Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Downcast, But Not Cast Down

So, the Saints didn't win the playoff against the Bears. The Bears are the NFC champs and will go to the Super Bowl, while the Saints' season is over. I had a really cool blog entry ready to post if they had won. I didn't prepare anything for a loss; hence, I spent the last two days recovering from disappointment and regaining equanimity. The Bears played better than the Saints and they're going to Miami to play the AFC champs, the Colts. I will root for the Colts, because their quarterback, Peyton Manning, is a New Orleans boy. He's also the son of New Orleans' most beloved living athlete, Archie Manning, himself a former quarterback of the Saints.

No need to discuss the game here--Charles Gramlich has a much better post on it than I could write. I will say, however, that Reggie Bush's 88-yard touchdown run, zig-zagging and dodging his pursuers as only he can do, then turning a flip to get into the end zone and doing his victory dance, was pure joy to watch. I am now hooked on football, Saints football to be precise, and eagerly anticipating next season.

Reflection for the Week: Football parties are not the best way to watch a game. Not if you really want to see and hear it. My table at a popular local restaurant was right opposite the giant TV screen. Unfortunately, the people sitting around me didn't care about the game--they were just there for the food and booze, apparently--and they chattered so much I missed much of the commentary on the game. (Since I'm still a novice at Football Watching, I need to hear the commentators to understand fully what's happening on the field). Not to mention, I had to nod, smile, and appear to be listening whenever the non-football-fans nearby attempted to include me in conversation. The crowning touch, of course, was the boozehound female--a complete stranger--who, at a crucial point in the game, sat down next to me and proceeded to hold forth for the next 20 minutes about Nothing Whatsoever Except Repetitive Drunken Ramblings.

Next time I will stay home to watch the game.

5 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

Knowing you as I do, I suppose using a handy knife to slit the throat of your boozehound troublemaker was out of the question. You are far too much of a lady for such a vulgar display of violence. Hence, you should have taken me along with you.

nolasteve said...

So, next year the party is at your house?

Sphinx Ink said...

Charles, Sphinx Ink will definitely bring you along if ever she attends a football party again. You can bring your sword. That should intimidate even the boozehounds. Although if they're really drunk, they'll just think it's cool and try to play with it.

Nolasteve, the party will be at Sphinx Ink's house next year, unless you have a bigger TV, in which case everyone will show up at your door.

Stewart Sternberg (half of L.P. Styles) said...

Sphinx, I cheered for the Saints. Even a "Bless you boys." So, this coming spring, I'm gonna be looking for a reciprocal rooting for The Detroit Tigers. Hey, Louisiana doesn't have a baseball team, and don't get me started about the Rangers.

Sphinx Ink said...

Thanks, Srewart, for cheering for the Saints and giving up a "Bless you, boys" for 'em. Sphinx Ink promises to follow the Tigers when baseball starts and pull for them.

Incidentally, Louisiana DOES have a baseball team--just not a major league team. Here in the New Orleans area we have the New Orleans Zephyrs, a minor-league team originally affiliated with the Houston Astros, but currently with the New York Mets. In fact, Zephyr Stadium is so close to Sphinx Ink's home she can hear and see the fireworks after the Friday and Saturday night home games.

The Zephyrs are named after the big roller-coaster at Pontchartrain Beach, a now-defunct local amusement park. The Zephyr is a fond memory for all of us old enough to remember the park (which closed in the early '80s); hence, the name won the naming contest when the baseball team started in the early '90s. An ironic choice: the word "zephyr" means a gentle breeze--who wants their baseball team to be a gentle breeze? In addition, the roller coaster so named had a lot of ups and down...symbolic of the career of the team now named after it. It's safe to say the Zephyrs team has had more downs than ups so far.

But hey--look what has happened to the Saints! We can hope for the same for the Zephyrs. And they have a loyal fan base here no matter what their record, just as the Saints always have.

We are used to being underdogs. We kinda enjoy it most of the time. Makes it fun when we jump out from behind a [Reggie] Bush and attack!