Saturday, November 27, 2010

Football Match-ups

Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away ...

I always wanted to use that line. But, it is how I feel about the Michigan - Ohio State match-up. I used to be a huge Michigan fan. Mostly because Bo Schembechler was at the helm of Michigan and the legendary Woody Hayes coached Ohio State. It made the annual game so exciting and fun. I can't even tell you who coaches M now. The last time I listened/watched was probably in 2006. While painting the living room and dining room of our old house in Michigan.

I think my fondness for the game is due to the memories of the 1978 Wolverine/Buckeye game Thanksgiving weekend. I think DH and I sealed our fate that day when he acted slightly out of character and pulled me on to his lap at a gameday party. A little over a month later we started bowling together as replacement bowlers on a team on one of the singles leagues the Ford Pendulum club sponsored. Then we started dating and the rest is history.

So while I have a lot of sentiment for that particular match-up, I don't really care if Michigan gets their but whipped.

Even further back, I was encouraged by a former boyfriend to like his team, the Michigan State Spartans - he was a freshman football player at MSU. I will admit that I would at that time rather root for any team other than MSU. Or Michigan for that matter. Back then I was a Notre Dame fan. Over the years, I became a fan of the underdog. I was always thrilled with Notre Dame or Northwestern clobbered one of the Michigan teams, or any Big Ten team for that matter. Today, I am again rooting for the teams I perceive to be the underdogs - Michigan against OSU and Michigan State against Penn State. I would really love to see MSU win a title.

Also playing today is my Southeastern Conference team, Tennessee. They expect to go to a bowl game, they have a 30 year streak of going to bowl games. I think they need to play well today to prove their worth. To me at least. Our own Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles - Ohio Valley Conference - finished 5-11 for the season. Their first two games were humiliations delivered by TCU (Texas Christian) and Arkansas. The rest of the games they lost were really close games except against Eastern Kentucky and Murray State.  TCU is undefeated and their game may be worth watching tomorrow. Also worth watching is the Arkansas - LSU lineup. Even the sports commentators agree with me on that.

Thanksgiving Day we watched the second half of the Lions-New England game. I wish we had watched the first half and then turned off the TV. Typical Detroit Lions game. Typical Thanksgiving day loss! Then last night we watched the end of the Nevada-Boise State Game. Talk about an exciting college game! It was super fantastic.

For those of my friends and family who know me and my attitude towards football, which is generally "Can we watch something else?" all I can say is that I am living in the South now and it is rubbing off on me. Next month Cookeville hosts the state high school championships, maybe we'll get tickets for that.

Clipart courtesy Clipartheaven.com



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