The Big Game

First Super Bowl without JP.  I think if the Patriots had been in it, it would have been incredibly difficult.  As it was, I paid little attention to the game, and managed to have a nice time.

The first Super Bowl I watched with JP was in 2004, Patriots versus Panthers.  I remember we accidentally ended up at a Carolina bar in NYC.  The owner was a former star of Duke's basketball team.  And we had been referencing Office Space, and then a couple minutes later, Ron Livingston came in and sat right by us.  Weird.  And when the Pats won, the bar owner brought us a cheese and sausage platter as well as a bottle of champagne.  So nice!  The following year, I think we went to another bar.  I know we were in NYC, but I can't remember details.  In 2006, I was about to move to Chicago and things were a little strained between us.  I think that I was in MA and he was in Chicago.  In 2007, we had thrown my birthday party the night before, and my guess is that we watched it by ourselves at his condo.  In 2008, we were in DC and the Pats were playing the Giants.  I just remember that we turned off the tv with 2 minutes to go, and went to bed.  The next day, JP got to work to find that his Giants fan assistant had put Giants posters all over his office, in all his drawers, etc.  Pretty good prank.  In 2009, I think we threw a party.  We were back in Chicago, and I remember thinking I would never throw another Super Bowl party because I didn't get to watch any of the game or commercials due to being on hostess duty.  This was right before we got Maddy, before we went to St. John.  2010 and 2011 I have to say I don't remember.  I am guessing that we had done my karaoke 30th birthday party the night before the 2010 game, based on the dates.  In 2011 I was pregnant, so I'm guessing we just watched it at home, but I really don't remember.

Last year, all 3 of us put on all our Pats attire.  JP had been so excited about Max's first Super Bowl.  We expected a Patriots victory, of course.  Max didn't last much longer than kickoff, and neither did the Pats.  Once again, after a disappointing loss to the Giants, the jerseys were stripped off and tossed into the closet before the game ended, and we vowed not to speak of football until the next season.  Little did we know, there would be no next season.  Little did we know that our time together would end in 10 days' time.

This time of year used to be exciting.  Even if the Patriots weren't in the Super Bowl, I always enjoyed watching it with JP.  And now it's just another crappy part of a horrible month.  I'm glad I did something different, with people who didn't know JP.  I think that helped.  But I was missing my football fanatic, and I always will on Super Bowl Sunday.