Turning Forty-Two Tuesday: I Still Love You, Tony Gonzalez*

Welcome to my new series, "Turning Forty-Two Tuesday", because the "Ticked Off Tuesday" thing was getting TOO negative. Plus, I am turning forty-two this year and that is "The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything."

Even though some of my fondest childhood memories involve everyone watching Steelers games at my Grandma's house, I did not grow up watching sports. Occasionally, there was football on. Sometimes we talked about who won at dinner. In high school, though, football games were a social occasion. And I loved a social occasion.

Also, some members of the football team. Not that they were ever aware of this. Or me.

I had friends who played lacrosse and friends who played soccer and friends who wrestled and even friends who played hockey, which was not a New Jersey thing yet. But I found watching my friends play fun. So when I happened to attend a college that was all about hockey, and befriended a coach's daughter, and lived downstairs from (it seemed like) half the team, I got really into hockey.

Also, some members of the hockey team. Not that they were aware of this. Or me.

My college, BU, was also basically adjacent to Fenway Park. Naturally, I got into baseball. I mean, I'd always rooted for the Yankees, because in junior high we all had to declare our allegiance and I liked their uniforms better, but my true fandom started with the Red Sox.

By the time I left Boston 5 years later (I stuck around for a year after graduating), I was a huge baseball fan, a big college hockey fan and somewhat of a pro hockey fan. Then I moved to Portland. The only team you heard about from Oregon back then was the Trailblazers.

This did not turn me into a basketball fan. I'm pretty sure nothing will turn me into a basketball fan, unless Lovebug continues his interest in it.

Out west, removed from my Red Sox and my BU Terriers and my NJ Devils, with no internet to help me stay up to date (it was 1994), I became a Mariners fan. And a T-birds fan. The Thunderbirds were Seattle's minor league hockey team in 1994. I should totally Google whether they still exist.

Which I guess is my point. After 2 years in Portland and then 2 in Seattle, I moved to Kansas City. Where I promptly became a Chiefs fan. I tried to like the Royals and I think I went to one minor league hockey game before the team moved,  but there wasn't enough excitement. I tried to follow my old teams, but I didn't have fancy cable. Or that much of an inclination. And Chiefs games were so much fun. College football was so popular that it was easy to get sucked in. I promptly stopped following baseball and hockey and became a football fan.

I mean, I actually bought this outfit - or one similar - for baby Ironflower.

I discovered the truth when I moved back to the Northeast: I'm not really a fan at all. Since the New York area has so many teams for so many different sports, there's no city-wide obsession to get sucked into. Plus, I have no friends here who like to spend hours in sports bars drinking beer, eating fried foods and watching games.

I don't like sports; I like sports bars. And tailgating. And beer. And socializing. Home alone on a Sunday afternoon during football season? I will choose to get caught up on Parks and Recreation rather than watch a football game. Flipping the channels at bed time? I'll watch The Daily Show over any baseball game.

All these years I claimed to be a sports fan were a lie; I am actually a beer drinking fan who happens to understand the rules of most major sports.

*Tony Gonzalez was a Chiefs Tight End when I lived in Kansas City. My friend Mimi was truly in love with him, so much so that when I called her at 1 am from a club because he was there she almost left her then boyfriend in bed and came out. Also? She wasn't mad that I called her at 1 am from a club when she was sleeping peacefully with her boyfriend.

Oh, How The Mighty Have Fallen

Being slightly Irish (two great-grandmas) and a fan of beer, St. Patrick's Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. I've had a lot of fun St. Patrick's Days. Such as:

3/17/89 - Senior year of high school, three friends and I ditched school after second period, drove into New York City and watched the parade. Then we went into a bar where they ACTUALLY served us. We didn't get drunk because some of us had to be back at school for play rehearsal (yeah, I had priorities - cut chemistry? Sure. Cut rehearsal? Never.) . But still, we drank in a bar. That was quite the thrill.

3/17/91 - 3/17/93 - I don't remember much specifically - I was a college student in Boston.

3/17/99 - Inservice/report card day my first year teaching in Kansas City. Someone (mistakenly, it later turned out) told a friend and I that we could leave work as soon as our report cards were turned in. Having finished them the day before, we left at 1pm and headed straight down to the huge outdoor party that is Westport. Flirted my way into getting a lot of free green beers. But after starting so early, home by ten pm and no hangover the next day.

3/17/04 - After a lovely evening at the local Irish pub, Hubby proposes.

And now let's look at the past two years:

3/17/07: In the process of moving from KC to NJ, we spend a few days at my in-laws. Original plan is to leave the small people there and have one last Hurrah with our friends. But I develop the stomach flu, so wind up spending the evening in my in-laws' bathroom.

3/17/08: Actually forget that it is St.Patrick's Day until Hubby calls to report the traffic complications on his way back form NYC. No one in the family is even wearing green. Cannot even have beer with dinner. Decide to reminisce about former coolness on blog.