Girls and Football - dilemmas

As an older sister to two sports-playing younger brothers and a daughter to a sports-watching dad, I would always be the bane of their existence when games were on. I tried not to interrupt this bonding experience, because I am smart enough to know not to ask "dumb" questions during plays. But really, Ladies, who is not confused by the whole downs, endzones, penalties, off-sides, man-in-motion thing, anyway. Seriously. Do we really care? Yes, we know the big guys are the defense, the special teams are "special," and we all mock the kicker. We're supposed to idolize the QB. My favorite position on a football team, however, is the "tight-end" EXACTLY for the reasons you think. (YUMMY)

To add to my dilemmas, I grew up in a New England state and now live in New York so my loyalties (again, IF I CARED!) are divided. My policy for the "big game" du jour, du week, and du whatever, has always been to find out who my family/boyfriend/host/friend was routing for and THEN ROUTE FOR THE OTHER TEAM. 'Cause I'm the imp of perverseness that way ...

So, imagine what Sunday was like. On the one hand, New England, land of my upbringing, has this undefeated team -- supposedly the favorite, with this monster machine, debonair QB, and all that hype. Then we have the Giants, underdogs, scrappy, the better of the two NY teams, led by one of the Manning brothers. What's a girl supposed to do, again, IF SHE CARED?

Here's the thing. The Patriots. From what I gleaned from my glancing at the sports/gossip pages, Tom Brady dates an obnoxiously obnoxious supermodel. Strike 1. Tom Brady broke up with his ex-fiancee who found out she was pregnant. Strike 2. Patriots accused of spying on other teams. Strike 3. Coach didn't seem to be too remorseful that he was caught doing this. Strike 4. Coach seemed to be filled with hubris. Strike 5. Undefeated season Strike. 6. ---- mmmm --- the imp seems to be leaning in favor of ...
The Giants. Underdogs. Point 1. Cute Manning brother still dating college sweetheart. Point 2. Cute Manning brother NOT a regular in the society/gossip pages. Point 3. Coach not caught spying. Point 4. Again, underdogs. Point 5. (Can you see where this is going?)

Now, to be fair, I avoided much of the whole Superbowl day by either sleeping, reading the papers, napping, watching the FoodNetwork, TravelChannel, the PuppyBowl (which is strangely addictive), or Jane Austen ... however, thanks to the loud raucous parties throughout the building and across the street, I knew exactly when to flip to the game and watch the instant replays of some wonderful plays. Nice. Very nice, and you have to admit the dichotomy of Austen and football has to be admired on some levels.

So, if you haven't figured it out.

GO GIANTS!

Not that I care or anything ...

Nope. Not me.