Friday, November 12, 2010

Friday, Already?


Why is it that some weeks fly by faster than others?  Maybe it was the holiday yesterday that makes this day seem like a semi-Monday.  Some folks are headed back to work this morning while others are not.  And, for me, this is just one more Saturday.

That's what my brother used to say when he was retired and I was not:  every day's a Saturday.  Now he works again,  and I'm retired.  I don't know when his Saturdays are, but the main thing that differentiates my days is when Bill doesn't get up earlier than I,  and I make the coffee.

When I retired, that the first major change Bill immediately noticed.   The coffee pot wasn't going when he got up.  A new world at the Love house had begun.  Bill makes coffee every day he goes to work. And, I don't mind making it when he doesn't so we get along well in that department.

I also notice weekends because of sporting events.  My sports FANning has increased considerably since retirement; in fact, my latest column, which should be appearing at The River Journal online site soon, details all the teams I currently follow with a special focus on being a "Sounder 'til I Die." 

Back in the work days I rarely kept track of who was playing whom---didn't have time.

My FANaticism is suffering a major confluence problem today.  At 6 p.m. on ESPN2, the Idaho Vandals play the Boise State Broncos at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow. 

"Ambivalence" would hardly have enough punch to describe my feelings about this game.  What's a Vandal grad and a mother/mother-in-law to three Bronco grads and native Idahoan to do? 

I think this is a situation where one has to just look for the positives for both sides and ignore the all-important stats that tell who won. Everyone should win in this game.  The Vandals could pull off one of the most headline-grabbing victories in history if they win. 

Even if they don't win, I'll bet they'll play better than ever in this game. 

Not to be sarcastic, but the undefeated Broncos, if they win, will have the honor of slipping one more place in the national rankings.  They've done that twice in the last two weeks after pulling off impressive victories over tough teams.

Maybe what the Broncos should do this week is lose.  Then, maybe all the experts and the COMPUTER (which the experts now blame for the Broncos never getting any respect) will finally show them some respect and move them up a notch.  Makes sense, doesn't it?

And, if that happens, there will be lots of Idahoans happy cuz both of their teams came out winning.

Enough said about that game, except Willie, who's half Vandal and half Bronco, will be the best reporter in the Kibbie Dome tonight cuz he can see both sides of the coin.  

He spent three years at the University of Idaho and two years or so at Boise State. 

Maybe we can call him an Oreo cuz he's black and gold and blue and orange.  Now, there's an idea for a new cookie.  Maybe we need to come up with it and call it a Gem State sandwich. 

Okay, back to Willie.  He should have a pretty neutral approach to this game as he covers it for the Idaho Falls paper and the Idaho Press Tribune

Now, to my other dilemma as a FANatic today.  

Also, at 6 p.m. on KHQ-TV, the ZAGS play their first regular season game.  

Why did all the stars (that would be Vandals--Broncos---Zags) have to line up to present such a conflict for a fan of all three?  Just doesn't seem right.

Usually we would go to my sisters' house to watch the ZAGS, but tonight Bill and I have decided to stay home and figure out how to root for our three teams at the same time.

The situation is made even more complex because we like to wear the team colors during the games.  I have a ZAGs jacket and sweatshirt, a Boise State T-shirt and sweatshirt and a Vandals T-shirt and sweatshirt.

Bill has his hats, although I'm not sure if there's a Vandal hat in the mix.  Maybe his LSU hat will work cuz it's gold. 

Does this mean that I should turn off all the electric heat in the house and put on six layers of FAN-atic clothing during these two-three hours of constant channel surfing?

Now, I'm thinking that this week really should not have gone by so fast.  I need more time to think my way out of this dilemma. 

This is, indeed, a complex problem in comparison to that of my daughter (the consummate Sounders fan).

She spent the night tripping over mousetraps (3 rats so far in one week) to go outside of her rat-infested house in the darkness on a mission to convince her 1994 Mazda Protege's horn stop blowing and waking up the Wallingford neighborhood. 

First time was around midnight when the horn suddenly started blowing, the landlord called, the roommates woke her up and she went out and somehow made the damn horn shut up.
Then, it got ornery again at 5 this morning.  This time, there was one more step in the procedure. 

The horn blew.  The landlord called the roommates.  The roommates awakened Annie.  Annie went to the car.

Finally, the landlord disconnected the wires to the car battery.  

Yup, Annie's got a problem, but that doesn't come close to our Vandal, ZAGS, Bronco's situation.  

Maybe by Saturday, a resolution for all these situations will have come and we can move on to other problems.  Time will tell; if only it would just slow down. 

Go ZAGS!  Go Vandals! Go Broncos!  Go away, Blowing Horns!

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