Let's Get it On!

“You’re wearing the wrong Jersey!’

I was tending bar last night and since it was the beginning of the NFL season I was proudly wearing Jerricho Cotchery’s # 89.  A gaggle of women were standing in front of me wearing their night-on-the-town outfits and drinking apple martinis.

“You’re wearing the wrong Jersey!!!”  Again.  More of a shriek than a yell.  It didn’t take long for me to figure out who was responsible for hurting my ears.  She was on the chubby side and drunk as a skunk.  Naturally, I assumed she was from Boston.

“What are you, a Patriots fan?”  I said.  No way some Bostonion is going to come in my bar and rag on me ten minutes into the new season.  I loaded my Patriot Fan cut down cannons and fired away.  “Hey, we might have lost ten games last year but none of them hurt as much as that Super Bowl.  Karma’s a bitch huh?”

“But I’m a Giants fan!  They’re the winners!”  Loud.  High pitched squeal.

I’m not printing my response since this website supports all New York teams.  All you need to know is that what I said was very mean (I did not call her fat) and very immature (think 6th grade).  I steeled myself for the usual “Jets fans are losers” treatment.  We’re like plumbers and Giants fans are like investment bankers in the hierarchy of NFL fandom . She started in with the usual blah blah blah.  I would like to note I find nothing more annoying than arguing football with a bandwagon jumper who has no idea what she’s talking about.  I would have run away but I was trapped behind the bar.  That’s when her friends stepped in.

“We went to Hofstra.”  Could it be?  “Wayne Chrebet was the best.  I love the Jets!”  They tore into the bandwagon girl and gave her the business from a Green and White angle.

The Giants were playing and I’m in a club surrounded by Jets fans.  What’s going on here?  The only camaraderie I’m used to is talking about which loss hurt the worst (fake spike anyone?  Testeverde’s achilles?).  Favre has galvanized our Sunday hopes and we’re all in it together.  Sort of.

It was at this moment that I realized how much fun this football season could be. Between my Fantasy League, my knockout pool, and Brett Favre’s arm/cannon I’m going to have football coming out of my ears.  I might as well be garnishing martinis with football-ness because I’ve got so much I don’t know what to with it.

The season has officially begun my friends and for once I am really excited about my team’s chances.  This week though, I need the 49ers to win and Steven Jackson to have a huge game.

One final side note.  I’ve got two tickets to Sunday’s game between the Jets and Dolphins.  Thanks to Mother Nature’s torrent of hurricanes I’ve had trouble selling them.  Two weeks ago I flew into a hurricane and I am sure as hell not doing that again (26 inches of rain).  That’s right.  I’m taking my tickets, the good juju that came with them, a bunch of beer, my roommate that loves the Patriots, some greasy fried food, and I’m watching the game from my couch.  Because… It… Is… Officially… On.