A dejected fan

Pippi recovers after Saturday's embarrassing loss.

Pomp and Circumstance

Yesterday was my little sister's college graduation.

It was drizzly and humid and quite poorly planned.

But lunch after was quite delicious.

Thursday

1st RU game of the season.

RU vs. Army, or The Period In Which I Almost Lost a Number of Valuable Appendages

Because of that silly little thing called law school, SOME people were not available to accompany to the Rutgers game on Saturday.  However, Dad was quite excited to relive his many decades of Giants seasons tickets and step up to the plate to attend his first RU game.  And lucky for him, he got to be there on the most frigid day in the history of football!  Hoo-rah Hoo-rah Rutgers Rah!

(Ok, so that is a completely unfounded, and almost assuredly completely inaccurate statement, and yet over the past five years of devoted football fandom, never in my life have I been half so cold.  Therefore, my statement will remain.)

Now, I knew it was chilly.  I layered up like a pro.  I wore some snazzy leggings under my jeans, and approximately 4 shirts/sweaters under my down coat.  I was decked out in some abominable snowman mittens.  And my trusty Uggs to keep my feet toasty warm.  

We parked on College Ave and did the 30 minute trek to Busch campus, because I would rather swim across the disease-infested waters of the ol' Raritan than get on an overheated shuttle with dozens of drunken, chanting college students.  I refused to do it when I was a college student, and I most certainly refuse to do it now that I am aged and crotchety.  

So, we opted for the fast-paced walk, which left us feeling perhaps a wee bit overconfident about our ability to withstand the cold.  Sure, the thermometer had barely reached 35 when we left the house, but we're so warm now!  Look, I'm even unzipping my coat a smidge.  And taking of my gloves.  I'm working up a sweat here!

We zipped up to our seats (and by up I mean UP, as in up in the 2nd tier where the winds blow with gusto) and sat down, an incredible half hour before kickoff!  

(Note - never ever in my football-fan life have I been in my seat to actually SEE kickoff, which Jared will crankily attest to)

(Note to note - Not true - I was definitely in my seat for for the Louisville game in '06, aka the Most Glorious and Wonderful Moment in RU Football History)

The fans slowly trickled in.  I watched the pros march to their seats armed with sleeping bags and fleece blankets and zippy seat cushion things.  I began to reconsider whether I should have swatted away Mama's proffered seat cushions.  But no, Dad and I were tough.  We didn't need those wimpy things.  We had layered.

And then, perhaps right around the time they finally kicked off, I realized I had lost feeling in my fingers.  And that is when I knew bad things were about to happen.

From that moment on, I alternated between completely loss of feeling in my fingers, thighs, forehead, and toes (alas, Uggs, you failed me).  

As we waited for the officials to review a play, the guy in front of me cried out "Flip a coinnn.  We're colddddd. Just make a decision already.  Please just leave the clock running... hurry uppppp."  

I still do not think you are comprehending how cold it was.  

And really, not just the cold.  The wind.  The FREAKING wind.  A blustery  you-are-being-punished-by-Mother-Earth wind.  A wind that sent the frozen garbage of filthy fans swirling around the stadium all damn day.  A wind that knocked Dad's hat off and skittering down the stands.  Twice.  A wind that made me cry inside and wonder why I wasn't watching this stupid game on TV on my couch in my sweatpants with a cup of tea in my warm warm house.

At halftime everyone went sprinting down the stands, many of them for hot chocolate, the rest in surrender and on their way out.  As we stood up and started the trek down, we both realized our knees were frozen.  We couldn't really, you know, bend them.  It made walking down very steep concrete steps a bit of a challenge.  

I stood in a long long line for hot chocolate.  Finally, I was up next.  Dad had his wallet out.  

"Um, I don't know if I can last the whole game," I say.  

Dad's head whips around.  "Oh, um, did you want to go now?"

My eyes light up with glee.  "Oh, well, do YOU want to go now?"

"Well if you're cold and want to go..."

"I mean I'll stay if you want to stay..."

We look at each other and sprint down the ramp.  We join the mass exodus and powerwalk back to College Ave, trying very hard to regain feeling in any of our limbs.  

"Ok well, when your mother asks why we left," Dad says, "I'll blame you, and you blame me.  Ok?"

"Ok!"

By the time we're in possession of ABP hot chocolate and chai tea, and the car is within our sights, we're already remarking how it's not really that cold, is it?  I mean, I kind of worked up a sweat...

Retraction

That last post was written in the throes of passion/mounting anger.

I apologize for my hasty emotions.

Teel, you rocked today! Boys, you all rocked today! Way to kick Syracuse back to the snowy middle of nowhere where they belong! Hurrah!

Not A Good Sign

Only halfway into the first quarter and my sweet darling Teel has already thrown a perfect, yes, I said, perfect, pass into the endzone.

Oh wait, that's right, he was throwing it to the WRONG TEAM!

Excellent start.

Weekend Tidbits

1.

Rutgers finally got it together and WON!  It's a Homecoming miracle.  

(Although, based on their ridiculous quarterback indecisiveness, which left poor Teel and Natale hovering on the field/sidelines wondering who in the world would be making the next play, it is quite possible that the coaches over-indulged with Kegs n' Eggs that morning.)

2.

Thank you to BB for having us at her ADORABLE South Jersey abode this weekend, and providing all of the hostess essentials - aka Rock Band and a fire pit.  

And an even BIGGER thank you for finally curing my kitten-obsession of late.  Spending some time with a senile 18-year-old cat that randomly pees in a box in the dining room while we all eat dinner (and then again near the air mattresses) was immeasurably helpful in reminding me that I still hate animals!

AND thank you to AC for having the brilliant plan of a group breakfast outing to The Pop Shop!  I'd seen The Pop Shop when they were featured on Throwdown with Bobby Flay for their delish grilled cheese.  

J had a gloriously crispy Maple grilled cheese - with grilled chicken, cheddar, and applewood smoked bacon on sourdough.  

I stayed away from anything overly buttered and cheesed because I was still recovering from a pizza and cookie overdose.   The greek omelette was fluffy and perfect!

Feeling stuffed and content!

3.

And because I'm obsessed with fall and feel the need to take a zillion pictures of leaves and trees, a few snapshots of my walk around the block yesterday (aka still walking off the pizza and cookie overdose).

Weekend Tidbits

1.

I can't get enough of these beautiful sunsets lately.  

(This was actually taken on Wednesday, 9/28 when it was still feeling cool and fally and not humid and rainy and gross, but whatever.)

2.

Whenever I eat a "real" lunch (as in, not oatmeal or yogurt or little mini snacking exploits that take place throughout the day) I never feel like eating a "real" dinner.  Who knows why.  I have come to accept my culinary oddities.  

Yesterday I had a (HUGE) turkey sub in the spirit of RU tailgating and was subsequently turned off by the thought of any kind of traditional dinner food, which actually really ticked me off because J and I were planning on going out to dinner but I was disgusted by the prospect of consuming pasta or salad or pizza or anything containing sodium.

The solution?

Gloriously fluffy pancakes and a bananapearstrawberry fruit salad.  

Here you see my breakfast-for-dinner sitting happily (and yet disgustingly) among the hot dogs and fries that J and my parents chose to consume.

PS. The beer was NOT mine.  I only tolerate beer when already tipsy.  And certainly not with pancakes.  SOME people (ahem, Papa and J) thought it would be funny to pile Yuenglings in front of my pancake plate to make me look even more disturbed than is already evident.  

3.

RUTGERS!  You did it!  You finally won a game!  You didn't even let the other team score!  Good job!

We will overlook the fact that the team you beat was Morgan State (which I have never in my life heard of, and had to look up just now in order to determine that it is located in Baltimore City, MD).  We will also ignore the fact that this renowned Baltimore City institution apparently finds the "Golden Bears" to be an intimidating and powerful mascot.  

Sarcasm aside, I am grateful for this 38-0 domination.  If the Scarlet Knights didn't win yesterday, I really don't know what I would have done.  Especially against a team that I have never heard of.  Especially against a team where I've never heard of half of their scheduled opponents.  

Teel, good job of putting your precious being in harms way for a few moments to get us a first down.  See?  You survived.  Running is a-okay.  Try it again sometime.  

Brooks, way to come out of the woodworks and score 3 touchdowns.  That's what I like to see.

Britt and Davis, I don't know what you did, but you better not do it again.  Get back in the freaking game!

Jabu Lovelace, I'm really sorry you broke your leg.  I hope you feel better soon!

Paul-Etienne, I really like your name too.  You and Jabu.  And you're a wily little thing.  Quick on those lanky limbs of yours.  I'm glad they actually let you pass the ball, unlike poor Jabu.  And don't worry about that interception - bad luck, happens to everyone (Teel of all people can attest to that).  Practice makes perfect!

44-12, or "The Only Thing Worthwhile About This Night Was Getting to Drown My Sorrows in Cinnamon Oreo Ice Cream"

Dear Scarlet Knights,

Tonight could have been grand.  

There was a delightful autumnal breeze blowing through the stadium.  The fans were waving their white towels enthusiastically for the ESPN cameras.  Rut was nowhere to be seen, and for the first time in ages I could lean back against the bench without the fear that Rut's massive hairy flip-flopped claws would be caressing my ear.  

Last week was a bummer, but this week, we're gonna get 'em!  We've got this in the bag!  Look at UNC.  Look at those wimpy powder blue and white uniforms.  What kind of colors are those for a FOOTBALL TEAM?  Look at all this red.  Look at our white towels.  Listen to our chants.  You can't touch this.

But, oh wait.

UNC DID touch this.  And not only touch this, UNC intercepted and touchdowned and mutilated this.

Teel, did you not hear Rut's pearls of wisdom last week?  Did you not hear his ear-splitting shouts to STOP THROWING MEATBALLS?  Maybe you did hear him.  Maybe you misunderstood and thought that we wanted you to throw to the OTHER team.  That is incorrect.  We would like you to throw to OUR players.  Let's keep that in mind for next time.

Underwood, I like you.  You're a good little player.  You are also easy on the eyes.  You can catch the ball.  I like that.  Keep it up.  Do it more often.  Catch it, and then run.  Run fast.  You gave us a bit of a fright in the beginning of the game when one of those nasty powder blue puffballs took you down and you stayed there.  For quite some time.   I'm glad you got up and seem to be ok.  Get a good night's sleep tonight.

Britt, I like you too.  You also like to catch and run.  You too are quite delish.

Robinson, I'm sorry, but I miss Ray Rice.

Jabu Lovelace, I have always liked you based solely on your name.  How can you not like someone with a name like that?  You seem to have spunk.  You're a wily little quarterback.  I think they should let you throw the ball every once in a while.  I'm over Teel.

Te, I'm feeling better about you.  Last week you made me nervous.  Some of those attempts were slightly terrifying.  Better this week.  If only the rest of the team gave you more chances to actually put the ball through the goal posts.

Everyone else, or, to make it simpler, let's just go with "everyone" - let's start LOOKING at our quarterback when he's about to throw the ball.  #3, whoever you are, you should NOT be making googly eyes at a UNC player when Teel is attempting to throw you a pass.  Look at the BALL.  

This also goes for when the OTHER team's quarterback is about to throw the ball.  Block the bejeezus out of those powder blue pansies but also watch the ball so that maybe, just maybe, YOU can catch it.  That is called an interception.  That is something that UNC did FOUR times tonight.  We did it zero times.  Take note for next time.

So, please Scarlet Knights, let's get it together for next week.  J has already spiraled into a weekend-long depression.  Save me from angry emotional ice cream eating.  Please.  Let's start winning.

Sincerely,

K

NOTE:  The views expressed in this post are solely those of an angry amateur football fan.  J is probably working himself into a tizzy as he reads the oversimplified inaccuracies of this post.  Sorry, but I'm peeved and I have a blog and the rest of the Internet must now suffer.

The Return of the Rut

Who in their right mind would have thought that the start of football season would ever have an effect on me?  And such an immense effect that I have literally been saying "Omg I can't wait for football" for the past month.  

And I'm not at all sarcastic.

Usually people think I'm joking.  But alas, I am not.  I have become a serious football fan.  And I'll be the first to admit, it's kind of weird.  

That said, I was trés excited to go to the first Rutgers game yesterday (I think it was the college football that finally did it, that really sucked me in - those games are 100 times more exciting than watching a bunch of NFL millionaires crash around a field).  It was a perfect, cloudless day, and the stadium was packed.  Unfortunately, the delightful weather conditions were not enough to inspire the team to actually run the ball into the end zone more than once.  Tragic.  The team really should have upped their game for the BTOD.  

Also of note at yesterday's game, was the return of our favorite fan, known fondly as "Rut."  This large, burly delight is an example of Jersey's finest, and J and I spent all of last year crying inside as he screamed out all kinds of pointless, random chants for the duration of the game.  

We thought we were safe yesterday, because the game started and Rut was nowhere to be seen.  But of course, he showed up late, plowed his way through a row of helpless onlookers, and officially regained his Throne of Annoyance when he turned to his neighbor saying: "Hi, I remember you, LET'S GO RUT!" 

Here is a sampling of just a few of his proudest moments:

(Please remember to take into account that all of these delightful comments are screamed in an unbelievably loud and grating voice, just a few inches from my ear)

• "We like Rice because he is nice and good!"
• "Teel, stop throwing meatballs!"
• ...and of course, his famous tagline and crowd (un)favorite, "LET'S GO RUT!"  

I am truly sorry that I can't remember more of these verbal gems, because there really is an unending stream of them from the moment he perches his pudgy little feet on the back of my seat until he finally lumbers off to torture others with his eloquent monologues.  Don't worry, I'll pay closer attention at the next game - I know you'll be waiting with baited breath.

 

A very enthusiastic student section

Bidding adieu to the treetop views before the stadium construction is completed

A packed stadium

The best time of the year + The best time of day