Sunday, February 03, 2013

Happy Purple Thoughts


Happy Super Bowl Sunday!!!

For the first Ravens haven't been in the Super Bowl for 12 years, and so today is an exciting day in Baltimore and purple lights are up everywhere. 

My family members love football.  I love my family, and I'm sort of getting the hang of some of the football after years of exposure.  I know some of the player details, and the big ones for the day include the fact that the coaches of the competing teams -- The Baltimore Ravens vs. The San Fransisco 49ers -- are brothers.  A first ever for the Super Bowl and in psychiatry we call this the ultimate in sibling rivalry.  Ray Lewis, #52 (big guy on defense who tackles a lot of people) is playing his final game today, so winning a Super Bowl would be a nice way to end his 17 year career.  Joe Flacco's, the quarterback, father was quoted in the paper saying he's "dull" and I was shocked that a parent would publicly say this, but everyone else (including Joe, apparently) thought it was funny and it's rumored that Papa Flacco was quoted out of context.  Hoping Joe won't be dull today. 

For me, it's about the family and the tailgating.  The menu here will be tortilla chips with topping options: guacamole in large quantities, cheese (shredded and sauce), chili, lettuce, salsa, sour cream, beans, sauteed onions and peppers, and chicken wings with carrots/celery and bleu cheese dressing.  I think I've perfected the purple drink: prosecco or champagne with pomegranate juice and half a drop of blue food coloring served in a champagne glass.  The debate here is whether you can drink this before they win, and I say it's fine to celebrate the accomplishment of making it to the Super Bowl but apparently there is some superstition around this idea

The guest list is limited: we have a bitter Patriots fan visiting from New England.  The Shrink Rappers were not invited because I was limited to hard-core football fans who will keep quiet, concentrate, and respect the high-anxiety tension in the air.  "No psychiatrist asking if they got a home run."  The kids are scattered, but I'm expecting photos and texts during the game, and two of our guests have husbands and sons who will be at the game. 

Finally:  Go RAVENS!  (okay, I'm off to paint the dog purple)

7 comments:

Joel Hassman, MD said...

do you have the touchdown football that when you hit it then says
"touchdown ravens", hit again hear the bird go "caw, caw, caw", and then third time for the marching band to play "da da da dun, da da da da da dun."

Catchy tune, sorry can't play it here for ya all.

Laura1019 said...

Hope you all have a fun day. We all need one! For myself, I enjoy the commercials! (some of them) :-)

Sarebear said...

You're making me hungry! You wouldn't like me when I'm hungry . . .. (er, wait, that was the old Incredible Hulk pilot I watched the other day . . .)

Hrm, I sound like a zombie, hee hee.

There's something so comforting about events/food/traditions/gatherings/family all mixed up together.

We never have people over for that sort of thing, small apt., I'm 5th out of six kids and the oldest ones, a decade or so older than I, don't see me as an equal to socialize with.

So, I decided to quit waiting for others to want me in THEIR lives, and we invited my oldest sister over yesterday for board games and movies (we finally got an HDTV this week). It was fun! Good reinforcement to quit waiting for others to make my life the way I want it. I gotta get out of bed and do it myself (seems kinda obvious now lol).

The food! Made a scrumptious, lick-the-bowl-clean beef stew, the beef just melted in our mouths, with rolls to soak up the gravy; we had various munchies and sweets both store-bought and handmade to while away the extra hours it took the slow cooker to finish (oops, new recipes take longer than they say sometimes).

The catching up with each other and being hosts to someone coming over was just awesome. Shared experiences and food and fun, that to me is what things like the Superbowl are about, which is why I rambled on here about my own food/fun/family/stuff event.

Hope you had a great party!

Sunny CA said...

I was out in the SF suburbs rooting for San Francisco.

I was happy enough that we came roaring back after the lights came on, even though we did not win.

San Francisco has had more that its share of sports victories in recent years.

The menu here was broiled salmon, baked potato, and spinach salad, but I did not have guests. The salmon was overcooked because SF got a touchdown while the salmon was in the oven.

Dinah said...

Oh, the tension! In case you didn't hear, the Ravens won the Super Bowl.

Sarebear, beef stew sounds wonderful.

If you had any clue of the anxiety my house around sports, you would not feel jealous. We did get to have a few guests yesterday, but usually, no guests, we can't go out to watch, no speaking, no breathing, a win is about the relief, not the joy.

But the food was good.

To add to the tension, one of the guests was convinced the power outage was a terrorist attack and her sons were at the game....

Sunny CA, I'm sorry for your loss, and I'd eat that dinner any day. Usually I make turkey chili for football (and podcasts), but for the Super Bowl, the fat/sugar load went up.

Way to Go, Ravens!

elbee said...

Sarebear,

You are inspirational. Way to go on not waiting but making things happen. That would be a good lesson for me to learn.

Madeline Alonso said...

Great post! Must have been a pretty good day :)!