So, there it is. LSU’s football team lost their first game of the season. My husband, Matt and I came home from a weekend away last week to find ourselves knee-deep in viruses, ear infections / busted eardrum, and planning a birthday weekend for twins. There was no way I could find time to write about the Florida game, and then we lost. I am so entrenched in LSU superstition and mom guilt that I can’t help but blame myself for last week’s loss. I know I sound ridiculous, but I’ve been indoctrinated.
Speaking of mom guilt, I did to my kids what I swore I would never do. We invited everyone over to watch the Florida game for the twins’ birthday party. You see, the twins and I share a birthday, October 7. While I have always loved the fact that my birthday is in October (because we all know that October is the best), it has been a struggle to celebrate amidst the LSU football season. Most of my childhood birthdays consisted of a quick blowing out of candles on a purple and gold cake at halftime. I did my best to make it a fun day for my girls and probably ended up over-compensating (i.e. $250 Paw Patrol Live tickets and $50 on life-size character balloons), but they did indeed blow out candles at halftime.
We should have known that the universe was prepared to punish us for our LSU football watching birthday party for four year-olds, because CBS on DirecTV was blacked out for the entire first quarter. Matt’s superfan-induced pacing and high-talker voice was on full display, and we ended up making my brother-in-law go home and get his Apple TV so we could stream CBS. Matt (who is technologically impaired) thought we sent him home to get an actual TV, so there was no shortage of nonsense. In the end, the twins had a great day, so that’s all that matters, to me anyway. LSU football superfans, on the other hand, did not have a great day, and these three things are all that matter to them.
The team needs to work on the basics.
When I asked Matt to elaborate, he said LSU did not do things like tackling, blocking and catching well at all. My football knowledge is pretty limited, but isn’t that like the only thing that happens in a game (besides kicking, which we know is under control with those alien kickers and all)? My husband had to finally admit that his football crush, defensive coach, Aranda is fallible. Despite all of Coach Aranda’s superhero powers, Florida’s head coach seems to know how to foil his plans at every turn. Superfan-approved fun fact: Florida’s head coach, Dan Mullen used to be Mississippi State’s coach, and we lost to them last year too because our defense couldn’t stop them from scoring. Don’t worry, though. Matt’s adoration for Coach Aranda is unwavering, and this one-sided bromance shall endure.
Georgia doesn’t look as good as they did last year.
Superfans are not convinced that Georgia is worthy of their No. 2 ranking and think LSU will be the team to put them in their place. Georgia hasn’t played any strong teams so far this season, so they have been coasting along like a mom who thinks she’s killing it because her baby slept all the way through an afternoon of running errands. Well, get ready, Georgia. Because LSU is coming at you like a stalled car blocking the left lane on the interstate that causes you to be stuck in traffic when baby wakes up hangry and pissed that she missed a whole afternoon of chances to cause a scene in public. I hope you remembered to pack an ice chest with a prepared bottle, Georgia, because baby is hungry. (Mom-themed smack talk is giving me life right now!)
LSU needs to somehow go 2-2 during this part of the season to remain relevant.
The team is in the middle of the toughest stretch of the season with games against Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State and Alabama all in a row. LSU already lost to Florida, so superfans are putting their hopes on beating Georgia and Mississippi State. Of course, the team “who must not be named” is not on their radar. But I’m going to bet against all superfan predictions and go full Harry Potter on this one and say that I think we are going to beat Bama this year. I can almost hear Matt gasping as he proofreads this post for accuracy. (Of course, he does.) It’s my LSU football post, and I’ll say what I want. (Insert emoji with its tongue sticking out.)
I can’t believe the season is already half over. Hopefully, my posts have helped to make it a little more bearable and, dare I say, enjoyable. I’ll be back next week to clue you in on what’s going on in your superfan’s head. Until then, I remain …
