Football Weekends

The hospital I have gone to my whole life, and the one where I will get my new heart, is right across from Kinnick Stadium, home of the Iowa Hawkeyes.   The fact that I have been a life long fan of their instate rival, the Iowa State Cyclones, well let's just say that the irony isn't lost on me, and it's been the source of plenty of good-natured ribbing over the years.

 Hospital parking ramps just to the right

I'm not a sports nut, but I do like college football, and really love small town high school football on Friday nights.  Just great atmospheres.  So fun.  

Unfortunately it's really hard now, probably almost impossible for me, to manage going up and down the stadium steps.  And as much as I would like to be out there, tailgating with my friends and giving back a little of that good-natured ribbing myself, it's just not in the cards right now.  

So we watch at home.   And I kinda multitask, its just sort of on in the background.

It's especially hard for me to watch close games.  The adrenaline gets pumping and my heart gets pounding, and I start to not feel so good.  People really do have heart attacks during exciting sporting events, and to be fair, that's probably due in part because they may have just spent the last couple hours, oh I don't know, gorging on greasy foods, salty snacks and an adult beverage or two, or five. So as far as me tempting fate these days, yeah not so much.    

So I miss a lot of big plays, because I look away or go in the other room.  Or flip over to the cooking channel for a couple minutes.

And that stinks in a way. Cause I really like football, But I really, REALLY like being alive too.  

I guess I am not a very fun guy to watch a game with these days.   Oh well.  There are worse things.

So many things are gonna be better when I get the new heart...and this is just one of them.  Trivial perhaps, but part of what will make it worth it in the end.