There comes a point in a sports fan's life where you have to take a step back and consider the following: Are sports part of your life or do sports run your life? I would argue they're a large part of my life. My fiance would tell you they run my life. I'm not really sure who is right on this one.
I started to ponder this last night as I looked forward to this coming weekend. Saturday is Halloween. The Michigan State football team plays at Minnesota at 8 PM. My fiance and I have been invited to a Halloween party that is taking place at the same time. Normally, I'm all for Halloween parties. People getting dressed up, drinking a little too much, and having an all-around good time. Before we had a chance to discuss it (one friend invited her and another invited me while we were separated at our tailgate this past weekend), "we" had agreed to go to the party.
When I was invited to this party, my first thought was of course: THE GAME! How can I miss such an important game? MSU's remaining games, in order, are at Minnesota, home against Western Michigan, at Purdue, and home against Penn State. Three or four wins in those four games means a bowl game in a warm place in late December or early January. Two wins most likely means a trip to the MotorCity Bowl in Detroit (Good for the city, not exactly the best tourist destination for Spartan Fans). To me, the Minnesota and Purdue games will make or break this season. I expect a win against Western. I'm not so positive about the Penn State game. Win at Minnesota and Purdue and off to warm weather we go. So obviously, the Minnesota game is huge.
Ok, so that brings up the obvious solution. Go the party and hope the game is on TV. Seems like a nice solution to the puzzle. The first problem is, I don't really know the people throwing the party. Are they sports fans? Are they MSU fans? Will they understand how important this game is to guys like me? The other problem (and bigger general problem) is that I really hate watching important football games with large groups of people. Any more than 6 and I feel like I'm missing something. People talk over the announcers. People walk in front of the TV. If anyone gets hurt, I have almost no chance of finding out if he'll come back or if he's out for the game. When the game on TV is something I don't care about (i.e. the Super Bowl most years), this stuff doesn't bother me. I could watch the Super Bowl with 50 people and have a great time. You know why? Normally I have a team I'm cheering for, but I really don't care that much about the outcome. Last year I found myself always cheering for whoever was losing, because I wanted to see an exciting game (and that's exactly what we had between Arizona and Pittsburgh) But, this is different. This is Michigan State. This is my Spartans.
So, after racking my brain, I've come to this conclusion. There is one Halloween every year. There are (at least) twelve Spartan football games every year. To the party I go (now I need a costume). I'll hope it's on TV and I can make the most of it. If not, I might just try to not hear anything about the game all night and watch my recording of it when I get home. (That option never works well. Someone will be following their game on their phone and want to tell me updates. Someone will watch the game then come to the party and want to tell me all about it) In the long run, I'll have fun at the party. More important, my future wife will have fun at the party.
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Good for you for choosing the party and doing something to make Michelle happy! When you were talking about watching the game and how large groups spoil it, all I could think about was Fever Pitch. But I'm happy you're going to the party (and I'm a little jealous). If you need a costume idea, you could always be what Baylor is going to be ... Charlie Brown! Easy costume, though you might have to shave off the facial hair to be convincing. ;o)
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