The Greatest Rivalry In Sports

As the country gears up for the NFL Division Championships, my blood is starting to boil.

I grew up in Massachusetts, but was raised a NY Giants fan. When my dad was little, the Patriots didn’t exist, so he chose the next closest team, the Giants. He has been a lifelong fan, and we were all raised Giants fans. Some of my earliest childhood memories are watching football on Sundays and hearing my dad cheer, “Heeeeeeey, Ernie!!! Hahaha!!” and clapping as Earnest Gray made some great play or other.

Growing up, it was never really an issue that I wasn’t a Pats fan, as they are not even in the same division as the Giants, and the two teams only played a handful of times as far as I can recall. (There was one season my sister and I tried to convince my Dad to take us to Foxboro for a game, but it was in December and my dad said it would be too cold, but when the game rolled around, it was 50 degrees out that day so we totally could have gone.) There were many kids my age who were in the same boat, so I never cared or felt out of place.

I do remember when I started hating the Patriots, though. One year in elementary school the Pats were headed to the Superbowl. Each week of the playoffs, we had to go to the cafeteria and all the students were forced to make Patriots propaganda posters. Ok, so maybe it wasn’t as horrible sounding as that, but I still remember sitting in the cafeteria making stupid posters with slogans like, “Squish the Fish!” and “Bury the Bears,” and thinking how lame it was since I wasn’t a Pats fan. I have never appreciated being told what to do (I will save my “don’t tell me to wear green even though I am not Irish rant for St. Patrick’s Day…) so I am sure my anger is more at being told to make posters more than actually hating the Pats. Truth is I have just never cared about them. I like two sports teams – the Giants and the Red Sox – and I just can’t get into watching other sports or games in which my teams aren’t playing. They hold no interest to me.

It seems, however, that since the Giants beat the Patriots in the Superbowl in 2008 and ended their perfect 2007 season, Patriots fans have invented a rivalry between the two teams. I just don’t get it, and it really makes me angry! Um, just because a team beats you doesn’t instantly make them a rival. Just because the Yankees and Red Sox are *actual* rivals, doesn’t mean NE and NYG should be too just because it is a NY-MA thing. Those aren’t even the same sport!! Yet when I try to explain to Pats fans that there is no “rivalry,” they don’t want to hear it. And, it seems that my fellow Giants fans are just as perplexed about it.

I could write at length about this topic, but honestly the more I think about it, the more upset I get about its sheer ridiculousness. So, in closing, Go Giants! And, I hope the Ravens win… ;)

The Name Game

Once again, the naming question has come to the forefront. This is something that *really* bothers me, and something my husband feels I dwell upon a little too much. I respectfully disagree.

Over the weekend, we got a card from some friends addressed to our first names and his last name. This morning at the dentist, the dentist asked me how I pronounced my last name and before I could answer, offered up a pronunciation that wasn’t even the letters in the right order. (I get that a lot, actually.) And one of my very best friends is going through some difficulty with name changes and was asking me for my insight into the naming game. So, as you can see, I have been thinking about this topic all day.

I have already gone into my feelings on this a little bit here, but let me expand on those a little further.

My friend asked me what my baby’s last name will be, and I told her it will be my husband’s last name. I had used “it can have your last name,” as a bargaining chip when working to convince him we needed a baby, and so her having my name was never an option. Like me, he is very proud of his name and his heritage, so he is glad to be passing on his name. I am sure that this will cause many, many issues in the coming years (like at doctor’s visits and parent/teacher meetings), but more for me and my pride and strong sense of etiquette than anything else.

In thinking about baby’s name, though, I started to reflect upon how weird it is that we still live in such a paternal society, what with the strides women have made in equality and such. (I am no feminist, and don’t even get me started on feminists, but seriously. It isn’t 1950. If women have to get out of the house and get a career and make a name for ourselves, then we can use our own names, thanks.) Even though it is nontraditional of me to not change my name, I innately feel that my baby having my husband’s name is “the right thing to do.” It never occurred to me to say, “Hey! I am doing all the work here. She should have *my* last name!”

What is also funny is that my husband and I are already assuming that baby will grow up and marry someone and change her name, because that is what girls do, right? With that in mind, I guess what it boils down to is that my name choice is a choice I made for myself. I decided to keep my name because it was important to me. I do not judge others for how they handle changing or not changing their names, because again – it is a personal choice. And that is what really irks me – not the messing up my name, but rather the disregarding of the personal and conscious decision I made for myself. It is about respect and it is about etiquette.

One of these days I suppose I should get over my name issues, but that will probably never happen.

No hate today.

It is hard to come up with a post for Hate Plate when I am coming off an amazing two week vacation. Each year, my office closes for the holidays. I have not even been back to work two full days and I am already thinking about next year’s break!

Things have been going really well lately, so it is hard to find a topic to vent about. I have spent lots of quality time with friends and family, I got a lot done around the house, I found plenty of time to relax, I am feeling organized and on top of stuff. Hard to complain.

I suppose I could discuss my driving pet peeves, but lately I am the one who is scaring me. This morning I almost got into two accidents that would have been completely my fault. They say texting and driving and driving drowsy are basically equivalent to driving drunk. Um, how about driving while pregnant? I am finding that I am just not paying as close attention to my driving as I used to, and not being as flexible as I once was, I am not looking around as well as I used to. Scary stuff. I feel like my blind spots have gotten as large as I seem to be getting.  I have noticed over the last week or so that my driving skills are suffering greatly.

I would recommend that you all beware. In the mean time, I will try my best to give 110% while behind the wheel…