fantasy football.

because most people like to learn something new every day, i'm going to teach you something new about me today...i love football. i do. and i can't remember a time when i didn't.

growing up, my dad would take me and my siblings to utah state football games (back when they were somewhat decent--let's hope for those days again)...it seemed like every saturday they played at home, we were there. really, who knows how many games we actually went to, but it seemed like we were there every saturday. and when we were kids, we weren't like a lot of the other kids that went to the games. we didn't go to socialize or to hang out with our friends...we were there to watch football. (well, and the cheerleaders...but can you blame us...we were little girls.)

and mixed in with the local college games, my oldest brother played little league and high school football. i don't really remember going to little league games, but i remember plenty of high school games. and when i was in high school, if you needed to find me on a friday night you could bet your last dollar i was singing the fight song at a football game...home or away...i went to them all.

and i'm sure you are wondering about monday nights? the night of family home evening for members of the lds church? at my house, monday nights were consumed by monday night football. the formal fhe was a rarity at our house...my dad always used to say that we were a family and we were at home and it was evening as we watched the game of the week. i can't argue with logic.

and then there were sundays. enough said, right? i mean, you get the gist.

so yeah...i love football. when i started working at my current job, it was an obvious fact that all the dudes liked sports, especially football. (it's another story for another day, but many of them even still play, or have played, for the cache valley bears.) i didn't realize how into sports these guys all were until i got invited by one of them to be in their fantasy football league. i was stoked. a little apprehensive because i didn't know anything about fantasy football, but excited all the same. mostly because i was a chick that they were inviting into their male-ritual-bonding-blah-blah-blah something or other.

but, before i got a chance to get my team set up or anything...i was kicked out. yes, i got kicked out of a fantasy football league. they (and they know who they are) told me it was because they didn't want girls to be in the league...but i later found out that one of my female co-workers was in that very "no girls" league. i was so pissed. and a little let down.

i mean, let's get real...my girlfriends and i aren't going to set up a fantasy league. my girlfriends and i don't even really talk about football, if we're being real. the extent of my football conversations with my girlfriends involves what super bowl party we are attending. basically, my let down was that if these dudes weren't going to let me "talk" football with them and let me be part of their fantasy league, then where was i going to get this experience? because, dangit, i wanted that experience.

luckily, last year "they" redeemed themselves and invited me to participate in fantasy football. not the "serious" league (that costs money), but fantasy football all the same. i faired pretty well. until the playoffs. i ended up with a good quarterback, which made all the difference. mind you, i had no clue what i was doing.

this year i was invited again...and i'm even more excited because i get it now. and just today, i found this awesome blog written by someone who perfectly understand how a girl who loves football feels. and now i can't wait for the season to officially start.

go patriots!
go longhorns!