Being a Texan

Living in Texas means a lot of things. A lot of things I never thought I'd be but I am. A lot of things I never thought I'd do but I find myself doing all the time. This includes:

1. Saying y'all
2. Owning and wearing cowboy boots
3. Eating breakfast tacos instead of breakfast sandwiches or bagels
4. Getting chilled when it drops below 60 degrees
5. Preferring Shiner beer over Miller Lite
6. Bragging about how big the Texas capital is and getting defensive when people forget that Austin is the capital
7. Buying a home in Texas
8. Exercising more in the winter
9. Rationalizing that 90 degrees is a cold front
10. Calling the Gulf a beach
11. Driving everywhere b/c that's your only option to get around

But more than anything else, when you live in Austin, you love UT. For any of you who watch Friday Night Lights or any other movie about Texas (Varsity Blues), you know that football is huge in this state. Everything from pee-wee football to high school to college. It seems that professional football isn't a big deal but from August to January (in years when Texas is good) the city is a sea of burnt orange. I used to live in walking distance of the stadium and had to alter my route on Saturdays (even when it was an away game) because of all the tailgating.

So tonight is the National Championship. Texas vs. Alabama. I'll admit, I'm a bit torn. I've been to some UT games and my brother and sister in law went to law school there and pretty much everyone I know in Austin went there for undergrad. But then there's my dear friend, Haley.....

Haley is from Alabama. She went there for college and grad school and her family still lives there and she's getting married there this summer. She has an adorable southern accent and for someone who claims they aren't competitive, when it comes to college football, she's feisty.

She's been living in a city that pretty much hates her for the past few weeks so in my spirit of often rooting for the underdog, I'm rooting for Alabama tonight. Maybe I won't every time and maybe I'll look back one day and modify the list above to add 'root for Texas football and Texas only'. But until them, 'Roll Tide Roll'. Or something like that.....

p.s. To all my UT loving friends, please don't hate me. When you're a Red Sox fan you learn to take a lot of crap so I can take it.