I actually DO have a date this coming weekend. I will be glued to the television and on the phone with perhaps (no, with the actual)the best looking man on the planet. Date wouldn't be the right term since the man is my son, but we have a TIME SLOT that we will be together - All day Saturday. I know the boy will want me to follow up with him on the 2nd day of the NFL Draft, but I want to go to church and then catch up with friends at a BBQ later on Sunday. I'll have to prepare myself for the multi-hour phone call which will inform me of the whys, the whats, the who's, and the forever "could-have-been-better" and/or "damn-I-don't-get-it" conversations which will surely be the Sunday follow up call.
Saturday will be the longest day of my life! The only thing making it tolerable is the love I have for the blabbering boy on the other side of the phone. He's mine. He's precious, he's full of football, full of stats, full of strategy - about the only thing he's not full of is himself. We leave that one up to Caity, where if you look up the word "narcissistic" you will see her smiling face. Reuben's genuine concern has always been for others. In this case the others consist of the Green Bay Packers. Every year we go through this Draft thing. I must go through this Draft thing. I am forced to understand rankings. I am led down the road of what will become the Rookie Year for every man on the list. I am asked, and usually politely, to do my homework. I must know and understand the players - it is my assignment.
As a teacher Reuben isn't half bad. I know the names of the top 20 draft choices. I know the difference between John Harrell and Greg Olsen from last year's Green Bay fiasco. I know that Green Bay has the #30 pick, and that we, we as in Reuben and I, want them to pick Reggie Smith from Oklahoma, but I also know that he's expected to go later in the draft - around #40. I also know that Howie Long's kid is Chris Long, not Jake Long. I know how to pronounce some of the stranger names up for the show this year and I wonder where the hell their mothers came up with these names!
My "Date" or "Time Slotted" has actually already begun. I have been on the phone with Fairbank's #1 PFC for several conversations involving the two of us sitting at our computers going over sites and stats. One guy says this, another says that, but Reuben doesn't trust him because he thought Eli Manning would stay with the Chargers. We all KNEW that wasn't going to happen - apparently a good choice was made by Manning to leave. EVEN IF...even if...Manning's Giants kicked Green Bay out of the National Championship, but what we, we as in Reuben and I, don't understand is why the Patriots have a 2nd pick in the First Round! They lost their pick when they "spied" on the Jets...or so we thought. There they are.
Miami gets the first pick. We know that too. We're thinking Chris Long - good weather, good location to start and maybe make a difference. He certainly couldn't harm the team's reputation; nothing could harm the team's reputation at this point. But the question for us, as in Reuben and I, is "What about Malcom Kelly, what about Reggie Smith, and what about Curtis Lofton?" I don't think Green Bay could swing that one - but wouldn't it be great if they did? Oh and then Adrian Petersen could leave the Vikings as a free agent and go to Green Bay. And, and, and, then Tommy Harris and Dusty D. could leave Chicago and move up the pike! Hey, we'd have another Oklahoma Sooner football team up in the Cheeseland of Wisconsin...that (for Reuben and I) would be the ticket.
I have to get off the blog, the phone's ringing and I haven't had my 2nd cup of coffee yet. I'm sure he has something really really really important to add to what he JUST told me five minutes ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment