The Ballad Of Ivan The Terrible
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Other holidays celebrated today include John Chilembwe Day in Malawi (WTF?), Korean Alphabet Day in (you guessed it) North Korea (WTF?) and something called Pongal in Tamil Nadu (WT…NM). Whatever. Born this day in 1929 (of course) was civil rights activist and Nobel laureate, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and also on this day back in 1948, legendary rock and roller Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd fame.
First of all, words cannot express how pissy I am that I have to be at work today. I work for a crap-tastic bank that will remain nameless (SunTrust Bank, oops) that, as has been previously mentioned, is sending my current position overseas to India. All bank branches will be closed today; however, I do not work in a branch, I work at the customer service call center and they are always open. Blah! This has nothing to do with my story today but I just felt the need to share. Now I think my pressure is better. Whew!
As I am sure some of you already know (and now the rest of you do, too) I am a really big sports fanatic. I especially enjoy football (not soccer, for the non-Americans out there). The past two days just so happened to be one of the biggest weekends of professional football of the entire year. Next to the Super Bowl, maybe the biggest games of the season are contested. My father-in-law, Ivan The Terrible, a 20+ year Army retiree and Vietnam Veteran also happens to be a football nut.
The School Girl thought it would be great to refurbish the kitchen (again…did I say again? Yes, I did…again!) during this weekend. She obtained the services of her mom since to her (The School Girl) it was an extended weekend due to the MLK holiday. ITT (Ivan The Terrible) would be in tow and assist as needed.
My major plans for the weekend would include watching the football playoffs (and assisting with the renovation…and laundry). I have determined that since ITT never has a “dog in the hunt” he tends to root against the teams that I want to win. Please note that due to having grown up in Montana (Montana has no team), ITT has decided over the years to pull for the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos. Both of these teams did not even make the playoffs this year. He also tends to be a huge fan of the teams who are playing the Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots (of which I am a born & bred fan).
Saturday Game 1: Indianapolis Colts at Baltimore Ravens.
I, being NOT a fan of Peyton Manning will ALWAYS root against the Colts (or until Peyton retires, leaves or dies). ITT, being a hater of Steve McNair was siding with the Colts. Aaarrggghhh! A boring game ensued as we had a field goal-fest. The score was 15-6 in the Colts favor and ITT giggled like a teenager. It was very frustrating to say the least.
Saturday Game 2: Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints.
Ok, I would usually pull for the team that hasn’t won in a long time (i.e. the Saints); however, my buddy Jace Of Ace is a huge Eagles fan an it is only fair to pull for Philly in a situation where my team is not directly affected. ITT, for no apparent reason (or for those reasons that I may have just mentioned), rooted for New Orleans and of course…they won. I think I noticed him do a little dance out of the corner of my eye. Not too shabby for a 71 year old guy!
Now it is Sunday. Sunday held the biggest stakes for me as Tom Brady and my New England Patriots were playing. Again, ITT has no team playing!
Sunday Game 1: Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears.
Ok, so I was sort of torn on this one. I always like the underdog (Seattle) to win but I was thinking ahead and hoping for a rematch of Super Bowl XX (1986) in order to exorcize my childhood demons of the Bears trouncing my beloved Patriots. Oddly enough, ITT was pulling for the Seahawks and were unable to be victorious as the Bears kicked an overtime field goal to win. I guess that makes the score ITT (2-1) and your hero (that’s me) as a pitiful (1-2).
Sunday Game 2: New England Patriots at San Diego Chargers.
Ok, this is the big one. The former championship franchise (New England) versus this season’s top dog (San Diego). No one thought that my Patriots could do it but by God the lights of Heaven were shining down on them last night as we pulled off the upset. The final gun to signal the end of the game stopped the (pretty close to annoying) sounds of laughter by ITT whenever the Chargers would do something well.
The final tally was (2-2) for each of us but ultimately, I won since my actual team is advancing into the playoffs and not just watching them on television.
Now this sets up next week’s big match up for my Patriots to travel to Indianapolis to face the big rival and Hoosier Girl favorite Colts. Last time that we played I talked big and we lost big. My only comment for the game next week is as follows: I am just happy to be here and if we are good enough and the ball bounces our way maybe we can go to our 4th Super Bowl in six years. (hehehe).
First of all, words cannot express how pissy I am that I have to be at work today. I work for a crap-tastic bank that will remain nameless (SunTrust Bank, oops) that, as has been previously mentioned, is sending my current position overseas to India. All bank branches will be closed today; however, I do not work in a branch, I work at the customer service call center and they are always open. Blah! This has nothing to do with my story today but I just felt the need to share. Now I think my pressure is better. Whew!
As I am sure some of you already know (and now the rest of you do, too) I am a really big sports fanatic. I especially enjoy football (not soccer, for the non-Americans out there). The past two days just so happened to be one of the biggest weekends of professional football of the entire year. Next to the Super Bowl, maybe the biggest games of the season are contested. My father-in-law, Ivan The Terrible, a 20+ year Army retiree and Vietnam Veteran also happens to be a football nut.
The School Girl thought it would be great to refurbish the kitchen (again…did I say again? Yes, I did…again!) during this weekend. She obtained the services of her mom since to her (The School Girl) it was an extended weekend due to the MLK holiday. ITT (Ivan The Terrible) would be in tow and assist as needed.
My major plans for the weekend would include watching the football playoffs (and assisting with the renovation…and laundry). I have determined that since ITT never has a “dog in the hunt” he tends to root against the teams that I want to win. Please note that due to having grown up in Montana (Montana has no team), ITT has decided over the years to pull for the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos. Both of these teams did not even make the playoffs this year. He also tends to be a huge fan of the teams who are playing the Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots (of which I am a born & bred fan).
Saturday Game 1: Indianapolis Colts at Baltimore Ravens.
I, being NOT a fan of Peyton Manning will ALWAYS root against the Colts (or until Peyton retires, leaves or dies). ITT, being a hater of Steve McNair was siding with the Colts. Aaarrggghhh! A boring game ensued as we had a field goal-fest. The score was 15-6 in the Colts favor and ITT giggled like a teenager. It was very frustrating to say the least.
Saturday Game 2: Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints.
Ok, I would usually pull for the team that hasn’t won in a long time (i.e. the Saints); however, my buddy Jace Of Ace is a huge Eagles fan an it is only fair to pull for Philly in a situation where my team is not directly affected. ITT, for no apparent reason (or for those reasons that I may have just mentioned), rooted for New Orleans and of course…they won. I think I noticed him do a little dance out of the corner of my eye. Not too shabby for a 71 year old guy!
Now it is Sunday. Sunday held the biggest stakes for me as Tom Brady and my New England Patriots were playing. Again, ITT has no team playing!
Sunday Game 1: Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears.
Ok, so I was sort of torn on this one. I always like the underdog (Seattle) to win but I was thinking ahead and hoping for a rematch of Super Bowl XX (1986) in order to exorcize my childhood demons of the Bears trouncing my beloved Patriots. Oddly enough, ITT was pulling for the Seahawks and were unable to be victorious as the Bears kicked an overtime field goal to win. I guess that makes the score ITT (2-1) and your hero (that’s me) as a pitiful (1-2).
Sunday Game 2: New England Patriots at San Diego Chargers.
Ok, this is the big one. The former championship franchise (New England) versus this season’s top dog (San Diego). No one thought that my Patriots could do it but by God the lights of Heaven were shining down on them last night as we pulled off the upset. The final gun to signal the end of the game stopped the (pretty close to annoying) sounds of laughter by ITT whenever the Chargers would do something well.
The final tally was (2-2) for each of us but ultimately, I won since my actual team is advancing into the playoffs and not just watching them on television.
Now this sets up next week’s big match up for my Patriots to travel to Indianapolis to face the big rival and Hoosier Girl favorite Colts. Last time that we played I talked big and we lost big. My only comment for the game next week is as follows: I am just happy to be here and if we are good enough and the ball bounces our way maybe we can go to our 4th Super Bowl in six years. (hehehe).
posted by LeBlanc at 9:26 AM
1 Comments:
I think he only roots against your teams to make it more interesting. What fun is it to watch football with someone and root for the same teams.
sg
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