Superbowl Sunday

I love my girlfriend, I think that's pretty clear. We have a lot of fun together and I'm challenged in ways I haven't been before. I wouldn't say that watching the superbowl is necessarily one of those challenges, but, it is something that catches me by surprise as we watch it every eyar. In fact, any football watching catches me by surprise, and we watch quite a bit. Joan is from Michigan, which, apparently by default, means you're a born and bred football fan. University of Michigan, Michigan State, and probably the smaller schools and community colleges have huge football fans. She has sweathsirts and wears baseball hats with the U of M and State logos. Recently, she asked for a Michigan t-shirt for her birthday. The love runs deep.

I can dig it. I never thought I'd be a "superbowl wife" and, let's be clear, I'm not a wife, nor will I ever be in name or practice. But, I did host a little pre-birthday, superbowl party for my woman yesterday and it was super fun. Now, I've been gathering with friends around the superbowl for a while, you know, for the commercials (which, are no doubt incredibly sexist, racist, and homophobic). Last night was, keeping with tradition, a bit pot-luck like and included a homemade birthday cake for my girl. We ate a lot, laughed a lot, and just had a general good time with friends. And, we watched the game. Or, should I say, my girlfriend watched the game. I watched some parts of it but, as she pointed out, I did rewind it to watch the Christina Aguilera flub during the beginning of the second half. That's not really something you do when others are watching the game. Hmmm.

Now, I know what I'm going to say from here on out is stereotypical in all respects, but I really never thought I'd live with a woman who watches football. I mean, I mostly think, "who gives a sh*t about football," really? It's kind of boring, looks really painful, it's a GAME, it's hugely aggressive, and it's just weird to spend 3-4 hours watching. I can't keep up. And the only people I've really been around who can or do care are the men in my family. Every year when I visit for the holidays we spend our time, regardless of the occasion, sitting around the television watching football. It's comforting and I like hanging out with my dad, uncles, and cousins (and aunts sometimes), but I still don't get it. Plenty of women, including my beloved butches, watch and play football. OK, it's not necessarily about gender. And I am, following type, a huge WNBA fan and more and more am getting into local college faves,  the Stanford Cardinals and baseball "world" champions, the San Francisco Giants (I'm currently on a quest to find this shirt by the way).

But, the superbowl (and football in general) still feels odd to me. Maybe it's the lingering claim that domestic abuse escalates on this day. Although, really, violence against women in and outside the home happens everyday, not just the first Sunday in February, so...

I'm not sure what to say as I bring this post to an end. But, secretly, I kind of love that Joan watches football and sits in her Michigan State or Detroit Tigers hat and really gets into it. It's kind of hot. Maybe that's the trouble, trying to reconcile what tends to make my eyes roll a little when I see Oakland Raiders flags and other memorabilia on cars or rather, trucks and SUVs, around town, but in the comfort of my house or in the frame of my woman, makes me grin and blow kisses from across the room.