I'm not a doctor, but...

Look, Ma! I'm playing with the big boys now!

I find it really hard to believe that Tony Romo has a punctured/collapsed lung and is still going to play on Monday night.  Not to mention the cracked ribs....

I don't like Tony Romo.  Perhaps it's his previous love affairs with Jessica Simpson and Carrie Underwood that rub me the wrong way or maybe it's how long his sleeves are on his jerseys.  Let's be honest, it's the sleeves.  He looks like he's playing pee wee football with those things!  However, if he is genuinely hurt, and I assume lung issues qualify as a semi-severe to severe injury, he needs to stay off the field and heal.

The thing that boggles my mind is this: how is Romo supposed to play with all these lung issues, but Nick Mangold is out for 2-3 weeks with a sprained ankle?  Again, I'm not a doctor, but something about that seems very wrong.

Dude

Of course, the weekend before I am to see him in Oakland, Nick Mangold gets a "high ankle sprain". If I didn't know better, I'd say he did it on purpose to avoid being face to face with me. Okay, okay. So we won't be face to face and that hit did look pretty gnar on Sunday, but I'm so disappointed. Nick is a big part of why I love the Jets so much and watching this game from my epic seats just won't be the same without him.

However, I just found out that Scotty McKnight was just re-signed with the Jets, so maybe all hope is not lost. I mean, even if Nicky doesn't make the trip to Cali, at least we will have 4 of 5 members of our hypothetical NSYNC karaoke troop.

Nick, I wish you a super speedy recovery! Those boys aren't as safe out on offense without you!

xoxo,
Blanche Sanche

Fantasy football Week 2

Another week of Willie Beamen reigning victorious over the rest of my office league. This week, I owe my win to Kenny Britt and LeSean McCoy again, but also to Rob Bironas (my always trusty kicker) and the Jets defense. It's really nice to have the top Running back and defense in the fantasy world. Not to mention all my other players that rank in the top 10.

The random league sucked this week. I lost, thanks to Mario Manningham's unproductive game last night. Oh well. Again, let's not focus on that league 'cause it just makes me sad.

xoxo,
Blanche Sanche

Friday Night Lights

There's nothing more beautiful than the sun setting over a high school football game.  Okay, that's a lie, but it's gotta be somewhere in the top 20!

My best friend's husband is a high school football coach and this year, he was hired on at Reed High, the high school I went to.  Going back so many years later (I won't tell you exactly how many because it's depressing) feels almost like I never left.  The cool kids still hang out by the refreshment stand and don't really watch the games, while the parents and alums crowd the stands, cheering like maniacs for the home team.

Friday nights are my favorite part of the fall.  Watching kids play football is adorable.  Even at their best, they are still pretty terrible, but you can tell that they love it.  They love being out on the field and playing football.  For many, it's their last opportunity to play the game they love so much and for a select few, it's the beginning of careers, but they are all a team and they all play for the love of the game.

And we get to sit back and enjoy it!  Happy Friday, friends!

xoxo,
Blanche Sanche

Fingers crossed!

It's something I've always wanted to do, but never had the balls.  I search all the time, find one that seems perfect for me, then dismiss it because I think to myself, "I'd never get it anyway."  But today, I changed my attitude and submitted my resume.

I applied for a job with the NFL.


Though I'm at the age where I should know what I'm doing with my life and what I want to be when I grow up, I am clueless.  I love the job I have right now, but it's not something I want to do forever.  I want to be around something that I'm passionate about, something that I really want to learn more about.  So, when my friend sent me a link to this job, I decided to throw myself into the mix.  Even if I don't get hired, it doesn't hurt to try, right? What's that old saying, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take"?  I think Wayne Gretsky was on to something.

I think this gave me just the motivation I need to apply for other jobs I've seen for ESPN and different individual ball clubs.  I think I'm destined to be a football girl for the rest of my life.

xoxo,
Blanche Sanche

The greatest E-Bay experience ever!

Gather 'round, friends, and let me tell you a tale of how I scored the most amazing seats for the upcoming Jets/Raiders game.  First, let me preface this story with the fact that I know going to a Raiders game is going to be terrifying and, quite possibly, fatal.  However, I can't allow the Jets to be this close to me and not risk my life to be there.  I'm a real fan.

Anyway, after spending weeks checking StubHub for good, but inexpensive tickets, I was having no luck.  There were good-ish tickets, but they were at least $200 a piece (with shipping and processing fees).  I was beginning to think that I wasn't meant to go to this game.  Yesterday, I decided to check E-Bay because I'd purchased Titans/49ers tickets for really cheap a few seasons ago.

I was hitting the same wall on E-Bay, cheap and crappy seats or amazing but way overpriced.  I mean, it's Oakland, not MetLife Stadium!  Then, I found them.  Through the scalpers and all, there they were: tickets 6 rows up behind the visitor's sideline.  My heart began to race as I hastily placed my bid before realizing that there were almost 5 days left in the auction.  I knew someone else was going to get them or I was going to have to pay an arm and a leg for them, so I decided to be bold and email the seller to see if she could end the auction and give them to me.  It couldn't hurt, right?

The seller immediately wrote me back and said she would sell the tickets to me for $275 for the pair without handling or processing fees!  It turns out, she's a lady from Reno who lives very close to my office.  What luck!  She told me she would meet me somewhere to give me the tickets so I wouldn't have to mess around with the electronic tickets and so that "Mark could write his number on them" for me.

This morning, she emails me to ask where I should meet her and includes a picture of herself from Burning Man so that I know who to look for (which didn't help because no one in real life looks like they do at Burning Man).  Then she sent me a picture of Sanche, just for fun.  I swear, I've made a new BFF.

I get to the deli where we've agreed to meet, because I was having lunch with Blanche Collie Matthews there, and there she is.  A slightly older lady with blonde hair and rhinestones on her oversized sunglasses.  She gives me a hug before we exchange money and tickets and gushes about how much she loves her seats.  Then, even as we protest, she proceeds to buy me and Blanche lunch... with the money I've just given her!  Essentially that means I paid even less for the tickets.  Amazeballs!

As we wait, she asks where I work.  I tell her my boss' name and, it turns out, she used to be a client of his.  Reno is just too damn small!  We sit and chat about Burning Man and football until her to-go food arrives and she bids us farewell with another round of hugs.

I couldn't have been more lucky in this situation.  Everything worked out flawlessly and I finally get to be up close and personal with my Jets.  Now, I just have to worry about my wardrobe.

In case you are curious, here is a diagram of where my seats are.  The MS stands for Mark Sanchez, as that's where I estimate he will be when he's off field.  I get it, it's not to scale, but whatevs, I'm not an artist.

Jealous much?

xoxo,

Blanche Sanche

Jaguars fans, beware.

This is absolutely vile and disgusting.  Apparently, some Jaguars fan brought this little gem to their tailgate, in an attempt at humor.  Well, it's not fucking funny.  I cannot believe that anyone would mock McNair's tragic death with such a tasteless display.  I'm pissed.

McNair was not perfect; he was cheating on his wife when he was shot that Fourth of July morning, but he was a great quarterback, who played with injuries aplenty and never let them get in his way.  A lesson that Jay Cutler could learn from.  However, this is unacceptable.  It is not funny.  It is not friendly competition.  It is inhumane.

Sure, I make comments about players I don't like and how I wish bad things would happen to them, but I would never do something like this.  If Tom Brady or Kurt Warner were murdered, you wouldn't see me dressing up a skeleton with a bloody jersey.

Sorry your team is mediocre and is never talked about.  This is not the way to create publicity, Jacksonville.  I hope you have an absolutely terrible season.

xoxo,
Blanche Sanche