We Dat Team

Matthew loves football. I mean he LOVES it. He could sit and watch every game that is played every weekend. He and Troy used to sit through games and quiz one another over the college from which each and every player on a team graduated. Anna Cate and I, on the other hand, enjoy one game every couple of weeks. Last fall, this caused some turmoil in our family. But, this football season, I decided that we could come to a compromise that would satisfy us all.

So, we decided to follow the Arizona Cardinals as a family this year. (Easy choice considering they are the home team and we had started cheering for them last year). The whole experience turned out much better than I expected. We made signs, ate picnics in the living room while watching and really enjoyed spending Sunday afternoons together. I was surprised that it became something that we were actually sharing together instead of Matthew watching the game and me entertaining Anna Cate. Somedays, they would actually play together and I would just watch the game.



Also, it became funny when Anna Cate would start to check the score to see if Arizona was winning and jump and cheer when they scored a touchdown. More humorous was when she would try to reassure Matthew when he would get frustrated by the game. I loved hearing her tell him it was "just a game" and there was "no reason to get so mad".
>After following them all season, it only seemed fitting that we should go to the "Send-Off Rally" held today at the airport. We arrived just as Antrelle Rolle was beginning to ask the crowd, "Who dat football team?" and the crowd responded by yelling, "We dat team!". Then Kurt Warner and Ken Wisenhunt spoke and thanked the crowd for the support. Interestingly, Warner mentioned how happy he was that the winning seasons had really encouraged community and brought families together, just like it had ours. After the speakers came the cheerleaders, the drum line and Big Red, the mascot. But, maybe the best entertainment was the over-zealous fans. Our favorite was a middle aged man dressed in full pads, black shorts, knee-high athletic socks, high top tennis shoes and a leather pilots' cap with the cardinal emblem on the side.

As we were riding home I told Anna Cate why I had thought it was such a good idea and she added that she was really "thankful we could all do something fun together" and that it was "cool seeing the people from the tv".