Autumn Sundays In The South

Touchdown!

It starts on Fridays with High School games. The members of my household, with one eye on ESPN, start to think about their "picks" for Sunday's family football pool. They cover the internet stories, especially the "experts" on HBO.com. They study the statistics and the Sports sections of the daily newspaper. The telephone conversations fly back and forth between my husband and his son on Saturdays. First, they cover their favorite college teams, then ease on into the Pros.

"Who's on the injured list? ... What the hell is wrong with that quarterback? ... That jackass can't keep his hands on the damn ball ... Delhomme is gonna kick butt this week ... Not sure about that Eagles defense, but T.O.'s lookin' good today ... Houston? You picked Houston to win? You crazy?"

By Sunday afternoon I can smell the popcorn and hear the screams from the family room ... "Go baby Go! ... Aww, that was a bad call, ref, you suck!"

And on and on. For five glorious months. And I love every minute of it. It's a well known fact I spend Sundays writing in my office, but I support their every scream, hoot, and holler and sometimes come out to sneak a peak if it sounds more exciting than usual. I can catch up on the scores and who's winning the pool. Even though I don't partcipate, and am no real fan of any particular team, I enjoy the sounds of the family as they laugh and carry on watching their football. The good times they'll remember always. My, how they love this sport. Especially Mama.

Nobody watches as closely as my 76-year-old mother-in-law, whose records for picking winning teams are better than Chris Collinsworth, Chris Carter, Bob Costas, and Dan Marino. In fact, most of my family is better than these guys at picking the winners. Sunday morning, when the majority of the Bible belt is on their way to church, my family gathers round the table to give thanks that New England's not looking too good this year and to gamble on the whether Tennesse will whip Arizona. A debate over Atlanta and New York heats up ... the stakes are high and we're off ... the excitement begins at lunch time Sunday and ends after Monday night's game.

Then it starts all over again the next week.

It's like I always say, the family that picks together, sticks together.

Blessings to you and yours.