WOW! Unbelievable...

Yesterday we went to the playoff game at Reliant Stadium in Houston. We're season ticket holders and this was the Houston Texans first playoff appearance in team history.  The team's first season was in 2002, so this was a long time in coming and a very big deal!

This season the unofficial team motto has been "next man up" since many of our starters have gone down with injuries...some season ending injuries.  We're on our third quarterback and he's a rookie and a fifth round draft pick.  However, the team rose to the occasion yesterday and beat the Cincinnati  Bengals.  This game had all the excitement that a loyal fan could ask for and more.  How about a defensive lineman scoring a touch down?  The final score was the Houston Texans 31 and the Cincinnati Bengals 10.


I'm still hoarse today from all the cheering and screaming.  Next week they go on to play the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore.  It seems like most of the "experts" do not expect them to win, but the players and fans are hoping they'll be proven wrong.  Win or lose it's been a great season for the Houston Texans and their fans.  I'm hoping they'll be playing again at Reliant Stadium in a couple of weeks.


We enjoyed the game with 71,715 of our closest friends.


We park in The Medical Center and take the train to the stadium.  Then we walk past the old Astrodome to Reliant Stadium.

The stadium was all decked out for the occasion.

If you don't like crowds and lines...don't ever go to a playoff game.  This was where we stood on line to go through security.

It's been ten years since 9/11 and the NFL and the Houston Texans finally have metal detectors so we don't have to be patted down before each game.  When I heard they would have metal detectors this season I thought they'd be the kind you walk through.  No, they have to do this to 71,715 people.  (Note to the NFL and Houston Texans:  Come on...you can afford the walk through kind.)  This is my husband getting the once over.

Finally we got into Bud Plaza which is a fenced in area that has different pre-game activities, but it was kind of crowded so we just got on the line to go through the turnstyle.

It became more and more crowded because the turnstyles weren't supposed to open until 2:00 PM.  I thought it was kind of funny when the band had to push their way through the crowd to get into the stadium.  Everyone was in a good mood, so even though we were kind of squeezed together there were plenty of laughs.

They let us through the turnstyles a little before 2:00 and then we made our way up the escalator.  It really didn't take us too long to get to our seats.

We're in "nose bleed country," but we love our seats and have a very good view of the field.  This is the team coming out of the tunnel and being introduced before the game.  I heard later that on NBC the players all introduced themselves and gave their names and the colleges they attended, except for the offensive line.  They stated their names and the elementary schools they attended.  You can hear those introductions here.  I'm sure there were a lot of excited elementary school students when they heard their schools named.

 During the National Anthem they also had a huge outline of the United States that looked like an American flag.  I was a little late taking the picture and the people holding it were already starting to fold it up.  There was also a color guard with an American flag, but they were just about off the field when I snapped this picture.  (I thought I should wait until the National Anthem was over before I took a picture.)

Although it was really warm outside they had the roof closed so fan noise would help the team.  I always have a radio with ear phones, but I could barely hear the radio with all the noise.

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After the game the place exploded with excitement.  Some of the players went to the middle of the field for some Tebowing.

We left and squeezed on the train for the ride back to our car.

Everyone on the train was happy.  It was definitely a party-like atmosphere. 

It sure would be nice if they beat Baltimore and we get to go to another game at Reliant Stadium this season!

RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL...

How I would have loved to have been at Radio City Music Hall in New York City this past weekend. To see the Rockettes? No, to attend the NFL Draft. I'd even rather go to the Draft than the Super Bowl!

I don't enjoy college football. I'm just an NFL football fan, so I don't even know much about the players being drafted except for what I read in newspapers or magazines. However, that doesn't stop me from getting excited about the draft. When the Commissioner says, "The Houston Texans are on the clock," I start fiddling in my seat with anticipation.

On Saturday we attended the Houston Texans' Draft Party at Reliant Stadium. In my opinion it's the next best thing to being at Radio City Music Hall. The Texans had the 15th pick in the first round and chose Brian Cushing an OLB from USC. We were surprised to learn that he's from NJ and grew up only a few miles from the town my husband and I grew up in. Talk about good vibes...huh? Here's a picture of my husband standing in front of the Draft Party sign. I know it's a little dark, but it's the best I could do.


Here are some more pictures from the draft party...

This is one of the cheerleader hopefuls being interviewed by Don Nelson of ABC 13. The fans could vote and help decide who makes the squad, so there was some campaigning going on by their friends and relatives. I didn't vote because I think grown men don't need cheerleaders. That's just my personal opinion. My husband and many others voted. :)

And here they are signing autographs...



And this is Mr. Bob McNair the owner of the Houston Texans. I respect Mr. McNair because he has certain standards for his players and would not put winning above character.

Here's a picture of us with Andre Johnson. That's about as close as we'll ever get to the "live and in person" Andre Johnson. There were some players there signing autographs, but I no longer stand in those lines. I've got a bunch of autographs and someday they'll end up in the wonderful estate sale my kids will probably have, so I really don't need any more. Of course, if one of the players wanted to give me his autograph on a check made out to me...that would be a different story. :)

When I'm in the car I usually have the radio tuned to Sports Radio 610. No music for me...just talking heads discussing sports and in particular the NFL. Here they are broadcasting live at the Draft Party. That's Eric Winston on the left. What a big guy...he's an offensive tackle.

For information on the rest of the Houston Texans draft picks click here. Come on...you know you're really interested. :) Be sure and click on all my links. You never know...there might be a test later.

Are you ready for some football?

I love football! I've been a Houston Texans fan since their inception in 2002. We're season ticket holders only because I insist. If it was up to my husband we'd watch on TV every week, but I love being there. I'd even love to tailgate, but that's where he draws the line. It's not his idea of a good time. (I still hope to talk him into it sometime.)

I had been a Houston Oilers fan in the past, but I never really understood the game. I just yelled when everyone else yelled. Then the Houston Texans offered Football 101 For Women classes. They had them for a number of years and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I'm sorry they're not offered anymore. They would bring in players, officials, and coaches to speak and it was very interesting and informative. Those classes spurred my interest to learn more and I purchased The Complete Idiots Guide To Football by Joe Theismann. (Joe was born and grew up in NJ just like me, so how could I go wrong?)

I wish you could see my copy of this book. I've got it all marked up with notes in the margins, sentences underlined, diagrams drawn, etc. I take my football very seriously. I reread it prior to the beginning of each football season. I'm one of those people that watch the away games on TV with the volume turned down and listen on the radio. I also bring my radio to every game. Radio is descriptive and a very good learning aid. It still seems as if I miss approximately 50% of what 610 Sports Radio's Marc Vandermeer and Andre Ware see. (Marc handles the play by play and Andre does the commentary.) Everything happens very quickly and they're able to size up the situation almost immediately. I'd like to be half as good as them some day.

Anyway, even though my Houston Texans aren't playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday I'll still be enjoying the game. I'd kind of like Arizona to win since they've never been there before, but I've always admired Pittsburgh since the Steel Curtain days. I'm just hoping it's a good game and there are no serious injuries (that's the mother in me coming out).

So, we'll be getting out our books and having a little review in the next couple of days.

Then after the game we'll mourn the end of football until next season. Go Texans!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun...

Yes, time has gotten away from me once again. Has it really been almost two months since I posted?

I've been busy doing nothing. My energy level is extremely low. It's hard to believe that it wasn't that long ago that I was walking five miles a day, five or six days a week. This past week I walked three miles, two days. The same the week before and I had to make myself do it. I used to love to walk. I'm tired all the time and I know I need to exercise in order to have energy. We've had a few cooler mornings where the humidity was down and it was nice to walk outside instead of in the mall.

Two weeks ago today my husband woke me up early in the morning with chest pains. I believe my exact words were, "Crap...I'm calling 9-1-1!" They were here within a few minutes and off he went to the emergency room. I called the kids and followed. After a few days in Intensive Care we learned that he had had a minor heart attack. Since he has genetically low cholesterol and good blood pressure readings they knew it had been caused by smoking. He has not had a cigarette since right before the chest pains hit. He told me today that he's always on edge and I overheard him tell my father that he'd like to smoke again, but knows that he can't smoke again. He had been smoking more than two cartons a week. Right now I have two cartons hidden. I confiscated them while he was in the hospital and told him that I gave them to a homeless person. Of course, I didn't because no one should be smoking. I guess I'll have a cigarette burning party while he's at work some day. At $45 a carton I'll be burning $90. The best money I'll ever waste.

My Dad had three appointments this week. He had a urinary track infection so I had to take him to the regular doctor, then he had his regularly scheduled appointment with the cardiologist, and then his hearing aid was making his ear sore so we had to take care of that too. It's really sad. He's getting more and more forgetful and sometimes doesn't even remember why he's going to these appointments. I also brought him over for three or four White Sox games in the evening this week. He sure loves those White Sox and really seems to concentrate on paying attention to the games. I am surprised at how much he can remember when it comes to baseball. I'm convinced that everyone needs to have a passion. You know that expression..."follow your passion." I can see where that's important. His interest in baseball probably helps mentally and I know it raises his spirits.

Our computer died and I was without one for a week. This new one is an adjustment and Windows Vista is a pain. For some reason whenever I click on the star for my favorite places the stupid circle thing (this is in place of the hour glass) keeps going around and around and my favorite places never appear. I usually end up clicking away the home page. I'm out of business without easy access to my favorite places and I can't figure out what's wrong. I bought one book on Windows Vista, but this problem isn't covered. I guess I'll have to find another book. And, my scanner won't scan now. It will do a pre-scan, but when I try and do the final scan it stops. It worked fine with Windows XP.

I was up until 3:00 AM this morning trying to transfer my E-mail accounts from Houston Road Runner to Comcast. I had no choice. Comcast bought out Houston Road Runner. They said it would take 15 minutes, but they wouldn't accept my password, I tried to call and kept getting disconnected, etc. I won't bore you with all the details, but it took two hours. The longest 15 minutes of my life.

On the bright side, tomorrow is a home game for the Houston Texans. We're playing the Colts, and I love going to the games. We missed the last home game due to my husband's heart attack. Actually, I was planning to go to the game even though he was in the hospital. I went by the hospital first and that's when the doctor came in and wanted to do angioplasty, so we stayed at the hospital instead. I'm worried about myself. I've become such a fan that I'm almost as bad as the men who tell their poor wives who are in labor that they can't take them to the hospital until after the game.

Time for bed. I want to get up early and get to the stadium before the crowd. My husband doesn't want to go too early...we'll discuss it in the morning. :)