Sex, Shoes and Football

Thoughts on dating, shopping and football

[chibuckeye]

Introducing the apocalyptic princess

So before the end of summer (last year) I bought this beautiful (and expensive) Allsaints coat. It’s all black with leather sleeves, almost knee-length, with a hood and draping around the neck. So far this winter it has been my go-to going out coat. I have worn it with a very girly skirt with tights and booties and with a short sleeved kimono style blazer, jeans and knee high boots. Driving to dinner I thought about how juxtaposed my coat and my outfits were, the coat is dark and edgy, the outfits girly and cute. That’s when it hit me, I should called this new style apocalyptic princess. It’s Mad Max meets Oscar de la Renta and it’s fabulous.

I am a pretty straight laced person when it comes to most things, a rule-follower if you will. More recently however, I have discovered that although we are told there are certain rules of fashion, there really are no rules. You don’t have to match your shoes exactly to your purse, you can mix prints, you can mix styles. Things that we thought could never be worn together are now perfect pairings.  Sometimes I still have a hard time putting together outfits, I’ll hear a little voice in my head say “you can’t wear that shirt with those pants”, but why can’t I? Am I going to be arrested by some fashion policeman on the street, is Anna Wintour going to follow me around wagging her finger at me? Fashion is a form of expression, of who you are, of how you feel and every individual has their own point of view. So I am going to rock my apocalyptic princess outfits all winter long, rules be damned.

[chibuckeye]

Girly girl or die hard football fan, why do i have to choose?

So do I think you can be a girly girl who is also a die hard football fan? Of course I do, I may occasionally miss out on going to dinner with friends or show up late at parties waiting for the last game to end but football season is only 6 months people, we can catch up after the super bowl...well after the combine...definitely after the draft.

I love football. I am not a casual football fan who watches a game here or there or goes tailgating with a group of friends on the weekends. I watch every game possible, college and pro, which means Monday night, Thursday night, Friday night, all day Saturday and Sundays are occupied by watching football. My whole weekend revolves around which teams are playing at what times. As you can imagine this kind of makes it difficult to maintain any normal social life. Not that I’m like this huge social butterfly but I do like to go out and have a good time. I have a great friend who is always down to go out, always ready to go have a good time, but she is not really into sports so when she texts “let’s go to dinner” right before the Alabama vs LSU game is about to come on and I reply “game is about to start”, I’m sure she rolls her eyes, that is usually followed by the text “you are such a dude”.

Does loving football make me a dude? I did play sports as a kid, probably from age 6 up through college. I’d probably prefer to wear pants over a skirt and I curse like a sailor (mostly in the car). But does that make me a dude? I also love to watch Real Housewives, all of them, well except Miami because that one sucks. I love clothes, I love to shop, I get my hair done, my nails done. I watch Scandal, which according to someone I know is the one thing that unifies all black women. So doesn’t that make me just a chick who loves football?

I won’t say that cliche line that girls usually use, that I’m a just guy’s girl because I think that has now become a euphemism for someone who gets around. I wont say that I just don’t click with girls or girls hate on me because none of that is accurate and girls who say that are just making up reasons why people don’t like them when usually it’s just because they are sucky friends. The real truth is I am lazy as hell and having friends takes effort, especially female friends. Women bond in different ways than men, they talk a lot, they ask each other about every detail of each others’ lives, they like to spend time together doing even the most inane activity like going grocery shopping or reading books then sitting around and talking about them. All of which I do not have time for during football season.

[chibuckeye]

Why does everyone hate Russell Wilson so much?

You may be thinking hate is a strong word and I tend to agree, but I think it’s accurate in this case. Russell Wilson stirred a lot of controversy when he entered the draft. Most analysts said yeah he’s pretty good but he’s too short, Drew Brees is the prototypical ‘short’ quarterback and this guy is no Drew Brees. John Gruden, however, thought Russell Wilson showed a lot of promise in college and seemed to have faith that he would indeed have success as a starting NFL quarterback when others did not. Gruden even got into a fight with Mel Kiper Jr. during the live broadcast of the draft about it (super awkward). I think if Russell Wilson could say one thing to John Gruden now it would be “you so smart, you a genius” (music fans will appreciate this reference).

Before we even discuss his play as a quarterback, it seems like people hate him mostly for his demeanor. I think he comes across in his interviews as genuine, a team guy, a leader and a guy who loves his job and is grateful to be in his position. Apparently the media does not know how to accept a good guy for what he is: just a good guy. People like Ryan Russillo blast him on a regular basis for being fake and too good to be true. Given all the troubled NFL players that have been in the news in the past few years you would think a guy who shares the credit with his team and coaches and visits children in the hospital during his free time would be a breath of fresh air, apparently not.

So what about his play on the field? Of course he has constantly been compared to the other starting quarterbacks from his draft class, Andrew Luck and RG3, but it was mostly a two horse race for rookie of the year as far as most analysts were concerned. In his rookie year, Wilson led the Seahawks to an 11-5 season and the playoffs, pretty comparable to the Colts (11-5) and the Redskins (10-6). Wilson and Luck’s stats in their first 2 years are strikingly similar, save for the fact Wilson won a super bowl, yet whenever there’s a head-to-head comparison analysts always emphatically take Luck over Wilson.

All of this leads me to wonder why does everyone hate Russell Wilson so much? Is it because he’s happy that he was able to fulfill his dream of becoming an NFL player? Is it because he never badmouths his teammates or coaches? Maybe it’s because he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the league but he still makes a rookie salary ( a third round rookie salary at that) but never complains about it. In the end, all the hate for Wilson says more about us as a society than it does about him. It says that we are cynics. It says we are so jaded by professional athletes that when a good one comes along our initial instinct is to tear him down. It says that we’ve come to accept the criminal and dishonest behavior of our athletes a la Alex Rodriquez (and all the countless steroid using baseball players), Aaron Hernandez, Greg Hardy as the norm. But not all athletes are jerks or criminals and Wilson is just the type of player the NFL needs right now. I hope in the future they learn how to highlight these players as examples for the guys coming from college and  for kids at home, to let them know that good guys still exist and it’s okay to actually want to see those good guys succeed.

#nfl  #seahawks  #quarterbacks  #football

[chibuckeye]

Why can't OSU start out at number 1 every year if we're going to end up there anyways? Wait, Alabama who?

If you’ve ever had a conversation with an OSU fan during football season you probably a) wanted to smack them b) did smack them or c) felt sorry for them for being so delusional. OSU fans have somehow obtained this reputation of being amongst the worst fans in America. In fact, they were voted the #4 rudest fan base by Bleacherreport.com and the #4 most hateable fan base in all of college football by Brobible.com (for whatever that’s worth). What can I say we’re passionate folks in Columbus, our most beloved coach even slapped an opposing team’s player for goodness sake. Why are OSU fans so insufferable? Well we love our team, we believe in our team, we love to win and we expect to win, every year, no matter what. And this is not necessarily an unwarranted expectation, we’ve had a lot of success in the Big Ten and even nationally: 7 national championships (1 in the BSC era), 34 Big Ten titles, 10 undefeated seasons, 7 Heisman trophies by 6 winners, can you really blame us for expecting a championship every year?

Now that the college football playoff has been instituted OSU fans have a whole new system to rip on every week when we are left out of the top 4, then instantly praise as soon as we are voted into the top 4 (when’s that gonna happen anyways??). We lost our potential Heisman trophy winning quarterback before the season even started but did that shake our faith, of course not. That’s no excuse for us OSU fans who believe our chances of winning are the same every week no matter the circumstances, 100%. We could be playing the Green Bay Packers and you would still have OSU fans calling into radio shows all over the country discussing how we like our chances, all we have to do is play hard and we can win.

As much as OSU fans love their team and believe in their team, they hate the SEC and all the attention they get, especially Alabama. Why should Alabama get so much respect, they’ve only won 15 national championships (3 in the BCS era), 23 SEC championships, 1 Heisman trophy (ha OSU has more). ESPN clearly has an SEC bias that drives them to make Alabama the favorite for every game and the favorite for a national championship every year (because you know, ESPN controls Vegas odds too). Alabama fans were even voted  higher on the aforementioned lists of rudest and most hateable fan bases  (#2 on both) but if you were stop and ask anyone on the street who the worst college football fans are, they would say OSU fans.

I think we’ve come to accept and even embrace our role as college football villains. Every day you’ll hear us calling in to every sports radio show, every tv show, blasting that traitor Kirk Herbstreit on Twitter and Facebook. We do this because we know our team is going to back us up by winning. And even if they don’t win every game, we know when everyone else in the country is against us, when analysts downplay the level of competition in the Big Ten, when the SEC is getting all the attention and accolades, we will always be #1 in attendance, merchandise revenues and trash talk, and eventually we will sneak our way into the top 4 after the SEC finishes cannibalizing each other.

#football. #osu. #sec. #cfp. #bigten

[chibuckeye]

Am I really a fan of the Big Ten or SEC?

As you may recall I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, home to THE Ohio State University Buckeyes. Everyone in Columbus is an OSU fan, it’s ingrained in you from the day you are born, I’m sure it’s some kind of city statute that you must be an OSU fan in order to live there. Growing up an OSU fan during the 1980s-2000s there were some ups and downs. The Cooper years were kinda rough, lot of ups and downs but there were some great teams and great players during those years, not only for OSU but all around the Big Ten. The Tressel years were great, of course the highlight was the 2002 National Championship, his departure not so great but he will always be remembered for that undefeated season capped by the championship. So you get the idea, I grew up a big fan of OSU.

As I’ve become more of an avid football fan over the years I’ve spent much of my free time watching sports shows on tv and listening to sports shows on the radio. My one hour + (each way) commute gives me plenty of time to listen to ESPN radio. One of my favorite afternoon shows was Coach and Company, the guests were great, topics were fun, it made my commute at least tolerable. Jonathan Coachman (Coach) got promoted so no more afternoon show, that slot was replaced by The Dan Lebatard Show. Now, I’m not a huge fan of Dan Lebatard but he can be mildly entertaining when he wants to so I gave it a chance, that lasted all of 2 days. I couldn’t stand his show, so I tried ESPN Xtra where they were playing The Paul Finebaum show, this was worse. I’d seen Paul Finebaum a few times on College Gameday and I knew of his show from the whole Harvey Updyke incident but that was all I knew of him. When I first started listening to his show I thought it was terrible, he was dry, the show was slow moving, it was just him and the callers. Of course he had all of his regular callers calling in, they talked about inside jokes and old stories about which I had no idea. I tried to go back and give Lebatard another chance but all they talked about was the Miami Heat and the NBA, there was no way I could listen to that for an hour and a half, so I gave Finebaum another chance.

At some point something just clicked with the Finebaum show, I began to catch more of the regular callers, I learned who they were, who they had beef with, which teams they rooted for, and even Paul grew on me. Now I can’t get enough of the show and being on tv makes it even better, to get to see pictures of the callers while they’re ranting is priceless. The only problem with the show is that they mostly talk about SEC football, there is the occasional caller from outside the southeast like Matt from Cincinnati or Jeff from Chicago but for the most part it’s an SEC show. What’s the problem you say? Well I’m a Big Ten girl, I don’t care about the SEC, or maybe I do care a little bit? As a college football fan, I can’t deny how good the SEC is, they’re just that good. Plus how can you not love a coach who eats grass before and sometimes during the games. Given how down the Big Ten has been lately (at least according to the analysts), I am usually more excited to watch the SEC games, especially this year with the new playoff system. Besides just being a college football fan in general, I do have some connections to the SEC by way of Ohio and the Big Ten. The current coach of Tennessee, Butch Jones, came from University of Cincinnati where I spent 5 years, not to mention I’m obsessed with the phrase “Butchplease” which was coined earlier this year. The current coach of Arkansas, Brett Bielema, came from Wisconsin, coached my favorite NFL player Russell Wilson, and married his wife in vegas, what’s better than that?? So for the past year and a half I have been entrenched in SEC football and have definitely watched more SEC games than Big Ten games start-to-finish this year, does this mean I am now an SEC fan?  

I’m not sure I would go as far as saying I am a fan of the SEC, but I do enjoy watching their games, listening to and watching a radio show that talks about their conference for four hours a day, I find their fans to be fascinating and highly entertaining. Every day I look forward to hearing a passionate rant from Phyllis, admonishing various analysts for underestimating ‘Bama or to hearing a corny one-liner and at least 1-2 name drops from Darriel (incidentally from Columbus...Georgia). If you see me wearing my #Butchplease or Pawl So Hard t-shirt just know my heart is saying “go Bucks”.

[chibuckeye]

My dad who happens to look like Russell Wilson's dad

[chibuckeye]

Steel curtain or go hawks, can I be a true fan of 2 different teams?

I grew up in a little town called Columbus, Ohio. It’s a great place to grow up, family-friendly, good cost of living, and a great sports town. My parents are both avid football fans ( I am a true blue American so when I say football, I mean football), we watched the super bowl every year together as a family and of course my dad is a big fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. No, not the Cleveland Browns, no, not the Cincinnati Bengals, yes, the Pittsburgh Steelers. His love for the Steelers eventually became my love for the Steelers and I at some point also became a Steelers fan. I’m not sure when that exact moment was, sometime between my first steps and my first drink I began to have black and yellow running through my veins. Anyone who knows me knows who my team is, or at least they thought they did.

  Growing up in Columbus there was a little school called THE Ohio State University. They play football in a conference called the Big Ten. In 2011 they beat another Big Ten team called the Wisconsin Badgers (they won the Big Ten that year) led by a quarterback named Russell Wilson. I had heard of Russell Wilson from NC State but never really paid attention because NC State is not in the Big Ten. I became a big fan of Russell Wilson that season, he showed leadership, good decision making, athleticism, and guts (hmm sounds like the makings of a good NFL quarterback). In 2012 Russell Wilson was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks, he was a long shot draft prospect to some, John Gruden and Mel Kiper got into a heated discussion about his draft stock live during the draft broadcast. He ended up being drafted in the third round, pretty much a steal for the Seahawks who had just signed Matt Flynn from the Packers (after he lit up the Lions with 480 yards passing) to be their starting quarterback. We all know how that turned out and a future super bowl winning quarterback (just a mere 2 years later) was born in Russell Wilson, thus causing my epic dilemma, can I be a true fan of both the Steelers and the Seahawks.

  Well let’s think about this, Steelers and Seahawks are in different time zones, different divisions (AFC north vs NFC west), team colors are different and team philosophies are very different. The Rooneys run a tight ship and Petey’s funhouse is well, a funhouse. So why can’t I root for both teams? Fantasy football has changed the way fans watch football, you could end up rooting for the star player on your most hated team because you need the fantasy points. Free agency has forced us to fall in love with a player and cringe as they put on their rival team’s jersey the following year. The game has changed, so why can’t the rules of fandom change? I say they can, so here we go and go hawks!