here we go …
The first day of football season (Thursday’s debut game notwithstanding) is always such an exciting day. The jersey comes off the hanger, the hats come down from the rack. As the weather cools, the sweatshirts are cuddled up in at night. My whole life exists, especially on Sunday, in black & gold.
Ah Pittsburgh. I love yinz.
There is something utterly exhilarating for me to watch my team come out onto the field in their uniforms, faces stony in concentration, hair cut, beards shaved ~ everyone clean cut, fresh and new.
This year we play the Ravens on Opening Day ~ our biggest Division Rival ~ the salt in many wounds. I watched the AFC Divisional Game in January 2009 with my little brother, in Row 521 (or there about) in the endzone as the wind whipped and the snow fell. It was the best NFL game experience I have ever had. We barely sat down (the benches were coated in ice), we screamed, we swung terrible towels (sidenote: my arm actually hurt the next day ~ true story), we screamed until we couldn’t scream any more …. It was worth all the blood, sweat and tears it took to get there. (Dave came down to Philly from NYC, I picked him up at 6am, we drove down to my parents, got my dad, and the three of us drove across the state in a snow storm).
At the beginning
In a sea of black & gold
This game isn’t as heavy as that game ~ but it’s a doozy of a way to start the season. May Ben play well, may our O line play well, may our defense be epic, and may we suffer no season-ending or crucial injuries to our major players.
One can’t really ask for more than that.
Here we go Steelers, Here we go!
D5 Creation
Just managed to catch up on your blog….you have such a wonderful, conversational style, I’m blown away by it. Also by all your pix and news and your passions for football (pro and college), reviews on camping, reflections on 9/11 and all the way to the bottom… you should have multitudes of readers because this is great stuff and the recipes and food experiences are fabulous! BTW, here’s the recipe for my steak marinade, which I’ve used for years and which is, to put it mildly, fail-safe:
2/3 cup soy sauce; 1/4 cup sherry (dry, or whatever you have, even port if you don’t have sherry); 2 tablespoons sugar, teaspoon garlic powder or a whole clove of smushed garlic; teaspoon ginger. Mix the dry stuff together first, because if you don’t it won’t mix happily with the liquids and you’ll have little globs of ginger etc. that you will have to chase around the bowl and smash to incorporate it; then add the soy sauce/sherry mixture and combine until sugar melts and everything is nice and smooth. You can use and re-use several times until there isn’t enough to coat your steaks, when you really ought to pitch the old stuff and start anew. Find a nice empty jam jar or something cute to keep YOUR marinade in and refrigerate it at all times!
xoxxoxox