Well, our Eagles got soundly beaten at home by a much better, more aggressive football team that also is our biggest rival, those Dallas Cowboys. Ouch. It was disappointing to see our boys get outplayed like that.
Someone recently asked me why I didn’t “pick” another team to root for. I didn’t understand the question. I didn’t “pick” Philadelphia to be my home team. They are. And I don’t root for them because they win, and stop when they lose. They are my team. Like that famous saying goes, “You can pick your nose. You can pick your friend’s nose. But you can’t pick your football team.” Or something like that.
There is one justifiable reason for picking another team to root for. A friend of mine is a youth pastor at Mountain View Chapel in Douglasville, PA. Steve is a first-generation Greek immigrant to the United States. He came to the US when he was 2. When Steve was a young boy, his father asked him in his heavy Greek accent what he wanted for Christmas, what he wanted Santa Clause (pronounced something like “Sahn’-tah Clowse”) to bring him. More than anything else in the world, little Steve wanted a Pittsburgh Steelers helmet. So he told his father that is what he wanted. He even showed his father the helmet he wanted to receive from Sahn’-tah Clowse.
Christmas morning arrived. And there under the tree was a football-helmet-shaped package. Steve was so excited. As he was tearing off the paper, his father was watching with delight, so excited to have been able to fulfill his son’s request. However, the torn-off paper revealed a seagull with an overbite, not the desired Steelers logo. His father unwittingly got him a Seattle Seahawks helmet. To him, a helmet was a helmet. Color and logo were irrelevant. But knowing the love and thought that went into the gift, Steve could not let his father see his disappointment. So he thanked him for the thoughtful gift. From that day on, Steve has been a Seahawks fan. He has never stopped being a Pittsburgh fan. But now he has two NFL teams to root for.
I have only one. And they lost last night.
But life goes on. I have to take a shower and go to work now.
