EAGLEMANIACAL.com

When it comes to sports, there are four things you need to understand before you enter into conversation with the people of my house.  The first being that the Eagles are the absolute best football team to ever grace the sport.  Secondly, the Dallas “Cowgirls” are the absolute worst football team to ever bring shame to the game.  Third,   Philadelphia’s teams are the only teams that count in any sporting event. Lastly, figure skating is NOT a sport no matter which woman who you love, loves it. Unless that skater is from Philadelphia. If you keep these things in mind, you’ll do alright in my home.

Other things I know about sports are the names of the original Dream team members and the faces of Dr. J, Wilt Chamberlain, and Magic Johnson.  That’s it. That is exactly all the solid sports facts that this little writer knows. I am proud of all that I have managed to learn about sports in my many decades running about this earth.

My husband, however, is the walking, talking embodiment of this website. Facts, figures, diatribes of every nuance of the sport from the players to the coaches to the color of the locker room floor greet me every time I walk into his room! During football season, my usually ideal ‘happy home’ becomes dull and depressing. So many football games on so many televisions coming from so many channels, makes every ‘Sports Day” the most morbidly boring day in the year.

Every Autumn, there goes anything fun in this home because, hey, it’s football season, damn it!  The big screen televisions (bought in anticipation of Eagles season, mind you)  are permanently tuned to whatever channel is playing.  Whenever you catch the hard-working father of five alone and relaxed, he prefers that you ignore him until the commercials. I swear, it’s an endless cycle of grown over-paid men chasing teeny tiny balls while trying to harm each other in the process!

So what I’m saying is that I dislike sports, especially football.  Unfortunately for me, loving my hubby means suffering through his team’s High’s and Low’s, having to schedule romantic and family outings around play times/play offs/the Super Bowl etc…

There is a good side to all this football mania and that’s what I’m here to share. The best reasons to love a sports fanatic:

I Am Always Secure in my Relationship:

On a cold Super Bowl Sunday eighteen years ago, my hubby and I went out for a romantic evening.  We danced in Rittenhouse Square to a street performer, walked the entire length of Market Street ending at the waterside, light reflected water of the Schuylkill where we sat beneath a blanket on one of the benches and watched the sun set.   That’s where he proposed to me, beneath the fading sun in front of the river.  A few hours after I said “Yes”, I found out it was Super Bowl Sunday and that he’d chosen it specifically to prove his love.

You Get Romantic Surprises Randomly During the Week:

Because I lose him on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays, my hubby has been known to bring home the most thoughtful gifts during the week. Sometimes it’s flowers, my favorite Chocolates or a new movie. Sometimes the sweet thing he does is small and simple. Things like taking these rambunctious children out for a walk while I take a nice relaxing bath. Things like cooking a meal while I read to the babes.

Those of You Not Into Sports Find Great Things Around This City to Do.

It’s odd the things you can find to do when your main goal is getting away from the loud sounds of T.V. announcers and sports cheering.  After church for the last few seasons, the kids and I have made a point of finding great things to do around Philadelphia on Football day.  Some of it has been great, nature hikes and treasure hunts through different sections of Fairmount Park. Exploring the plaques and statues around Olde City and Penn’s Landing. Watching street performers along the South Street Bridge and running through Rittenhouse Square.

We’ve gone on the horse-drawn tours of Philly and gone to the Please Touch and the Art Museum. During Halloween, we do the haunted tours of the city. We have found a treasure at the Comcast building on  17th and JFK.  From Thanksgiving through New Year’s from 10 am through 8 pm, every hour except 5 pm, you can watch on their huge ( 83.3 feet wide by 25.4 feet high, 2,100 square foot) LED screens scenes from “The Nutcracker” and a “magical sleigh ride” that ends with actual snowflakes falling from the ceilings and even performances from Broadway and our own Walnut Street Theatre.

Whatever we chose to do, we always have super fun, come home tired, well-rounded, closer to each other and have managed to miss most of the tedium of my husband’s obsession.

So there you have it, several reasons why loving a super fan works wonderfully for a non sports lover.

By MaryAnn Paris