Saturday, August 04, 2007

Joe Namath, Mom, & Existential Questions

28 days until the first Alabama football game!

I suppose I have reached the point in my life where I have begun to ask myself certain questions. What is life? What is real? Who am I? How in the world is Jimmy Kimmel's talk show still on the air?

While we may never know the answer to that last one, today I want to focus on the Who Am I question. Or more precisely, why am I the way I am?

I have written before about my love for Crimson Tide football. And while I know this trait largely comes directly from my mother, I've never known where she got it. So this week I decided to ask her. Why does she love Alabama football, and who did she get it from?

Here, to the best of my recollection, is her answer in her words:

"I don't know. The earliest memory I have is watching them when Joe Namath was quarterback. I remember one year we lost to Tennessee and it tore me up. I was down in the floor crying and I remember Momma saying, 'Child, you don't need to let a football game affect you like that. Win or lose, the sun's gonna come up tomorrow.'

Sunday morning when I woke up, it was pouring down rain. And I knew then the sun doesn't come up when Alabama loses."


Indeed.

Oh, I would have asked her the Jimmy Kimmel question as well, but I'm pretty sure her answer would have been, "Jimmy who?" Mom flips back and forth between Letterman and Leno, and only knows Craig Ferguson as that "crazy man who looks like a gorilla."

Don't ask me. I don't analyze it, I just report it.

"From Carolina down to Georgia, smell the jasmine and magnolia. Sleepy, sweet home Alabama, Roll, Tide, Roll..."

23 comments:

  1. boooooooooooooo.

    I think I threw up a little in my mouth when I read this.

    It's almost time for us to stop being friends. The off-season has been wonderful, I'll never forget you.

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  2. My husband wanted me to inform you that the sun will not be rising on October 21st. He speaks with great authority on this ;).

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  3. Joe Namath and pantyhose are forever linked in my mind. Ask your mother.

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  4. I can't decide which is funnier...your post or the comments.

    Speaking of Kimmel...did you see he has a game show? I totally don't get the point. I suppose it's kinda like "Deal or No Deal" but it didn't even seem that hard.

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  5. Katie: Glad you enjoyed it :) Yes, our friendship shall commence on September 16th, or sometimes shortly thereafter. I won't forget you.

    Jennifer: Well, sounds like you've got a regular Nostradamus there. Sorry, but I only trust predictions made my Broadway Joe :)

    Gay: I'll have to ask her. That was some sort of famous commercial, right?

    Renee: Yes, I saw ads for it. Couldn't tell much about it, but it looks uncomplicated and boring :)

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  6. Sometimes it's just in the genes. No one can figure out why I'm an ND fan. (Like you need a reason.) The first question is usually, are you catholic? Do I have to be to be a fan? Really?

    I didn't know Joe Namath play for Alabama. I just know him from the Jets.

    Football season's just around the corner! I can't believe it!

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  7. That's what confused me. I didn't know Namath played for anybody but the Jets--and yes I remember the pantyhose--ask your mother

    27 days now, and how many hours?

    Great title Bone--a bit existential, and speaking of that why should anybody care about Jimmy Kimmel, when they can see Letterman show 3 great presidential speeches?
    FDR--the only thing you have to fear is...
    JFK--ask not...

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  8. lmao - i like momma's philosophy.... even if you ARE an alabama boy ;)

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  9. I should be able to set this up on Tuesday...I think. Might have to wait until Friday.

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  10. I remember getting a blue jacket for Christmas when I was 7 from my aunt. It was a nice jacket, but I refused to wear it b/c it was blue and I was an Alabama fan! I froze my butt off that winter b/c my mom would make me leave the house with that stupid blue jacket and I would promptly remove it just as soon as she pulled out of the driveway for work. That was the last decent gift I got from my aunt, even though she is a die-hard Bama fan, my reaction really hurt her feelings. Alas, she used to give me such great presents, now all my cousins get the good stuff.

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  11. Wow. I had no idea weather could be predicted by football. Do meteorologists know this? It would cut off so much school time.

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  12. Carnealian: It seems like football season has taken forever to get here this year.

    Pia: Yes, he is known more nationally as a Jet, but we had him first :)

    Mom's favorite part of Letterman is Great Moments In Presidential Speeches!

    Question girl: Thank ya, even if you AREN'T an Alabama girl ;)

    Renee: That's quite a little scheme you're cooking up over there. Perhaps you could just construct a shoebox diorama of the front yard, with everything built to scale?

    Melanie: There's my Bama girl! You made the right choice. Great story :)

    Charlotta-love: Oh, don't get me started on weather people. If the five-day forecast were accurate, we'd only need to watch the weather once every five days.

    By the way, I see you're hyphenating your name now. Was there a wedding? :)

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  13. Hey, I've been to a taping of Jimmy Kimmel live...

    he is really funny.

    I have never actually watched a whole show before (it's way past my bedtime)... but watching him do his monologue was priceless.

    (I even forgave him for having Ryan Seacrest as the guest that show too)

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  14. i may not be a southern girl, but i do now live south of the mason dixon line......(and this heat is gonna either kill me or make me stronger)

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  15. Football.
    Hmm.
    I'm stuck.

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  16. For some reason the beginning of this post made me want to dance "Night at the Roxbury" style.. Must have been all the questions. :P

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  17. I'm beyond ready for NCAA football to start. It's odd where we get our loyalties, though. I'm a closet Penn State fan. A love given to me by my mother. I can clearly remember just she and I attending a Penn State game and afterwards going to the campus book store and purchasing me a PSU sweatshirt. I bought a women's X-Large . . . I was 7. I wanted to make sure it ALWAYS fit.

    I still have it. :) And, of course, it fits. Though, then, I wore it as a dress.

    Your momma sounds like a fine woman who knows the important things in life: Football being in the top five. She raised you right.

    I'd never realized it until now, but Ferguson does look a bit like an orangutan or a chimpanzee, doesn't he?? And Jimmy Kimmel is on the air for the same reason as The View - - there's no accounting for taste in this world.

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  18. Shelby: Aww? Soft spot in your heart for Broadway Joe?

    DCChick: I think he should've stayed with The Man Show. I've never watched his talk show more than a minute or two, but I've seen him on a couple of roasts on Comedy Central and didn't find him very funny.

    Question Girl: Oh, you'll be fine, as long as you have heavy duty AC's in your home and car :)

    Blondie: Stuck? Is that a bad thing? You no like the football???

    Burg: I'm certain that's it. And now I'm involuntarily doing the Roxbury dance in my chair :)

    Avery Laine: I bought a women's X-Large . . . I was 7. I wanted to make sure it ALWAYS fit.

    Aww, that's cute :)

    So you agree with my mother? I'll be sure to let her know.

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  19. yesterday at Johan's apt complex... one of the tenants is from Cullman... all the way out here, I got a "Tide". lol

    That should make Jawana happy :) Johan is in good company out here in Los Angeles.

    See ya when I get back in town later this week. I also can't wait for football season to start!

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  20. Hahahahaha, your mom cracks me up!!!!!!!!

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  21. Java Boo Boo: Yes, I know how much you enjoy the football. Quick, how many points is a touchdown worth?

    Arlene: Thanks, Brizzle :)

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  22. Here, to the best of my recollection, is her answer in her words

    Soooo, what you're really saying is that you don't remember a word she said and thus made all of that up?

    O:-)

    I guess I always thought it was just natural... I mean, if you're from Wisconsin, you're a Badger fan, you know? My nephew can spot a picture of Bucky from a distance. It's not like that in Bama? There is a separation of team loyalty??

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