Fan-Tastic (or Love Story, One Period At A Time)

Recently, Pumpkin became a rabid fan of the Boston Bruins of the NHL. She's always been interested in hockey, but in more of a casual sense. Then we watched the events of NHL All-Star weekend and she was taken by the personalities of a couple of the Bruins' guys, and she decided she would be a fan of the Bruins, then and there. She had no idea at the time that they had the best record in the league. This wasn't the case of a newcomer becoming a front-runner. Just like that-BOOM!- she was a big time fan.

She has the schedule up on the refrigerator. She listens to the games online when she gets home from work. She goes to the Bruins' website for the latest news and notes and- showing that at heart she's still a gal-  she ordered a shirt with her favorite player's name on the back. Yep. She's all in.

Why is this innocent new fascination so important to our relationship? If there's one thing that very few women understand about men, it's their passion for sports, and an undying loyalty to their favorite teams. Women just don't get why we're so happy when our teams win, and so crushed when they don't. "It's only a game". How many fights have started because some poor, uninformed woman who simply can't identify with what a sports fan goes through throws out that question? Pumpkin now knows what I go through, and I couldn't be happier. Baseball season is a couple of weeks away. Every night from April through September my guts will be tied up in knots. Pumpkin said something yesterday after watching the Bruins lose to the Rangers- "I don't know how you do it". It sounds to me like she's starting to understand the madness, instead of simply tolerating it.

Buy another shirt. Send away for a commemorative mug. Listen online instead of joining me at the dinner table. Pumpkin finally understanding what it means to be a sports fan (both good and bad) brings us more closely together than any flowers, chocolate, or trip to Hawaii could ever hope to achieve