the playoffs, it all ended in a woeful, agonizing loss to the Seahawks yeterday.  And I, for one, am just plain sad.

Yes, it was a great ride, and an unexpected season most of us fans never expected we'd see, at least not this year.  We all hoped RG3 wasn't going to be a bust after all the pre-season and post-draft hype surrounding him.  And it turned out that he not only WASN'T a bust...he was the unquestioned leader -- dare I say a legend-in-the-making -- for this team, right out of the gate.  And then they DID get to the playoffs, and won the NFC East title for the first time in more than a decade to boot.  So it seemed logical, I suppose, that they would come out yesterday, knock off the Hawks, and keep the magic flowing.

But it was not to be.  Instead, we watched RG3 hobble around (thanks A LOT, Haloti Ngata!), watched our receivers drop pass after pass, and saw our Superbowl hopes go up in smoke.  Damn, I hate losing.

Yes, I know.  We finally have hope now.  We have a team we can build on for the future, with a quarterback who, unless he's severely injured, is going to be the foundation of this team for years to come.  We have a good coaching staff, a good draft class, good depth at many positions.  I know.

But it still stings, doesn't it?  I was starting to get giddy just thinking of the notion that we might hit pay-dirt this year and go all the way to New Orleans.  Who can blame me?  Didn't YOU feel that way, too?  Our team caught lightning in a bottle, and I, for one, was ready to believe it could take us all the way.

But the Seahawks had other plans (and let me just say, THAT team is starting to piss me off after knocking us out of the playoffs for the third time), and I guess it just wasn't our year.  The playoffs will go on, but they won't be the same.  We'll have to endure weeks of endless speculation about Griffin's knee.  Listen to a bunch of nonsense about what Shanahan knew and when he knew it (or didn't).  Watch endless replay footage of that ridiculous Dr. James Andrews wearing his silly Redskins hat with the pom-pom on it while staring at Griffin writhing in pain on the field after yet another vicious hit. 

What we won't be watching, unfortunately, is our team competing for the Superbowl.  And in the end, that's all that matters.  For those who say "there's always next year", keep your opinion to yourself, please, and let me wallow for a while in my misery.

Hail to the Redskins.