Playoffs? Don't Talk About Playoffs!

Well, last week's last game of the season against the Chicago Bears was....super stressful and not very high scoring. Not that there weren't some great plays, but if it had been another team playing I would have called it a yawner. I was surprised how few yards Kuhn got, but after scoring 3 touchdowns the week before it's what you expect. What kind of NFL team would the Bears be if they didn't spend extra time watching film on a guy that scored 3 TD's the previous game to figure out how to stop him? And even though he didn't get many yards, he offered just enough of a threat to allow Rodgers a couple passing plays down the field. There was a nice play to Jennings and the touchdown pass to Donald Lee.

Erik Walden #93 (Photo from here)

Likewise the defense was great! Erik Walden with two sacks on Jay Cutler was totally awesome! He sort of came out of nowhere (well, Miami actually), but helped to bring the final total defensive tally to 47 sacks  for the season, the best ranking for a Packers defense in franchise history! Nice job dude! And how about Sam Shields blocking some critical 3rd down passes, and keeping pressure on Cutler? He is really doing great. And the interceptions by Charlie Peprah and Nick Collins were...shoot, really, they may have saved the game. The first was in the end zone to Johnny Knox, and would have been a TD, and the last was a 2nd and 10 with 11 seconds left in the game to shut down the Bears final attempt to score! Just amazing.

So we made it to the playoffs!  It's weird because I always get these superstitious inclinations this time of the season. I am not superstitious, but none the less I get the feeling like I might jinx the team if I say something beforehand in reference to the playoff potential, or their performance, especially if I say something good. (For example did I jinx John Kuhn last week by saying he was unstoppable?!? Ha ha you decide:) I also find myself wondering, off the wall, totally nonsensical things like if I wear the exact same pair of socks I wore the last week would it help us beat the Eagles this Sunday? Or did we win against the Bears because I switched my favorite ring to another finger just before Lee caught that TD pass?
Despite the fact that I feel a bit that way from time to time, the I firmly believe the whole notion of superstitious behavior is totally ridiculous. And I'll tell you why.

From churchofgoodluck.com

I know lot's of people are superstitious, and they believe a rabbit foot in their pocket will help them ace a job interview, or a lucky shirt will help them score on a first date, but I don't think they really understand the big picture of what the world would be like if those objects really created good fortune for them. Can you imagine what it would be like if we lived in a world where not changing your underwear for a week could affect the outcome of sporting events? Or someone reciting a phrase before leaving the house in the morning could make them luckier than you and less likely to get hit by a car than you? Can you imagine loosing a job only because the idiot who got hired had a dismembered rodent limb in their pocket? Or how about having sex with some one you normally wouldn't because they wore their "lucky shirt" and not a different one? It would be chaos! And then what would happen when two people on opposite teams (or sides of a coin) do their lucky dance or whatever hoping for opposite outcomes? Would they cancel each other out?
I am not sure what provokes those feelings in me. It's probably nerves. Maybe it's feeling like I want to help them win and knowing there is nothing I can do that would actually be of any use, so I try to make up something because it helps me release the anxiety in the pit of my stomach. But whatever the reason it's still just...silly.
No matter how you look at it it superstition just doesn't make any sense, and thank goodness too. So (deep breath... and fingers crossed (ha ha...get it? fingers crossed is also superstitious..ha ha...I'm so hilarious!)) I am going to end this by saying Yes, we made it to the Playoffs! And I think we will win next week. I really think the Packers are a better team than Philadelphia, I think our defense can handle Michael Vick and I really think Aaron Rodgers will provide more "luck" for the Packers than all the crossed fingers, and un-laundered panties in the world.
GO PACKS!!!!

Long Story Short

Do you ever find yourself doing weird things that don't make sense even to you? And then do you wonder why you keep doing it over and over even after you know it doesn't make sense?
Well, that's my situation with my hair. It's pretty long, and for the most part it is just a huge pain in the ass. I never fix it because then I would have to get up at like 5:00 in the morning everyday, and I am just waaay to lazy for that. Long hair is awful at the gym too because it's hot, and then I have to wash it every day, which is time consuming. I have probably spent a month washing my hair, and $1000 on conditioner over the past ten years (I could take a trip to Hawaii for $1000!) . It's all work and no fun. So my locks, for the most part, spend their miserable, split-ended existence all scrunched up in a pony tail holder at the back of my head. So you might think why not just cut it and avoid the hassle?
I will tell you why. It's because soon the thought of cutting it crosses my mind, my hair suddenly becomes my favorite thing IN THE UNIVERSE and I just can't part with it. The tangles, and HOURS of brushing are forgotten, and all I have is the happy memory of how nice it looked that one time six months ago when I actually took the time to blow dry it.
Once (sometimes twice) a year I am confronted with this situation. I get so fed up with my hair that I make an appointment for a cut and tell myself This is it! I am gonna do it! Then once I am there in the chair I panic and my palms get sweaty and I just can't go through with it. I can't stomach the thought of chopping it off. It feels wrong, like killing a puppy or wearing two different shades of brown in the same outfit. So I end up spending $50 getting 1/4 inch taken off the bottom. Afterward I feel relieved. Yay, my long hair has been saved! Then while I am driving home from the salon I end up throwing it into a pony tail because it's hot, and annoying me, and flying everywhere because the window is rolled down. And the cycle begins anew.
I have done this literally for years. It doesn't make an ounce of sense, but there you have it.