Women like Romance - And We Like Football, Too

imageOnly recently has the NFL and all surrounding merchandise caught on that women like football, and not just for the commercials or the recipes. There are actual football-fluent women out there. I know many of them. We’re kinda awesome. Personally, I am bound by the Law of Geography as a Steeler fan – I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. For gosh sake’s, we have our own team polka (We’re from the town with the Great Football Team—we cheer them Pittsburgh Steelers!) Ask to hear my Pixburg accent. It’s glorious.

Jane from DearAuthor is bound by that same law to be a Green Bay Packers fan – I believe she’s also a shareholder, which is so freaking cool. Hubby and I are on the waitlist for season tickets, but the waitlist is, like, 9 years long. I have a better chance of getting vouchers for Almack’s and a special license to marry my dog than I do season tickets to Heinz Field. But anyway, as Female Football Fans bound by the Law of Geography, today is a huge, huge day. Steelers vs. Packers? Oy. Two smaller cities with NFL teams that have a HUGE national – and international – following. If I wear my Steelers hat, I get comments no matter where I am in Jersey. SteelersNation is everywhere (and for fun – tweet #steelersnation while looking at TwerribleTowel.com to see your tweet make the Terrible Towel twirl in an ad agency in Durham, NC). And Packers fans are everywhere, too. It’s forty-give kinds of awesome.

So what kind of bet could Jane and I create for this game? Book reviews? Website content? Slave for a month (with what time?!)? Then Jane had a good idea: the loser will compose a sonnet to the winner’s team. Done! So, based on the results of tonight’s game, expect some epically goofed up iambic punt-tameter (HA!).

Who are you rooting for in the Super Bowl? And dude, are you as suspicious as I am that the commercials will yet again be mean, cruel humor with a nice icy overlay of sexism this year, like they were last year?

Also: GO STEELERS!

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  1. Michele says:

    I’m torn- as a diehard Bears fan, rooting for the Packers seems sacrilegious.  However, one of Packer wide receivers graduated from my alma mater, so I want to cheer for him as a Western Michigan alum.

    As for commercials, I have hope for this year.  I saw a sneak peek of the Volkswagen commercial and it’s really cute (little Darth Vader trying to use the force)

  2. KimberlyR says:

    I owe all my loyalty to my Saints so I can’t really root for either team. I’m just hoping for an exiciting game and I’ll cheer every good play (and boo every bad play) no matter which team does it.

  3. I’ve lived in Wisconsin my entire life so I’m a GB fan.  When they won their last SB (in the 90s) we bought a share of the team.  I’m a team owner!!!  I hope the Packers win – come on, our QB is cuter 🙂  If my team wasn’t in the game, I’d be watching for the commercials.

  4. SKMichigan says:

    I’m rooting for the PACKERS!!!

    (despite the fact I was born in Sewickley)

  5. Kinsey says:

    I don’t have any feelings for either team – I root for the Saints (as a teenager, I fell asleep more than once watching them lose in the Super Dome) and the Texans (sigh.)  I also like the Giants, but only because Eli Manning is my sweetie.

    We always watch the Super Bowl at the same friend’s party – lots of kids, people we don’t get to see much. Diva looks forward to it as much as Thanksgiving. Today she’s coughing like a 70 year old three pack a day smoker – you can hear her chest rattle. She’s not happy to be spending Super Bowl Sunday at home.

  6. Julia says:

    Being a native Clevelander, I’ve been raised rooting for the Cleveland sports teams (no matter how hard they may try to kill our spirits. I am looking at you Cavs). Thus, I must not root for the Stealers. There would be familial disownage.

  7. JulieB says:

    I live in the DFW area, so I’m rooting for the weather!

  8. joanne says:

    Oy and Oh Yeah.

    STEELERS

    And this just in for those who are undedcided: Mike Tomlin (Steelers head coach and Superbowl Winning Cutie) and his wife have three children including a daughter they named – ta-dum –
    Harlyn Quinn

    Someone in that family loves romance books!

  9. Carin says:

    Go Green Bay!

    And I’m really hoping for good funny and not super sexy commercials as I watch with my kids…

  10. lambchop says:

    Like Julia, I am from the Cleveland area. I am genetically programmed to intensely dislike all Pittsburgh sports teams (although the town is awesome). So Go Pack Go!

  11. Ann Macela says:

    I’m a native Texan, but I married into a Steelers family.  We now live in Chicagoland.  So, Go Steelers!

  12. library addict says:

    Being an Air Force brat, I grew up all over. The only team I HAVE to love is Notre Dame since both parents are from South Bend. 

    I’m a Buffalo Bills fan (yeah, we haven’t had a good season in a while 😛 ).  I also tend to root for the Vikings (little bro lives in MN and made me promise to) and whichever team is playing the Cowboys as they are the only team I dislike.

    I will root for the Steelers today, but won’t be sad if the Packers win (sorry Sarah).

  13. LSUReader says:

    I do like the Packers, but Pittsburgh was my first favorite NFL team, so GO STEELERS.

  14. Margaret says:

    I’m a California girl, born and raised, but Dad is from western PA. I was raised on Steelers football, and I’ve loved them since Terry Bradshaw had hair, which is a LONG time indeed!

    Go Steelers, of course. The one wrinkle is, my mother’s a die-hard Packers fan. I love the Pack, too, but not more than my beloved Steelers. So, Dad’s coming to my house to watch the game, so my parents don’t kill each other!

  15. Kismet says:

    HERE WE GO STEELERS!!!!

    And if the Steelers win, Jane should have to do a video book review wearing the Polamalu wig and hat http://www.albertsgifts.com/product1~P~19482.htm

    If the Pack wins (which they won’t) Sarah should do a video review with a cheese head.

    P.S. since I have the world’s biggest crush on Troy Polamalu, I’m pretty sure he would make a fantastic cover model with this pose http://chicksinthehuddle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/troy-polamalu-pictures-1.jpg

  16. Mama Nice says:

    I live half way between Chicago and Milwaukee, so in that scary zone where Bears and Packers fans COLLIDE. It was interesting around here the weekend of that playoff game. The husband is a Bears fan, and he was quite bummed about the game, one of my best friends is a lifelong Steelers fan – so we’re cheering for the Steelers, if nothing else so that they beat the Pack. (and by we I mean he – I’m sorry, I’m one of those girls who still doesn’t understand all the rules to football…and I played on my college rugby team – and helped coach my daughter’s flag football team!)

    Either way – enjoy a day if chilling out with friends and food!

  17. Maggie says:

    Speaking as a California girl and also a California (Berkeley) Alum, I am rooting for The Pack solely due to Aaron Rodgers.  I believe GB has a huge and random fan base in the San Fran Bay Area because of their quarterback (well maybe not so much in the South Bay, but that’s because Stanfurd is a bitter, bitter institution tee hee)

    Interestingly enough for poor Aaron, most Bay Area sports writers refer to him as “Aaron Rodgers, former Cal quarterback” instead of “Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers quarterback.”. We’re a special bunch, Cal grads.

    Also, it doesn’t hurt that he’s HAWT!

  18. I’m not actually terribly interested in football, although the game will be on in our house because my housemate IS. 😉

    However, I am deeply charmed that Steelers fans have a polka. <3

  19. Cathy says:

    Patriots fan here.  🙁  Cheering for the Packers because 1) I like Aaron Rodgers, and 2) can’t stand Rothlisberger.

  20. K.C. says:

    GO STEELERS!

  21. KCfla says:

    Ok, I’m a New Jersey girl, who now lives in Florida. And BOTH of my parents are from good ol’ Altoona Pa. So in the words of everyone in my family- HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!

    My daughters are also Steeler fans. We already have our jerseys on, Steeler Nation banner hanging from the garage door, and towels on the arms of our respective chairs. And in a change up from the norm- the guys in this house will be hiding out in their rooms through most of the game ( because they like the Dolphins and the Jags lol).

    As for the commercials, Bud usually has the best ones. the rest are for potty breaks, right???

    P.S.-Oh, and Kismet- That pick of Troy? YUMMMMMYYYYYY!

  22. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    Back in the 1970s, I was a member of Franco’s Italian Army—notwithstanding the fact that I’m neither Italian nor have I ever lived anywhere near Pittsurgh—and I still have my little Pittsburgh Steelers helmet pencil sharpener that I purchased in about 1975, so I feel I must root for my old faves, the Steelers (with some reservations because of the questionable off-field behavior of Ben R this season).

    As for the sexism of the commercials during the Superbowl—in that regard, how do they differ from commercials every other day of the week?

  23. Bri says:

    Going with the pack.  They are my brother’s fav team, and the steelers eliminated the local Jets, and i generally favor the NFC being that i am a die hard Giants fan.

  24. I’m a Patriots fan, bound not only by the Law of Geography but utterly entranced by Brady’s glorious locks as he morphs into a Football Fabio.

    I would also like it known I’m a real fan, not one of those annoying people who found it socially acceptable to wear Patriots gear after they won the Super Bowl. I bought my Patriots winter coat in 1994. The boys weren’t doing so well and they were coming off 5-11 and 2-14 seasons, but I loved them anyway. (And I can prove my rainy-day Patriots pride because in ‘94 the coats had the same patch as the jerseys, honoring the 75th regular season of the NFL.) At the time, I was one of maybe a half-dozen people who still cared. Funny how the word “dynasty” comes into play and everybody and their grandmother’s got a Pats jersey on.

    *cough* Anyway. As a Patriots fan, I’ll be rooting for the Packers. We don’t like the Steelers (although we pulled for them to beat the Jets because we always root for whoever’s playing the Jets). But it’s not only acceptable, but expected, for Patriots fans to root for the Packers once we’re out of it.

    Sorry, Sarah. Hope you’ve got your quill sharpened.!

  25. Go Packers!

    Not a huge fan, but I am deep in Packer country, and a wind sock.  I was one of the few people in church this morning not wearing Green and Gold.  We prayed for them. 

    And after the Rose Bowl, God owes us a favor.

    I have no idea what the bet should be.  But it should involve cheese and beer.

  26. Most of Hawaii is routing for Troy “Mr Hair” Polamalu because of his Samoan heritage.

    I personally am just looking for a fun game.  The Pro Bowl last week was a great time at Aloha Stadium … let’s hope the same spirit comes today on the field and in the commericials.

  27. Anna Piranha says:

    Well, now that I know about the polka, Steelers! 

    Although, as a midwesterner and lover of cheese, maybe the Packers?

    I’m not Sporty Spice, sadly I am Old Spice.

  28. gremlin says:

    go Steelers!

    out in CA, and it’s from long enough ago i don’t remember *why* i should always root for the Steelers, but there it is.

    and besides, Polamalu has great hair!

  29. Carahe says:

    I won’t be watching this year, as the idea of being entertained by groups of men which include a minimum of 8 known sexual assualters pretty much horrifies me. The sexism of the ads is merely the icing on the cake of suck this year’s Superbowl represents.

  30. Janet S says:

    GO PACK GO

    Transplanted from Wisconsin to northern California.

  31. FD says:

    Two words: Ben Roethlisberger.

  32. darlynne says:

    I’m a lifelong Bears’ fan, one who hasn’t pulled out her hair or clawed out her eyes … yet.  But honestly, can we get a real quarterback here?

    As a kid, though, I always liked the Steelers and, while I have no skin in this game, I also like Mike Tomlin and Primanti Brothers. So, go Steelers!

  33. kkw says:

    I’m from Boston, but honestly I dislike sports (although I can’t help being a Sox fan, I swear to god they put something in the water, it’s not my fault).  I’m not interested in the superbowl, even for commercials, except that it means 7 layer dip and Frito pie, and I am a huge fan of those.  I’m rooting for the Steelers, because I spent one (horrible) winter in Pittsburgh – worse, actually, I spent it in a suburb called Blawnox – which you might think would turn me against them, but they’ve got that polka, and they mean it.  That town was crazy about football in 1992, and as Shannon says, no one cared about the Pats back then, the winter sports news back home mostly consisted of deals the Sox ought to be making, so I didn’t feel any conflict of interest.

  34. R.J. says:

    THE STILLERS!!!! THEY BE GOING TO WIN!!! ( and thankfully I will be on a quieter street not likely to start burning couches).  It took less than a year for me to say stillers instead of steelers, although I have been a fan forever being from columbus, ohio, and refusing to root for either the brownies or the bungles.  I am also wating for an Eagles/Steelers superbowl…I can’t loose.  And I am hoping for funny, not skanky adds.

  35. Karmyn says:

    I have no real love for either team. I think Big Ben is a dick and needs to learn some manners.
    My beloved Colts got knocked out early and my beloved Giants didn’t even make it.
    I’m a Manning fan. Talented, handsome, sweet boys. No real trouble like some players.
    One day I hope they meet in a Super Bowl before either of them hang up their cleats and shoulder pads.
    The game will be on, but I doubt I’ll watch. Don’t care for either team or the half time performers.

  36. Kate Pearce says:

    Packers because my kid has told me I have to support them due to the Cal quarterback connection. LOL
    I’m originally from the UK and I’ve had to work really hard to understand American Football LOL But I’ve persevered and I even held up my own in a conversation with the cashier in Trader Joes about avoiding the Steelers Blitz & Aaron being mobile in the pocket-my kid was so proud. LOL
    Mind you I also had a convo about Fernando Torres being transferred to Chelsea, which I understood much better.

  37. Joanna S. says:

    Actually, I’m rooting for the Packers (although, I am a Cowboys fan in real life) because I absolutely HATE Ben Roethlisberger.  I really don’t use that word lightly, but I cannot even hear his name and not see red!  Even though he’s never been convicted, so I understand that America is an innocent until proven guilty system of law.  However, I don’t care.  The circumstantial evidence is more than convincing that he has at the very least severely roughed-up (if not actually sexually assaulted and/or raped) at least two women.  I’m sorry his teammates must suffer my ire-by-association, but he’s their leader – so they must also go down with his ship (as it were).

  38. Katherine C. says:

    Oh Sarah, just when I think I can’t love the smart bitches any more than I already do, I learn you’re a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. My mother was born and raised in Pitcairn and I spent many of my formative years in Washington. I’ve been a Steelers fan since birth, and some of my favorite childhood memories involve sitting on the arm of Papa’s chair and watching the Steelers with him. I’ve already listened to the Steelers Polka (both past and present versions) several times today—the original 1978 version is my rington, I’m a wee bit obsessed. Very much looking forward to cheering the boys on to number 7!

  39. Mo says:

    Yes to what Shannon Stacey said. I love the Patriots not only due to the Law of Geography but because I grew up watching them with my Dad when they were a young team with a lot of heart if not a lot of wins. My how they have grown. I will not be rooting for either team but for an exciting game.

  40. Kathy O says:

    Y’ens are from Pixsburg!!! That’s frickin’ awesome! Stillers’ fans!! I only lived there for 4 years, and they brainwashed me for life. Here we go, Stillers, here we go!

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