Football Fan(atics)

I have just learned a valuable lesson. Not from an older, more experienced person. Not from a friend or colleague. Not even from a family member. I have been officially put in my place by a 7-year-old boy. Who is just as passionate about the game of football as I am. And who loves the San Francisco 49ers just as much as I do.

If any of you watched the playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Giants, you will understand. This game determined one of the teams would go to the Superbowl. The game of all games. The champions in all of football. As it so happened, my dear Niners lost. It was a team effort but many of us avid 49er fans would break the loss down to two key plays. Involving the same 49er player. And resulting in our 49er loss.

Memories of the old 49er days and the "Team of the 80s" flashed across my mind. Led by Bill Walsh. The Montana (or Young) to Rice connection. Roger Craig, and his legs, throwing high knees (and big players) around like they were marshmallows. Ronnie Lott as the hardest hitting free safety in the NFL. His hits would make you cringe and cheer all at the same time. What does this 7-year-old boy know about that era?

He would know nothing. What he DOES know is that he was angry at Williams just as much as the rest of us. This poor child even cried because his team lost. And he asked his dad the universal question: WHY? Then his dad (smart guy that he is) turned everything around. And made his son think. Which in turn made us all think. This 7-year-old boy taught me forgiveness. His dad asked him the simple question, "How do you think HE feels?" And that's when the tables turned and the mindset changed to think about the player. And how terrible he must be feeling.

And that calmed me down. AFTER I felt humiliated at my actions and words. About that 49er player. And it got me thinking. My Niners have had it bad for quite some time now and for them to make it this far wasn't even fathomable. No one would have guessed. Non-Niner fans actually gave the team props. And I am still a fan. For life. Because in the end, it's all about the Red and Gold! I get it. I finally get it.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/awwww-read-seven-old-heart-melting-letter-kyle-214810120.html

The Politics of it All

I'm not a political person. I do not understand politics, politicians, the art of politicizing (new word), or being political. I simply don't get it! I think I wear my heart on my sleeve and what you see is what you get. No games. No frills. No ulterior motives. Just plain ol' me. So politics and the art, thereof, are foreign to me. How can people play with other people's lives? Why would you fight a person and block laws and regulations that would actually HELP people simply because you belong to the opposing party? What's wrong with standing up for what you believe in and pushing through those laws and regulations for the sake of the "normal" people? Who cares what party you belong to as long as it benefits society as a whole? And why does YOUR pocketbook have to be large and in charge while the majority of the nation's is small and sometimes penniless? Why does a president get blamed for the state of the nation when things have been moving downhill at a fast pace for quite some time? And how can he fix it when he's blocked at every turn? I don't get it. I really don't.