Me and My Boys and My Football

Computer problems have forced me off the blog this past week. I had a picture for my Wordless Wednesday and my Five for Friday all ready to go, but I had to send my HP into the shop (thankfully it is covered under warranty and won't cost a dime). My temporary replacement is a bit slower and has been not so functional with allowing me to upload pictures or even get on the internet at times. Tonight I can get on, but I can not get into my fantasy football draft.

Yes, my name is Abigail and I am a fantasy football player. I have been for three years running now. Sadly because of my computer issues, for the first time in three years I have to sit back and let the computer pick out my fantasy football team for me. I am the only girl holding it down in a league full of eleven other boys so I really pride myself on drafting a good team and putting up a good fight (my team name is Title IX after all). They all call me "Babs" and have lots of fun ribbing me just 'cos I'm a female in an all boys league, but they know I'm a good sports fan and a consistently competitive member of the league. Fantasy baseball is another story, but I can hold it down alright in football.

For the past few years my enthusiasm for football and most other sports has led to many occasions where I look around and find I am the only girl surrounded by boys. It started my first day of grad school when, so excited to be at a Division I school, I excitedly asked if anyone was going to that Saturday's home football opener. There weren't many enthusiastic responses (the University of Virginia isn't exactly a football powerhouse), but there was one other grad student who said he wouldn't miss it. I am a sports fanatic and even though I have many friendships with people who couldn't tell you the difference between a free throw and a free kick, I gravitate towards people who love athletic competition as much as I do. Thus began my friendship with a fellow sports fanatic, who has also ended up being one of the most fun and loyal friends I could ask for. He was not frightened by my enthusiasm (I am crazier about football than most boys) and through him I found myself a wonderful circle of friends.

Throughout our grad school years we went to countless happy hours and trivia nights, traveled to away games and tailgated for hours at home games, we painted our faces and we stormed the field, we played wiffle ball in the spring and midnight football games when central Virginia got snow. If I tried to list all the awesome times we shared I would probably be here forever. Oh yeah, they all pretty much all happened to be boys. The story of my grad school years (and so far my years teaching and coaching) has been the story of "me and my boys".

I look forward to the annual fantasy football draft because even though we are spread out across the state of Virginia (and the country), for a few hours we all get to exchange barbs and talk like we're all together again watching away games at Wild Wings over a pitcher of beer. So let's hope the computer does an okay job drafting my team. I need to do more than just talk the talk when it is me and my boys!

Lazy Sunday

Well, thanks to NBC's spotty coverage of the men's slalom (and one of the greatest Olympic stories of the year) even if you wanted to, you couldn't watch Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong. Despite being covered by media from London to D.C and appearing on spots like the Today Show, NBC chose not to show Kwame competing in the men's slalom yesterday. To say I'm a little disappointed would be an understatement. I have enjoyed watching all of the Olympics and am beyond stoked to watch the gold medal hockey game tonight, but I was looking forward to seeing Kwame compete since I first saw him walk out in the Parade of Nations proudly waving the Ghana flag. I read his story, figured out what day he would be competing and then...nothing. I had to resort to reading a newspaper article that described the magic on the mountainside after he finished. Chants of "Ghana! Ghana!" apparently kept on going an hour after he left the slopes. I should add, for those who are curious, that on a slalom course so difficult and covered in fog 50% of its competitors finished with a DNF (including Bode Miller and the reigning world champion in the event from Austria), Kwame made it down the slope. AND he attained his Olympic goal of actually competing, beating an Albanian skier by more than twenty seconds. I loved his story, to me it summed up the true 'Olympic spirit'.

He is a competitor. That was one of the most appealing parts of his story. Finishing was not enough for him. Maybe it's the old cross-country spirit in me. I just love competition, even if the only person you're competing with is yourself. It even got me excited to start coaching. The head coach informed me the other day that I will be in charge of the 8th and 9th grade girls team (YIKES!). While a daunting task, I am excited at the possibility of working with young runners who are new to competitive running.

I am having a lazy Sunday morning trying to motivate myself for a big day., sitting on my couch reading newspaper articles my dad sent me last week and watching Meet the Press while I eat a leftover cinnamon-cream cheese brioche from the new bakery down the block. I don't feel that guilty about my lazy morning so far - especially considering the fact that I had a very productive morning yesterday getting laundry done and cleaning my house. It really is ridiculous how much of a morning person I am. If I stay in bed for a good chunk of the morning or stay in my pajamas 'til 11 AM I feel like I've wasted half the day and I hate it! Since it's almost 10 AM, I probably ought to hit up the grocery store as my cupboard and fridge are starting to get bare. I need to finally finish grading my senior's projects on the executive branch and plan 4 engaging intro lessons on the judicial (that doesn't involve me just showing them episodes of Judge Judy and the People's Court). I also need to figure out how to plan my 10-day unit on World War II. I'm still determined to be past the Cold War by Spring Break, which is currently only 25 instructional days away. It will be challenge, and a painful challenge at that considering World War II is the reason I became a history teacher in the first place. I'll have to post more on that in another blog post. For now, it is off to make a grocery list and head to my favorite Kroger.

I am equally sad/excited for the hockey game this afternoon! Excited because I think it has the potential to be an epic game and sad because the Closing Ceremonies will follow and then comes Olympics withdrawal and the long wait 'til baseball season. I have really enjoyed these Olympic Games. I loved always being able to have them on in the background while I graded and planned into the wee hours of the night. Baseball season is just around the corner though and with baseball comes spring break and the wonderfulness that is a teacher summmer.

Will you be sad to see the Olympics go? Did you have a favorite Olympic story or athlete this year? What sporting event will you be looking forward to next?

Watch the Snow Leopard!!

Everybody watch Kwame and the one man Ghana ski team today in the Men's Slalom!!!
Read more about Kwame here.

Olympics!

I am very much enjoying my lazy Saturday at the moment. I am sitting back on the couch eating some Trader Joe's pecan praline goodness and watching the Olympics (ski jumping and biathlon!). I think the last Olympic games I got very into was probably the Salt Lake City games in 2002. It was my freshman year of college and my roommates and I got very into watching as much as we could. One of my best friends at the time was from Canada and was actually a national biathlon champ in high school(that's the event that combines cross-country shooting and riflery). Her aunt was also a prominent curler on the national scene so I got to learn a lot about that unknown and frequently mocked event too. For example, I learned the curling stone is called a "rock" and the thing that looks a swiffer is referred to as a brush. She told us all about the throwers vs. the sweepers. She tried to explain to us how you have to know when to sweep and all the strategy involved in the game. I can't say I retained the specifics of all that she taught, but I definitely do have a new respect for the sport. That year was definitely a memorable Olympic year, although I think I remember it more as a memory from freshman year than a memorable Olympics. That was the year with the crazy figure skating controversy surrounding the Canadians though! Remember that?

Aside from that year, I cannot remember a time in recent years when I have been that interested in the Olympics. JC has been excited enough for the two of us and I suppose his enthusiasm was contagious and has rubbed off on me. Last night, while watching Mike play I watched the Parade of Nations. The geography nut in me loved seeing how many nations were represented. A lot of the 'stans are there - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan. Most of the European microcountries are competing as well - Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Liechtenstein have pretty solid teams. I suppose Andorra makes a lot of sense since it is a tiny little country smushed between the Pyrenees Mountains. I have to say the moment that got me was the lone athlete from Ghana who came out proudly waving his nation's flag. I looked him up online when I got home and learned that he is "The Snow Leopard" (Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong). Here is his story:


I know there are many people that don't like these kinds of athletes competing in the Olympics or all the attention their stories seem to generate. I have a friend who thinks these "sappy" stories detract from the stories behind the real athletes who actually have a chance to medal. I know that after Eddie the Eagle, the British ski jumper from the '88 Calgary games, they changed the qualifying rules, but people who have no chance at getting a medal still qualify all the time. I seem to remember an Ethiopian nordic skier, who I think I saw in the Parade of Nations last night, who finished dead last at the last games. Everyone knows about the Jamaican bobsled team, who sadly haven't qualified for the last two games. I love these stories! I don't see what the fuss is over. I ran cross-country and track all through high school and while I was never in the running for any all-county honors, I loved being able to compete with the best. That's really what the Olympics are all about, the opportunity to compete with the world's best. I think what "the Snow Leopard" is doing for his nation is a great thing. To me, these stories are the whole reason I watch the Olympics.

Are you at all excited for the Olympics? What is your favorite part of the games? Do you have a favorite event to watch or any favorite memories from previous Olympics?