Rebirth!! Life Begins Anew!!

Preseason Week 1:
Redskins 30, Colts 16

Sad to say, I have not experienced a religious awakening...
UNLESS YOU CALL FOOTBALL RELIGIOUS!!!!!

I raced home from work tonight to catch as much of the first football game of the year as I could. And it was my Redskins! I don't even care that I have to go back in tomorrow, on my only day off, to complete the work that I didn't finish so I could watch the game.

While making the drive home, I began to reflect what this first Redskins game really means to me. Pardon me while I wax retrospectively. My mom turned me on to redskin football in 1972. She let me stay up late on a Monday (school) night to watch the Skins play the Steelers on Monday Night Football. I had been hooked ever since. Unfortunately, most of my adult professions have prevented me from enjoying good ol' hands in the pants, sitting in the Laz-E-Boy sunday afternoon football. But I digress. My mom turned me onto the game and I remain an avid fan. When we couldn't watch together, we would call each other when there was a score or a tragedy. I remember getting home late in the day one day after hearing the news that Dan Snyder had contacted Joe Gibbs about returning to coach and that there was a good chance of it happening. When I called mom to tell her this (she loooooved Joe Gibbs) she whooped wildly and told me that it was already done, Gibbs was coming back! We whooped and hollered on the phone together for a good long bit.

She would call while I was at work and leave messages with updated scores. She hated the Cowboys too, oh how she hated the Cowboys. I remember how dark one Thanksgiving was one year because back up quarterback Clint Longley threw a Hail Mary pass in the final moments of a Redskin-Cowboy Turkey Day Classic that beat the beloved Skins. The turkey seemed dry that year and nothing really tasted good. Lesson learned, eat BEFORE the game, just in case we lose!

Well, mom, we've got a new coach and a new team this year. I don't expect much, but you instilled in me that loyalty goes beyond a losing season. When I watch the Skins this year (mostly recorded), I will think of you and know that you're sitting right next to me whooping it up just as much as I am.