Sunday, November 7, 2010...Game 1.
Bucs versus Falcons.
Oh yeah baby!
First, I need to state the obvious...I love NFL Football. More specifically, my home team...The Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
I grew up with the old orange and white pom-poms hanging in my bedroom.
I even had a Ricky Bell jersey.
Who's Ricky Bell you ask? Just one of our best running backs back in the day. And for those of you that are football illiterate, a running back is the guy that runs the ball after the quarterback has handed it off.
If you don't know what a quarterback is, you should probably stop reading this blog. You might not get this one.
Anyway, I have been a Bucs fan my whole life...even when they were awful.
And they were awful for a LONG time. Decades of pure awfulness.
And then they changed the uniforms in the late 90's and they started to win.
Including the Super Bowl back in 2003.
That was an amazing year. I'd love to see them do it again in my lifetime.
When I moved to Georgia back in 97, my love for all things Bucs came with me.
And then I met my husband....a die hard Atlanta Falcons fan.
It was a match made in heaven...even though we didn't love the same team, we loved the same sport. We went to games and even became Falcon season ticket holders.
At our very first Bucs vs. Falcons game in Atlanta, you can imagine the looks we got as we walked to the Georgia Dome hand in hand, each wearing the ememy's jersey!
And in 2003, the NFL realigned the divisions and created the NFC South...
Putting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons in the same division.
Which means we play each other 2 times a season.
So now twice a year, Hubby and I are enemies. Foes of the gridiron.
We joke that on those 2 Sundays, the wedding rings come off.
We are not husband and wife.
We are a Buccaneer and a Falcon. And we both want to win.
The really great thing is we usually get to go to both games.Since my family lives in Tampa (and my step-dad, sister and best friend are or have been season ticket holders) we go with them.
In 2005 when our son came along, another layer of the rivalry came into play...
Which team would the Kiddo support? He had plenty of gear for both teams.
So made a compromise. If the game was in Atlanta, he's wear his Falcons outfit.
And if the game was in Tampa, he'd wear the Buccaneer gear.
He looks so much happier when he's supporting Mommy's team...
When we moved into our home, we started inviting my family up for the games and it was great to have a houseful of Bucs fans. We would tailgate and truly make it an all day event.
So tomorrow is the first game...in Atlanta. And it's a biggie...we are tied for first place right now and both teams are playing great football.
And I'll be there in my Buccaneer gear...wearing it with pride. I'll take all the jeering with a grain of salt. It's all in good fun.
After all, you can take the Buccaneer girl out of Tampa...
But you can't take the Buccaneer out of the girl.
Go Bucs!
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