Football season is here, ladies, as training camps and pre-season games arrived. Cajun Cowboy has surely brain ninja-ed me as I cannot wait for college football Saturdays and watching the Texans on Sunday. Don't get me wrong, I've always liked football, but I find myself anticipating the Boys of Fall (thanks K. Chesney) more and more each year. I do things like participate in Fantasy Football, quiz C. Cowboy on where NFL players went to college (not like I'd know if he was incorrect), try to actually remember names and positions of players of teams I don't necessarily like, put on ESPN in the middle of the day, choose the treadmill at the gym in front of the TV with ESPN on, follow the local sports media on Twitter, and follow the Texans on facebook.
This last activity led me to my latest salty sports adventure: Texans 101, a "ladies night" to learn about football and some of the intricacies of the Houston franchise. My friend Carra and I found ourselves on a Wednesday night inside "The Bubble" where the team holds indoor practices when the Houston weather doesn't cooperate with hours of practice. A huge thank-you goes out to my husband for watching Wyatt for the night. He came home from work and I raced across town to hurriedly enter what looked like a giant space walk with stainless steel doors that seemed like the entrance to the world's largest freezer.
Inside the Bubble
Our best 50 yard line pose...not so cheerleader-ish it turns out
Carra definitely wanted to see what this thing was made of--yep, feels like air
After an introduction and hearing from the equipment and facilities coordinator/manager/insert-important-title-here, where we learned about the uniform upkeep, travel arrangements, and Trindon Holiday's small foot, our evening was arranged into four areas: chit-chat with offensive players Joel Dreessen and David Anderson, informative session with the teams' sports dietitian, Q/A (another chit-chat) with defensive players Zac Dyles and Tim Bulman, and a lesson with special teams head coach. We actually skipped the last session with special teams when it started out with--on kickoff we do this... Carra and I are a bit past the 101 class so we headed back to sneak in pictures and autographs.
Our first session with Anderson and Dreessen gave me lots of excellent blogging nuggets to share. First, the two were an interesting pair, Dreesen standing quite tall next to Anderson who is, well, not so tall. Our particular group was here for the 101 aspect. See below as Dreessen explains the line of scrimmage. Seriously? And then, "What's the best way to learn about football?" Really?
Come on--get into something a bit more juicy. Yes, we were there to learn about football, but they are giving a Q&A open door. I decided to ask about the origin of D.A.'s string dance, which I discovered is a Conan O'Brien original. I felt a bit like an idiot, but no one else knew what I was talking about anyway. And no, he would not demonstrate as he claimed he retired it soon after. Disappointment ensued.
Anderson's got a spunk of an attitude and is a bit of a diva perhaps. Google image him and see for yourself. Quotes from D.A. "David Carr sucks." (Well, yes) and concerning Brett Favre, "that old arm will fall off sooner or later." AND he is hazing his rookies by making them buy random grocery store items like shaving cream and shampoo. Apparently that's what happened to him. One lady asked about the rookie situation in Dallas and D.A. freaked out about talking about Dallas here. Made for some nice bantering between the two. Oh, and they also revealed that James Casey is a genius.
Taking questions from the group
Dreessen explains football (probably answering the question "What's the line of scrimmage?")
Dreessen did lots of the talking. Carra thought he'd make a great teacher.
DA looked bored...maybe nervous???
Skipping special teams for pics
Yep, not too tall
The session with the dietitian was interesting with tidbits about players and their routines. For example, you don't talk to Kris Brown on game day. Also, there is a player (a "speedster" according to her) that eats 7,000 calories a day. Want more? The team travels with huge containers of special train mix to help get calories in a healthy way. I didn't realize so much goes into planning for these guys, but the Texans are lucky to have her. She keeps an excel sheet for each one and goes to great lengths to make sure her boys are healthy while playing and beyond. Their lives go on after days in the NFL.
I thought the best part about our last session was the personalities of these two defenders. We heard the groups before us cracking up, so we couldn't wait to hear what they had to say. They introduced themselves and got right to asking for questions. I didn't take many notes by this point to conserve iPhone battery power. Yep, had to make sure I had enough juice to see how the petite did at home without his Momma. (And he was fine. Daddy is a champ!)
The best part of this was Zac Dyles' terming of Matt Schaub's hair as the double cul-de-sac. I can't tell you how many times I've used it since. Plus, it's the haircut our handsome baby is rocking!
I wonder which opponent Dyles in pondering his next attempt at "jacked up!"
Hysterical...between Bulman's Boston accent and Dyles' less than appropriate language, we were all cracking up
My best Schaub look
I can't wait for the first ESPN Game Day at LSU and for a successful Texans season! Wyatt got his Texans onesie in the mail yesterday, and we are ready for some football. If you have the opportunity to attend one of these ladies' nights, whether on a college campus or with a professional team, go for it. You'll pick up some gems along the way. (No, not the players! New reasons to love the sport.)
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