fandom, Andrew style

We've really enjoyed Andrew's love of all things sports, especially football.  It's too bad we took the extended break from blogging, because I'd like to remember when we realized that at a young age he could tell us which teams were playing and who was winning, because he figured out - entirely on his own - the score box shown on various networks.  Right now, he can identify almost all pro football teams, and a large number of college, though he doesn't entirely get the difference between the NFL and the NCAA.  His favorite team has been UVA, until this year.  Last year, he loved UVA's quarterback, whose nickname was Rocco.  Well, Rocco transferred, so Andrew ha been mad at UVA for "firing their best quarterback."  Miffed, he's varied his favorites over the season.

Because of his deep love for cardinals (have I never written about that?  In addition to sports, he enjoys birdwatching, and is really into cardinals), his new favorite team is the Arizona Cardinals.  We traveled to Arizona this past October to visit a friend and he's still annoyed we didn't go to a football game there.  But his second favorite team is often FSU, thanks to a great season and lots of opportunities to watch on TV (and a desire to please Mommy, too).  (His other teams are the Bears (to please Daddy), or sometimes the Redskins, again for Mommy.)

Anyway, Sunday night, at dinner, we had this conversation:

M:  Guess what - tomorrow night FSU is playing in the championship game!
A:  Really?  (munch munch on dinner)  Who are they playing?
M:  Auburn
A:  Is Auburn any good?
M:  Well, Auburn is really good.  I'm a little nervous.
A:  Auburn is going to win.
M: What?! Why do you say that?
A: You said they were good.
M:  Well, FSU is really good!
A: (munch munch)
M: FSU has the best team! Auburn has won two games on last second, weird plays! FSU has really good players!  The FSU quarterback won the Heisman!
A: (munch munch, unmoved by my increasingly strident arguments)
Daddy:  starts interjecting to also chime in that FSU is good
A:  (munch munch, completely unmoved)
M:  A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK FSU WILL WIN!  [the line, at that point, was FSU by 9]
A:  (completely flat tone)  I don't.

So, yeah, there was that.  I was pretty nervous that FSU could pull it out, and now completely convinced my 5 year old had predicted the game.

Monday night, Rich worked with Elizabeth on her homework assignment that we had all break to do but waited until the last night, and Andrew and I watched the game.

When Auburn went up 21-3, Andrew calmly observed: "They are crushing us."  And it was at that point that I decided it was time for him to go to bed.

(But when he came into our bed in the middle of the night, I was pleased to be able to tell him he had been wrong and Florida State had won the National Championship. So there!)