NFL Playoffs!? That can only mean one thing – bandwagon season! Now that my team #1 and #2 are done for the season, its time to jump on the way only a true NFL football fan can.
My Tampa Bay Buccaneers played an exceptional first quarter today and then decided to fall asleep on me. Too bad the game has four quarters! Argh! I really thought they could make something happen this year. My #1 team(s) the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland Raiders never even made it to the playoffs - so the time has come for auxiliary cheering methods – jump on the bandwagon! I have planned out who I will be rooting for next week for sure (remaining season afterward to be determined):
Go San Diego Chargers! This is my number one choice of course, being a Southern California native. LaDainian Tomlinson is not only remarkable, but a role model with his quiet confidence. You never see him trash talking, he simply does his job and does it well! I am fully allowed to root for them as they were once the Los Angeles Chargers and I actually lived in Del Mar for a period. Also, I have been to Seau’s and had a cigar (alright, he isn’t there anymore but that’s not the point)!
Go Jacksonville Jaguars! I am so very impressed with David Garrard and Maurice Jones-Drew. Besides their impressive, spirited performances, I can rationalize rooting for them a few ways. I went to college in the great state of Florida and Maurice Jones-Drew is a California boy that went to UCLA. (And yes, I watched him in college and admired his performance then and even sat the next row over from him at a Los Angeles Lakers game once.) I mean seriously, David Garrard is a class act so how can you not root for him!?
Go Green Bay Packers! I have to admit, Brett Favre has made a believer out of me. How can you not be intoxicated by his enthusiasm and love for the sport? I could only hope to emulate a tenth of his work ethic.
So make fun of me if you want – I know the rest of you are rationalizing who will be your bandwagon team too! I’ve heard ‘em all from rooting for your division or particular conference to the state you most want to live in. An old classmate of mine always had these intricate webs of who his bandwagon team would be. It was sort of like a six degrees of Kevin Bacon game where he would talk about who his girlfriend’s cousin went to school with that was on the practice squad or something like that.
Keywords: Brett Favre, David Garrard, football, Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Junior Seau, Kevin Bacon, LaDainian Tomlinson, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Lakers, Maurice Jones-Drew, NFL Playoffs, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, Southern California, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
