Why Men Forget to Call Their Mothers

So, last week I agreed to play in Ed's Bowl pool. No, it's not a giant bowl for swimming in; rather, it's this college football bowl game betting thing. Basically, I give him $10 (I told him I'm good for it) and choose which college football teams will win their bowl. Last night I asked Ed if he could give me some information about the teams so I could make a relatively educated guess. Little did I know that there are nearly 30 bowl games - all played between December 20th and January 3rd. Tell me, is there someone out there who actually watches all of them?

Anyway, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Ed started off by giving me the run down on Arkansas State and Southern Miss. I think I remember correctly that this is Arkansas State's first bowl game (I picked them). By the time we got to talking about the Motor City Bowl (about seventh on the list), I was EXHAUSTED. Apparently, Ed took my request for information to the next level. One minute we're hanging out on the couch, channel flipping, Ed pretty exhausted from long days this week finishing papers - and the next, Ed is basically in full Sports Center mode. I got the feeling he wasn't talking to me, but channeling a kind of sports analysis talk show- I don't even think I could find the rhetoric to capture the tone. I heard a lot of words like "momentum," "plagued by injuries," "they've shown a solid consistent bowl performance," etc. He'd often pop up off the couch and run the computer to find the stats on some team's offensive line or their overall bowl results in the last five years. It got to a point that I couldn't take all the info in; I began to catch the bowl fever, wanting to know as much as possible, feeling crazed about NOT knowing enough and at the same time, feeling pressured to guess. It felt a lot like taking a test I wasn't prepared for. And this is fun? I am reminded why I don't like betting.

At a certain point, I thought about choosing teams based on more (for lack of a better word) feminine paradigm. One of Ed's (female) friends is using team colors for one of the deciding factors. Ed was kind enough to include that information at one point. For the Sun Bowl, he stated that UCLA and Northwestern are the "funnest color match up." Gotta love the guy.

I must admit, I do like the idea of watching these games, just to see how my picks are doing. And, if in the process, Ed and I can have some common discussion about college football, well, that'll be a nice perk to the holiday season. Besides, I might also gain some insight into the infamous fantasy gene. (There's a bowl named Insight, too, I picked Arizona State based on MY OWN recollection of Rutgers' predominately hideous football record).

On a separate note, I should apologize to Ed's mom. Yesterday was her birthday and I am pretty sure that Ed's exhaustion, coupled with his sudden focus on college football, caused him to forget to call despite his self-reminders all day. Last night I woke up to a 1:30 a.m. "(insert G** here) Damnit" when he did remember.

Wish me luck. If I win the pool, I plan on using my winnings to buy something really girly.