Fight for Football!

Dear NFL players, coaches, and owners;

I love football. All football – Pop Warner, middle school, high school, college, and pro – all of it. And it’s getting close to football time. Almost.

It seems like most fans start getting a little antsy around July/August. By now baseball is getting a little tiresome, especially if you can tell that your team won’t be making a play-off run (mine won’t). It’s 104 degrees in the shade, and all I want to do is head to the stadium, stand for 3 hours in the blazing sun, and yell my brains out while giant men clobber each other. Is that too much to ask?

I don’t really understand what you guys are waiting for. I know that there have been a lot of issues regarding rookie salaries, compensation for veteran players, and how to split up the revenue, but is this really so important that it should deprive me, and the rest of America, of enjoying the game? I believe the answer you are searching for is "No!"

I am a (former) poor, starving college student. But every year I scraped up enough cash to buy season tickets to the Longhorn football games. And I attended every single one. Even last year when we went through a bit of a rough patch. It would be my dream come true if I could get season tickets to a Bears game. Unfortunately there's a zillion year wait-list, and even if I got to the top sometime in my lifetime, I probably could never afford them. And that's disgusting.

When did football stop being about the fans? I mean, I guess I understand that you want to make as much money as you can - that's the American way! But when you start fighting about money so much so that we might have to miss a few games (or the whole season!) then I believe that you need to get your priorities straight.

Even though I am incredibly frustrated at the prospect of a year without football, I remain a true fan. Get your act together guys, and let's end this lockout.

Sincerely,
A Forever-Fan 

Schwat is a Quinnie?

If you don't understand how the title should sound, go listen to some Group X.

Alrighty, so this first post is mostly going to be spewing random info about who I am and what I like, just in case someone I don't know ever reads this (or anyone at all?). Hopefully this might help to explain the strange combination of things I like. Spoiler Alert: this is long. 

I grew up in the Chicagoland area, in a tiny town in Indiana that no one except citizens can spell without great difficulty. My mom is an avid fan of all Chicago teams - Cubs, Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini - and I adopted her love for all things sports at a young age. If you're ever at our house during baseball season, you'll hear two women cussing out the umps and clapping deafeningly for double-plays. Once people hear I'm from Chicago, the tend to picture me living someplace hip and trendy. Alas, I lived on a farm. And I loved it! We had sheep that followed you around like puppies, half a dozen cats who lived in the barn, and 35 acres to play in. Our tiny 3 bedroom house was built around 1850, had no A/C, and only one tiny bathroom (an addition added in the '80s) for 5 people. Looking back, it's probably a good thing that we moved away, since most of the people I knew back then are in gangs or prison.

My sister and I modeling next to some giant squash that my mom grew.

Sledding next to the sheep. In October. Ah, snow...

We moved to Alabama after my dad got transferred. Now, when I tell people this tidbit, they usually assume that everyone I met there was a racist, toothless, uneducated hick. Which couldn't be further from the truth! Yes, parts of the state do include some unsavory characters, but I lived in a town where everyone I met had parents who either worked for NASA, Boeing, the Army, or were an engineer of some sort. Unbeknownst to most of the rest of the world, there is a major college rivalry in Alabama. I constantly swapped allegiances, depending on which friend I was talking to at the time. I met some of my favorite people in the entire world there, and was heartbroken when I had to move yet again.

Stephanie's ice skating extravaganza.

Camping out for the midnight release of the final Harry Potter book.

My last day at BJHS.

Final move (so far) was to the "great" state of Texas. As soon as I moved here, I dubbed it the "Armpit of America" because of the unbelievable heat and humidity. But after 7 years this place is growing on me. I met the remainder of my favorite people in the world here!

Sexy saxes.

Tiny houses.

From what I've seen of this massive state, Austin is the best place to live by far. Four glorious years there were not enough.

Roomies! 

Hokie dokie, I believe you are now caught up on the basic Quinnie facts. I hope you like pictures... I do! Obviously. Future posts may not have quite so many! So far, there's really no plan for what I'm going to write about. As of now, I'm thinking I'm just going to talk about whatever I'm obsessing about at the moment.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? I haven't blogged since Xanga (anyone remember that?).