Bye Week Sunday

It only hurts when I move.

Ow.

I found a great way to force myself to do nothing for more than two straight days: play a little pick up football with my friends!

We (my standard group of friends) played this past Bye Week Sunday (yes, it's worthy of capitals) at Delaware Park, figuring we would play a five-on-five or six-on-six game against each other. But when we got there there was another group of seven guys ready to play a game amongst themselves until both groups decided to play each other.

But rather than play ten-on-seven, we politely suggested playing seven-on-seven and we would begrudgingly substitute our players throughout the game. Who would have known that rotating ten guys would help our rag tag, hungover, out of shape team against an otherwise borderline Johnny (or is that borderline-Johnny?) team that may not have been thoroughly in shape, but at least appeared to have been in shape at some point in their lives?

Still the game was close. Playing to seven, we were up 4-2 and then 6-4 before they tied the game up both times. And as our game-winning drive came to an unsuccessful conclusion when I femininely went for a pass that was thrown only slightly high and tipped it to the safety for an interception, I doubt I was the only one who worried we were going to blow a two point lead.

But perhaps I was the only one because my friend Jay followed up the turnover with a great tip into our very own Don's hands giving us the ball deep in their territory. From there we dropped a couple more sure fire touchdowns only to be saved by a spectacular diving catch in the corner of the end zone by Cakes for the game winner.

"Don't celebrate unless you got it," said the worst of the goons.

Oh, we had it. We had it the whole time.

The entire game further deepened my preference to play a game of any sort rather than watch it. And the fact that my friends and I banded together and defeated the common Johnny enemy (some of the guys were good guys and fun to play against, though, like all groups of people, that was by no means entirely the case) made it all the more sweeter.

But ever since then I have barely been able to move. Perhaps the body, in not being a bicycle, requires constant physical attention to maintain a youthful exuberance after all. But either way, I've gotten my way and haven't done a thing since.

And even though we all know we won because we had subs, I'd hate to think how I'd feel right now if we didn't.