My facts and figures, grab your calculator: The end of an era....

Okay, okay, okay...an "era" might be slightly exaggerating...but it feels like an era...the 2009 football season is now sadly, officially, over.  We made the trip to the UNI Dome to play in the semi-final game last night and in a great battle of 2 undefeated teams, the game was ended by a Marshalltown touchdown with 5 seconds left.  Dowling 25, Marshalltown 28.  For the last few minutes of the game it appeared Dowling was going to be headed on to the state title, then those annoying Bobcats drove and drove and drove...and won.  Sigh.
The boys and I waited about 40 minutes after the game to talk to Troy, then he calls my phone....from the bus...already on his way home.  Sigh. 

So here's the breakdown from Mommy's point of view:

• 1,224 hours of time Troy spent in practice/camps/weights/film over the past 4 months
• 13 games played....approximately 39 hours of time cheering for the Maroons
• 14 hours of driving, waiting to park, waiting in line, schlepping kids and stuff in/out/around the stadium
• 90 explanations to Ryan about where Daddy is, what Daddy is doing, how much longer until the game start/ends, the cheerleaders "jump" again, the band comes back on the field
• 8 bags of popcorn consumed
• 16 hotdogs purchased
• 6 rolls of free LifeSavers from Valley Church parking people
• 36 extra loads of football-related laundry
• 2 jerseys purchased
• 80 dinners saved and warmed up for hungry Daddy
• 9 team handouts proofread and edited
• 1 cofee table ruined by too many Xs and Os
• 51 DVDs added to our collection
• countless pieces of paper, playbooks, playcards, stat sheets, etc.
• 1 more GREAT SEASON for Coach Rider - we are proud of you, Troy!

From Troy's point of view:  very depressing, "put so much time and energy into this season and I don't know that we'll ever have a group of kids like that ever again". 

I did everything I could to make today less miserable for Troy: made his favorite cheesedip (at 8:30 in the morning- blech!), made football-shaped chocolate-and-cream sandwich cookies, ordered pizza and wings for dinner, gave him the remote control all day...but he asked for 2 days of mourning, so I'm counting down the hours.  

Still.....life goes on:
Seth is walking like a champ.
Ryan is full of hugs and "moochies" for Daddy, and has said, "Daddy, are you HOME!?!?" (in wide-eyed-unbelief) about a dozen times today.
The dog doesn't leave Troy's side.
And I am glad to have my husband back, until the next season begins....

The Register's Game Analysis

UNI-Dome, here we come!

Yea Troy, we are proud of you! Dowling won the quarter-final game last night against Urbandale and the Maroons get to play at the UNI Dome on Friday afternoon in the semi-final round!  We're going to try to make the trip...maybe! If they win this Friday, they will play in the state championship the following Saturday. The boys love going to football games and enjoyed seeing their Great-Aunts Debbie and Karen last night :-)

A few pictures from the season:

Ryan loves all aspects of the game...still is convinced that Daddy is playing (aka "wrestling/tackling") instead of coaching. On the other hand, Seth goes for the food, band, and cheerleaders...game? what game?

Thursday night = Family night

So we have one night a week where we try REALLY hard to have some good family time - no interruptions, no other committments, etc.  It's virtually impossible during football since Troy doesn't usually get home until 7....but I'm not complaining (stopping now to pray for a dear friend who's hubby is going to be leaving for Basic Training!).  However, tonight we had some fun - nothing major, just trying to enjoy the small things.  Like trying not to laugh at Ryan's version of telling me off:  "Mom, go buy the farm!" (said in the same tone as "Mom, go take a hike!").  Or Seth tearing open a bag of chocolate chips and helping himself to a snack.  The best part was that after getting all slobbery and chocolatey, Seth grabbed an open bag of powdered sugar and some of it floated down on top of him - it was a sugary version of being tarred and feathered.  Sigh. 
But Troy's highlight of the night was a yummy dinner.  I'm no chef, nothing fancy here in this house...but every once in awhile I find a connoction that is JUUUUUUUST right.  This meal is super easy, can be made in about 5 minutes of prep time, can be left alone in a crockpot, and men LOVE it.  Well, at least I know that Troy does:

"Best-Ever Barbecued Ribs"
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon course salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
2-3 pounds well-trimmed pork baby back ribs, cut into 4 rib pieces (with bones - not the boneless kind)
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon (or more!) Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon (or more!) soy sauce
1 tablespoon (or more) A-1 sauce

Coat your crock-pot with cooking spray.  Combine paprika, salt, thyme, black pepper and red pepper; rub mixture onto meaty sides of ribs.  Cook ribs on Low 7-8 hours (or on high 3-3 1/2 hours although the low method is better) until ribs are tender.

Combine the remaining ingredients; mix well.  Remove ribs from the crock-pot and discard cooking liquid.  Coat ribs with sauce and return to crock-pot and cook on High for 30 minutes or until ribs are glazed.