For as much of a football fan as I am, it always surprises people when they find out I've never been to an NFL game in person.

They all look at me funny and wonder how the girl who has Terps season tickets and spends every Saturday in the fall tailgating in College Park can have never once watched her NFL team live.


Terps homecoming

(The short story is that the Vet was not an appropriate place to take small children when I was growing up, and I never wanted to go to a game at Redskins stadium, because ew.)

But this weekend a friend of mine had an extra ticket to the Ravens game in Baltimore and invited me to tag along.

Sure I would have preferred my first NFL experience to be for my real team (that'd be the Nick Foles-led Eagles), but I wasn't about to turn down a chance to finally see a game in person, especially when the weather was pretty ideal football weather.

So Sunday I found a purse that meets the new NFL bag requirements and drove up to Baltimore to watch the Ravens play the Bengals.



Our seats were pretty high up, but we still had a good view, and the game went into overtime when Andy Dalton threw a Hail Mary that AJ Green caught in the end zone. (When does that ever work?)

I might have cheered a little too loudly for that since Dalton and Green are both on my fantasy team and that play single-handedly won me my game. I also drew death looks from all the Ravens fans around me. Oops.

But luckily the Ravens managed to win in overtime so everyone went home happy.

And on another good note, the Eagles won this weekend too, and Nick Foles threw three touchdown passes. Who is this guy? Other than the Terps sucking big time, it was a good sports weekend!

Did you do anything fun/sporty this weekend?

Greetings from PA!

I'm officially home for Thanksgiving! I took the whole week off so I could spend some time relaxing with the family.

Before I headed out of town, I spent Saturday at our last tailgate of the season.



I'm always insanely surprised at how fast the college football regular season flies by. I can't believe it will be another nine months until we tailgate again.



Hopefully by then Maryland's quarterback and other key players will have healed from their many, mannnny ACL tears so maybe we can be remotely competitive next season.

After all, it will be our last season in the ACC.

If you hadn't heard the news, Maryland announced yesterday that we're leaving the ACC to go to the Big 10 starting in the 2014 season.



I have mixed emotions about the move. I'll definitely miss some of the games and the rivalries of the ACC, but the truth of the matter is, our athletics department was in a pretty dire financial situation and we will benefit hugely from the money from the Big 10.

It's going to take us a little while to get our footing in football in the conference, but our basketball team will certainly be competitive.

I'll definitely miss the Duke and UNC basketball games and the ACC in general (especially in sports like soccer and lacrosse), but hey this move could be good for us.

Lots of people have put out their opinions on this, but I think Scott Van Pelt summed it up nicely: It's sad to leave, but it could be a good move.

I am beyond excited that fall is finally here, and I don't just say that because I'm excited about chai tea lattes and cooler running temps (though those things are pretty awesome too.)


Definitely made some Starbucks runs on the way to a training class last week.

No I'm excited because fall means football weekends are back.

I live and breath football in the fall. The perfect way to spend a weekend is with a Saturday tailgate and Terps football, then coming home to watch more college football (and cheering for a Notre Dame win) and then waking up Sunday morning to play flag football, watching the NFL games, cheering on the Eagles and freakishly monitoring my fantasy team.

Excessive? Eh maybe a little bit.

But I can't imagine it being any other way.

This weekend, the Terps had a 12:30 home game against UConn, which meant our tailgate started bright and early at 6:30 a.m.

We grilled up steak, bacon and eggs for breakfast, sipped mimosas and played lots of cornhole before heading up to the stadium.


Greg working the grill


Beautiful morning for some cornhole

I don't even want to talk about the game though because our coach blew it so bad with poor clock management and talking about it just makes me angry.  (I'm not bitter at all....really).

Even though the loss was crappy, the tailgating was awesome, and I ended up not leaving campus until 7 p.m. when the post-game tailgating wrapped up. Yes, that means I spent more than 12 hours at UMD on Saturday. It was wonderful.

Seriously, there's no better way to spend a Saturday than with your closest friends.


Our tailgate crew

I got home and attempted to stay awake for the Notre Dame vs. Michigan State game, but it probably comes as no surprise that I passed out sometime in the middle of the third quarter.


Lights out for me

I was happy to wake up Sunday morning and find ND got the W though!

Yesterday Emily came over to watch some Eagles football. (Well she was really here to cheer against the Ravens, while I cheered for the Eagles.) The game was far too close for my comfort, and I ended up frantically pacing around my living room during the last few minutes. But we pulled out the win by one point and now sit at 2-0.

I spent the rest of the day Sunday vegging on the couch, flipping between the Steelers-Jets and Redskins-Rams games, stalking my fantasy score and as always, falling asleep sometime in the middle of the Sunday night game.

Are you a football fan? NFL or college? And who do you cheer for?

Weekends when the Terps have away games are supposed to be my laid back weekends to recover, but that was hardly the case this weekend. In fact, this weekend I went on the road to watch the Terps play Temple in Philly.

My dad and brother went to Temple and my cousins Laura, Nate and I all went to Maryland. We've been planning our family trip to Philly for this game since my cousin's wedding back in July.


L to R: Nate, Laura, my dad, me, my brother Tom, my mom (clearly being Switzerland)

If you're a huge sports fan, you may remember that last year, Temple came to UMD and laid a beat down on the Terps. The final score was an embarrassing 38-7, and Maryland only managed to get on the board when Temple put their third string in the game.

My parents and brother came down to Maryland for that game, and ever since that whopping my brother has been talking a lot of trash.


Last year's game at Maryland.

When the Terps put up 29 points in the first half, I was fairly confident we were going to win the game.

But things got a little dicey in the second half, when our offense completely stalled and Temple started putting lots of points on the board.

Then we fumbled a punt return. Temple recovered it in the red zone. Our defense held them to a field goal attempt, which we blocked. And then fumbled away a few plays later. Seriously, I don't think I've ever experienced so many emotional ups and downs in one game.

At the end of the day the Terps were able to pull out the W, making us 2-0 on the season.

My family all had a blast (well except maybe my brother who was a little salty after the loss) and I'm so looking forward to our next family get together at the Baltimore Running Festival.

My touch football league kicked off this weekend!



Our season opener was Sunday near DuPont Circle in D.C., and I convinced Megan to join the team so we had enough girls.


Carrie, me and Megan

Our league has two important girl-specific rules:

1. There have to be three girls on the field at all times.

2. In order to get a first down, a girl has to get positive yards on at least one play in a four-down series.

So having enough girls is pretty important so that you don't forfeit.



Our game on Sunday started out well. We played a pretty solid first half, but struggled in the second half.

It didn't help that we were playing one of the better teams in the league.


I mean they had this dude. I think his bicep is bigger than my thigh...

It also didn't help that I didn't catch a single pass. I mean I'm no football super star, but I've always been able to pull my weight and make a few short catches to make sure we meet all the "girl requirements."


Proof that I can actually catch the ball....too bad this was in warm ups.

It was definitely disappointing to lose the first game of the season, but I'm glad we played one of the better teams first. It gives me lots of confidence that we're going to kick butt the rest of the season.

The guys on our team are pretty solid players


Diving catch



and the girls are pretty athletic too


Me and Carrie rushing the QB

so I'm sure we'll rebound next week.

And even if we lose all season (wow, I really hope that doesn't happen), football is going to be some great cross-training. I woke up this morning with the sorest hamstrings I've had in a while. I'm clearly not used to the stop and start running that you do in football. I'll have to give the legs a foam roller session when I get home from work today.

Huge thanks to my friends Sarah and Emily for taking all the pictures in this post! You guys are the best!

I'm a little bit behind on the blogging front today. I needed all the extra sleep I could get after not getting to sleep until close to 2 a.m. last night.

But it was so worth it to be in College Park to watch Maryland beat Miami in the home opener on ESPN!

Despite the torrential downpours last night's game and tailgate were one of my favorites ever.

Here's why:

1. A tight game, in less than ideal conditions, ending in a Terps W. I could do a full analysis on what we need definite work on (red zone offense anyone?) but I won't bore you with that.


(Source)

2. Our new uniforms. They are bad ass. The flag helmet's are sick.


(Source)

3. First tailgate of the season with some of my favorite people in the world. It was so good to have everyone back together for the first time in months.





4. The pouring rain. Somehow the torrential downpour added something to the atmosphere. Sure I ended up looking like a drowned rat after the game, but it was so worth it.





5. The feeling in the air. There is nothing like being back on campus for the first game of the season, seeing everyone decked out in their red and black. The grills are running, the flags are flying and the fight song is playing. It brings back a sense of nostalgia and intense Maryland pride. Walking into Byrd Stadium last night was a feeling unlike any other. Seeing the crowds, the band and Testudo running around on the field, it felt like I had never left.

But more importantly, it felt like being home.

I'm so fired up for the rest of the season. In closing I will leave you with this song.



Fear the Turtle.

One good thing about traveling every weekend is that I get to run in new places. This weekend was no exception. I was staying with my college roommate in her apartment in Arlington, Va., and was excited to check out what kind of running atmosphere the city had to offer.

In past weekend visits, I'd always seen lots of runners out and about, but this was my first weekend to hit the streets. Overall, Arlington is not a very runner friendly place (or at least not the streets that I ran on). I almost got hit by cars twice and one honked at me...how rude, I was in the cross walk and had the right of way!

I mapped out and memorized a five mile course Friday night, but due to a memory fart I missed a turn and ended up running down a dead end street and having to turn around and find my way again, hence the .3 miles.

It was a great run and I was really happy with it. My legs were a little tired, but nothing too terrible. I felt a little twinge in my knee somewhere between miles three and four, but it went away pretty quickly.

I was able to power through the run and felt good afterward. Five miles is the longest I've gone since the knee injury and it was something I was really excited about.

Since things have been going well on the running front lately, I've been eying a marathon in March. It's been two years since my last full marathon and I'm thinking maybe it's time to go for it again. I'm not sure though, I still have my doubts, like what if I'm not really over this injury and I make it worse tackling longer distances. What do you guys think?

In a quick weekend update, almost all my sports teams got embarrassed this weekend. Terps soccer dropped 5-3 to Clemson (so long top 5 ranking...) Terps football got spanked by UVa 41-0 (I think that was the final...maybe not...either way it was a shutout...keep in mind UVA lost to Duke 31-3 last weekend...) The Eagles lost to the Redskins so I lost my bet. In two weeks I have to don a Redskins shirt/jersey in a house full of Redskins fans. It will be a painful experience.

This weekend I also learned how to properly wash, polish and wax a car (not mine, even though mine could use it...), played some fooseball and was super pumped about the Phillies winning the NLDS.

I think that pretty much sums it up.

Sorry for the lag time between posts. I haven't had much free time lately or well I guess I have, I've just been using it to get my life together. (i.e. working on completing the switch from the old computer to the new computer, trying to figure out why half my music disappeared in said switch, etc., etc.)

I'll do a quick update bullet point style:

• Wednesday night my soccer leauge started back up. Because we had a ton of defenders, I saw a little action at forward in the first half. That was an interesting experience to be sure. I haven't played forward since I was in like 6th grade. I was able to switch back to my normal defensive position half way through the first half though. Unfortunately we lost 3-0. I guess that will happen when you play a high school team that just joined the league to keep in shape in the off season.
• My doctor has me taking melatonin to help me sleep better and maybe figure out the cause to some of this fatigue stuff. I should mention that melatonin is a supplement that helps your body sync to natural circadian rhythm and isn't one of those addictive sleeping pill dealies. I've been taking it for three days so far, and I definitely feel like I've been getting more quality sleep. So score one for the doc!
• I'm meeting a co-worker for tennis during my hour and half lunch break today. I think it will be the first time in the eight or nine months since I started working here that I will actually use the full hour and a half. Usually I only take an hour at most.
• I'm heading to Maryland again this weekend. My soccer boys play Boston College in their ACC opener. It should be a good and close game. Tomorrow Terps football plays Cal. That unfortunately, has every potential to be a blow out in the wrong way. Tailgating tonight for the soccer game at 5:30 p.m. Tailgating tomorrow morning for football at 6 a.m. Oof! I hate noon kick-offs.
• Maybe getting free tickets to Saturday's D.C. United game. A guy my friend knows apparently has two he might not be using! That would make for an awesome, sports-filled weekend.
  

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! I'm taking my running stuff with me to Maryland again, we'll see if I have time to cram in a run at some point.

Your Google Reader is exploding with close to 200 unread items and you haven't had a chance to respond to any of the birthday notes you got on Facebook. (P.S. Thanks to everyone who left me messages! It made my day!) Eekk! I have been a busy bee lately.

Let's catch up shall we.

Tuesday I went for another four-mile run after work. It felt good for the most part, but my legs were definitely tight afterward no matter how much I stretched and rolled them out with the Stick.

Wednesday I wanted to do another four miler, but my super tight legs would have none of it. I did manage about 1.5 miles of running and another half mile of walking before they were too bad.

Yesterday was my birthday. (So long 21, hello 22.) I celebrated by going for a sports massage, which was a little wimpier than I needed it to be. I'm used to a massage therapist who will really work those knots out, unfortunately, the lady I had last night didn't hit them all.

I spent the rest of my birthday night listening to the radio broadcast of my friend's football season opener until they cut it off to air Obama's speech. (Sidenote: Yes, I'm following the presidential race pretty closely, but don't cut into my football time with it. That's almost as bad as all this bird porn stuff Vanilla keeps telling us about.) My friend's a punter and I missed him having a great game and even making a tackle, which is something that punters don't get to do very often.

Then of course was the Half-Fast fantasy football draft. (Geeze two Vanilla plugs in one post, what has the world come to?) I got some good players and some really not so good players. I'm just going to have to cross my fingers and hope a few rookies have really awesome breakout seasons.

As for my weekend plans?

Back to D.C. tonight for birthday dinner with my friends. Then heading to a bar to catch the Terps soccer game against UCLA. Saturday is our football home opener so I'll be tailgating the day away.

It's a good thing it's a long weekend. I have a feeling I'm going to need it!