Green and Yellow

Not entirely sportsy, I suppose.  But when I think sports, I think football, and when I thought football, this game was at the top of my mind.  Unfortunately, I don't remember any of the details of the actual game.  I remember the people I watched it with, though, so that's what you get.  :)

The room is dark, lit only by the projector.  I sit with my feet on the table, a Henry Weinhard in my hand.  Holding the bottle by the neck always makes me feel like I know what I'm doing.  It's a silly thing, really.  Something my brother taught me...probably when I was about ten years old.  "You hold the bottle around the neck, that way your hand doesn't warm up the beer."


Yeah.  Good to know.


We're here to watch the Auburn/Oregon BCS Championship game.  Surrounded by Duck fans, I have just enough contrariness in me to consider playing devil's advocate.  Unfinished comments about their logo being a big, fat O, or the relative toughness of a duck run through my head.  But I don't say anything - partly because I do like the Ducks and mostly because I like my friends and I want to keep them.  And my health.  Also, I have to bear in mind that if I invited my mates over for a game and one of them started insulting my team, the same person would be out on the street in a heartbeat.  We're talking football etiquette, here.  Thou shalt not bash thy host's team.  If you do, you won't get any snacks.  And who wants that?


So I keep my snark to myself.  I suck the foam off of my excessively enthusiastic root beer and try to help Amber understand how football works.  Things are pretty relaxed, the noise of the crowd roaring and the players crashing into each other hovers just under the occasional outcry from Lucas or Ted.  A call comes from the kitchen, "Pizza's ready."  We each make our sporadic dashes to the table and conversation drops off until the next pizza comes out of the oven.
"What?  There's a cowboy?  Man, I totally wouldn't have had two slices of the other."
Amber grins up at me.  "You should text Eric and tell him you have a cowboy."
"Haha!  That wouldn't be confusing at all," I laugh as I return to my seat with my slice of Papa Murphy's cowboy pizza.

I randomly text the boys sitting on the next couch over and get excited game commentary in response.  My aunt sends me a message saying something about the Cam Newton controversy.  Things settle back to their previous state.  There's a knock at the door and Enthusiasm walks in wearing a green sweatshirt and a yellow hat.  Wait, is that...?  Yup.  It's a duck bill.  The guys get up to greet him and Lucas laughs his approval. 
"Yeah, I was on my way out the door and my mom handed it to me and I was like yes!"
I grin.  He would.  Jordan is nothing if not die-hard.  There are frequent outbursts from the other couch now.  It's always far more entertaining to watch a game with an excited fan.

Pretty soon, there's another knock and Sarah is sitting down at my left.  Now I know Sarah is definitely outgoing, but I'm not sure how much of a Ducks fan she is.  Either way, Oregon is her state, so I figure this should be good.  I settle in and expect to enjoy myself, maybe do some shouting of my own.

"What?  No!"
"YES!"
"Go go go go!"
"Aaaugh, run, you idiot."
"Oh, bad call."
"Wow.  What's with all the Cam Newton commercials?"
"Oh, that's awkward."
"What the heck.  That was a paint commercial?"
"Did not see that coming."
"Run, run, yes!"
"Aaaahhhthatwasbeautiful!"

The clock is ticking down and it's halftime sooner than I expect.  Someone flips the lights on and the sound off and I get up to stretch.  Lucas turns on some music and quite suddenly Ted is dancing to Maroon 5.  Jordan is ditching us to go to another party for the second half, but as he walks out he leaves his goodbye ringing in the air.

"GO DUCKS!"

Corned Beef

"Hey."
She looked up and her eyes widened slightly.  Play it cool, she thought.  "Oh, hello."
"What are you working on?"  He sat down next to her, looking over her shoulder.
"It's..." she looked down at the paper.  "I'm not sure.  A shamrock?  I guess I was just doodling."
"Well, it's certainly the day for it." He smiled.  Her pen clattered to the floor and she rummaged hastily under the table, hiding her blushing face.  When she emerged, they sat in silence for a moment.
"Would -"
"D'you - "
She laughed.  "Sorry, go ahead."
"Do you like corned beef?"
"Oh yeah.  It's odd, I usually crave salt the way most people crave sugar."
"I know a place with good beef and good bread.  Would you like to go for a sandwich or something later on?"
She bit the inside of her lip briefly to prevent herself grinning like an idiot.  "Well, I'm a fan of good beef.  Sure.  I'd love to."
He smiled and she nearly dropped her pen again.  "I'll pick you up."