FOOTBALL!!!

so i've been invited to be a mad woman this spring. kate has asked me to join her team for the BSSC 2006 spring football season.


WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!

i'm so excited. i've already decided that i'm going to try to get an extra t-shirt because, unbeknownst to my new teammates, toby is going to be our new mascot. at the moment, we're mulling over possible team names. there are a few that make this blogger blush, but here are some of the others:

1) Chuck Norris & Co.
2) Burt Reynolds 4 Life!!!
3) The Never Was
4) Jabronis
5) Steelers Suck
6) Hurricane Ditka

i'm partial to #s 1 & 4. anybody have any ideas?

and just wait. my football skillz are a little rusty, but when i get back into it...

the only thing i'm not terribly fond of is the gender issue. it's a co-ed league, so they're trying to be fair and require that guys pay attention to and include the girls. for as many nice guys out there who happily do that anyway, there are three times as many jicks who think that boobs preclude athletic ability. and yes, i said jicks. you can thank steve for that one. anyway, while i am completely glad that the league is stomping out gender discrimination one drunken football game at a time, it kind of irks me. i guess it's because i'm used to playing with boys. growing up, there WERE no girls or co-ed soccer leagues in my area. i had to jump in on a boys' team. so to get any playing time, i had to be as skilled, as fast, and as fearless as my teammates. so mud, grime and bodychecks don't really bother me. they're a part of sports, in my mind. and so is the idea that, if you want to play, than you need to step up and be noticed for your own skills and not because of bylaw 3.A, section 7, paragraph 2D.

one of my greatest moments in sports came in high school. i was the only girl signed up for flag football, and the guys on my team were really accepting and helped me learn a thing or two. we were up for a championship, playing defense, and the center and QB laughed that i was on the line. the ball was snapped, and before the QB even realized what'd happened, i'd slipped by his line and sacked him. they were pissed but figured it was a fluke. switch to us playing offense. QB put the ball in my hands and i took off, since nobody figured that i needed to be covered. then i caught a long bomb and took it in for a TD. needless to say, we won. AND DAMMIT, THE OTHER TEAM WAS BEATEN BY A GIRL. POO. sissies.

i guess when it comes down to it, there are times when there doesn't need to be pre-game field leveling. i would much rather get playing-time on my own merits than be out on the field by default, because of a rule that says my team forfeits if enough girls aren't playing. BUT, i'm going to bite my tongue and just enjoy being out there.

and those QBs better look out because... jeremiah trotter and brian urlacher got nothin on me.


;)