Powerball and Football

It seems our lives, at least mine, has been all Powerball and football lately.

No, I didn’t win that $1.5 billion Powerball on Wednesday. I did have four tickets, purchased with the money I won at the previous drawing last Saturday. That drawing left me with one red Powerball which I promptly reinvested. Should have kept that $12. But I’m only out $3, so I’m not very far in the hole.

Still, it’s fun to fantasize about “What I would do if I won the lottery.” For the past two weeks, that’s been everyone’s favorite topic. What would I do? Pay the bills and go to Disney World!

Now football is another matter, and yes, I confess, I spent most of last weekend glued to the TV, hoping the best for my favorite teams.

And I plan to do the same Saturday and Sunday, even though there are only half the games to watch. Yes, I am pro football addicted. So much so that some of my acquaintances laugh out loud at me in the summer when I complain that “I NEED FOOTBALL!”

On the other hand, I think my two sons are quietly proud that their mom can talk a little bit about football and not shame them when doing so. Hey, it runs in the family. I got my love of football from my dear Dad who spent every fall Sunday afternoon in front of the TV. He taught me to love the game.

That’s not true of all women.

Phyllis Diller once said, “The reason women don’t play football is because 11 of them would never wear the same outfit in public.”

Erma Bombeck had even worse opinions of football. She said, “Thanksgiving dinners take 18 hours to prepare. They are consumed in 12 minutes. Half time takes 12 minutes. This is not a coincidence.”

And, “If a man watches three football games in a row, he should be declared legally dead.”

And, “The Rose Bowl is the only bowl I’ve ever seen that I didn’t have to clean.”

But oh how times have changed since I was a young woman falling in love with football. Now women and football are all the rage. A recent report indicated that American football is only growing because women have begun watching.

Hey, women sportscasters now line the sidelines to interview coaches and players. One woman has been hired as a coach and another has put on a zebra-striped uniform. There is a female football league, I think, and Sandra Bullock knows all about college football in “The Blind Side.”

And oh yeah, manufacturers have figured out that women are the ones who buy those fans football jerseys, and have begun making them just for the female fans. I know, because I am one and I shop. And yes, I have team shirts.

Women are giving a voice to their love of football too. One of my favorites is, “Real women watch football. But beautiful, smart, sexy, totally awesome women love the Denver Broncos” and Peyton Manning. And that would pretty much be me. I mean about watching football and loving the Broncos and Peyton Manning. No comment on beautiful, smart and sexy.

Another comment describes me more accurately. “All spring and fall, she was a classy lady. Then football season started.”

Well, I shall try to keep my class. Congratulations to all those Powerball winners, even though it wasn’t me. And congratulations to all those who win football games this weekend, as long as it isn’t the Patriots. Go teams Go!