Expectations change on the field and in kitchen

Although the Super Bowl is over, and you’re likely sick of hearing about my sports teams and complaints, just one more article, and then it’s safe to say, my sports life will fade to black for the rest of the year.

I’m a Braves baseball fan, as in, the team that traded away the best closer in baseball, some of the best outfielders, and the list goes on. This year I won’t be talking about the Braves. They’re rebuilding with young players and may be ready to compete in two years when they enter their new stadium. My friend Elyssa Queen, a diehard Mets fan, asked me if I’m ready for pitchers and catchers. I responded, “I’ll be ready in two years; you, my friend will be ready in two weeks.”

I was in two football pools. One, a suicide pool, which I won mid-season after knocking out 52 other players, and a regular pool, in which I hovered in the top 3 for most of the season, occupying first place for weeks, until I was knocked down to second place right before the Super Bowl. That’s a whole other story.

Seriously, the player who tied with me for first (I would win the tiebreaker though) picked the Broncos over the Patriots! And then in the Super Bowl, in order for me to win, I had to take the underdog and pray. It was my only chance. He would definitely pick the overwhelmingly strong favorite, the Panthers, you would think — but noooooooo (spoken as Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi voice), he picks the Broncos. Really? So the best I could hope for was second, which I got.

After watching Cam Newton’s graceless post-game response to losing, and being pounded by the Bronco’s ferocious defence during Sunday night’s Super Bowl, Jerry reflected on the most painful defeat he had ever experienced, during his years of playing competitive basketball. Jerry had participated in a myriad of basketball games starting in elementary school and ending in his late 30’s, beset both by many injuries and seriously declining skills.