Sparty On!

Ok. Admittedly, I've never been much of a Michigan State fan. I grew up in the Hawkeye state and I've always stood by my Hawks. But, the Spartans played Northwestern this afternoon in Evanston - not terribly far north of where we live. Mike convinced me to buy two tickets from one of the partners at the law firm with which I am employed, as he and his brother-in-law had talked about going. I did. Then said brother-in-law ran into work commitments and couldn't make it to Chicago.

And so I suggested that he call Sergio and some of his guy friends. "I'm sure that you can find someone to go with you, pea." I said. Mike looked at me with those big, green eyes and said, "But I want you to go with me." I admit that in my head I went, "Crap!" I hate rooting for the visiting team - I'm much too prone to get into a fight with anyone who heckles me. But, Mike's kinda cute and I do have a huge soft spot for the lug and so I agreed to don my (one) Spartan gear and cheer with all my might.

And so we spent the afternoon watching Michigan State crush the hopes and dreams of an undefeated year for the Wildcats - much to the dismay of those around us in the stands. The partner who owned the tickets warned me that they were deep in Northwestern season ticket holder territory. There was a bit of hostility, as the guy behind us commented to his friend no less than three times that he shouldn't have to sit behind Spartan fans when there were Wildcat fans sitting in the end zone.

And there was the guy two or three rows back who yelled, "It's Saturday!...Saturday, not Friday!" repeatedly when an MSU player was hurt and being examined on the field. He did it so many times that finally I turned to Mike and (to his amusement) said: "Did you know what day it was, Mike? Apparently it's Saturday. I had thought it was Friday. In fact, I was sitting here thinking to myself, 'Damn! I should be at work right now!'...And then I remembered. It's Saturday, not Friday. Man...what was I thinking? It's a good thing that guy's here to set me straight." We're pretty sure he's also the guy who kept yelling, "C'mon, throw a flag! Where's the flag?! Open your eyes, ref! etc." whenever MSU would make any kind of a big play. He might add different stuff, but it always started with "Throw a flag!" This we turned into an amusement for ourselves by yelling, "Throw a flag!" at random intervals. Mike made me snort water out of my nose by yelling, "Throw a flag!" at the marching band during the half-time show.

Eventually, the guy was getting on my nerves and I know he was annoying Mike because at one point Mike turned to me and said, "That guy is the biggest crybaby I've ever seen." Agreed. As we were getting up to leave, he yelled, "Come on, ref, stop cheating!" and I finally couldn't take it anymore. I turned around and yelled, "Stop whining!" He didn't have any reply at that time and, as we were leaving anyway, he didn't have time to formulate one. Just as well. I'd hate to get blood on my Michigan State shirt when I kicked his "ace" like a soccer hooligan.

Tomorrow we're going to hang out with my friend, Lisa and her former roommates (from New York) at the Chicago Marathon...which means they're arriving at our door at 7 a.m. Yikes. Mike was not thrilled. Then we have tickets to see "Forbidden Broadway" at the Royal George Theater. Definitely a full weekend!