Today on the light rail, I was judged by the color of my fleece jacket.

I woke up at 5:30 this morning and couldn’t fall back asleep, so I did what any good scientist would do…I woke up and went to work. This meant riding the light rail ridiculously early- as in 2 hours earlier than normal. A few light rail riders congregated at my stop and told me good morning. When we stepped on the train one man pointed out my jacket.

Man: “I don’t care how cold it is outside, I wouldn’t be caught dead wearin dat right now!”
Man2: “yuh..you folks not doin well dis year. might as well be wearin UofH colors.”

I smile.

Man: “How you gonna be wearin dat out in public, you aint embarrassed?”

At this point, I hope you can assume that I am wearing a burnt orange fleece.

Me: “I’m still a fan.”
Man2: “Yeah I guess yous got basketball.”
Me: “mmmhhmmm”
Man: “But aint nobody care bout no damn basketball. I done saw tons of UT stuff at dis goodwill stop and i aint want nun of it.”
Man2: “Man quit harassing dis pretty little girl.”
Man: “All I’m sayin is dat be an ugly color right now and I’m surprised she has the guts to wear it.”
Man2: “You jus sayin dat cus you lost money on dem a few times.”
Man: “I’m sayin it because I’m disappointed in dem horns. They aint nothin without VY and you damn well know dat.”
Man2: “Dat white boy colt did a good job.”

The two keep rambling. By this point I find myself closing my eyes in an attempt to catch a few Z’s before I get to work.

Man: “SAY! SAY..wake up! you go to school der?”
Me: “huh?”
Man: “You go to University of Texas?”
Me: “Yes I graduated in 2008.”
Man: “aight den. yous ok wearing dat. is true is a good school. congratulations on gettin through.”
Me: “Thanks”
Man: “but you aint never see me in dat color no more.”

I smile.

Moral of the story: Damn you, Longhorn Football…

Today on the light rail, I met a member of Vince Young’s family.

One of the few good things about my job is I can wear pretty much whatever I want, knowing that half of my clothes will be ruined by acid and/or other reagents. Today, I opted to wear a University of Texas shirt, along with my white linen pants that will probably be ruined by the time I get home.

…………..now that you all know what I am wearing and don’t have to ask like a creeper…………

Back to the topic at hand. I spent my entire weekend celebrating my brother’s graduation from UT. Yes, I come from a family of 4 kids who have now officially all received a degree from THE University of Texas. So I naturally woke up this morning feeling that Longhorn pride. I was being pretty lazy on my walk to the light rail and for once didn’t run to catch the train, thus I was the first person at the platform for the next train.

I’m sitting down when a homeless man approaches me.
Man: “You a longhorn?”
No, I just like wearing a color that doesn’t match with anything except white or brown.
Me: “yup.”
Man: “You go to skool der?”
Me: “Yup.”
Man: “When you be der?”
Me: “2004-2008.”
Man: “Man you was der when VY was der. Dats my cousin.”

Let’s take a break to examine this conversation. How many cousins does Vince Young ACTUALLY have? I feel like he has multiple friends on Facebook that write on his wall using the word “cousin”. Or, multiple people I encountered in Austin would tell me that Vince Young was their “cousin”. Is this a term of endearment or does Vince really come from that big of a family?

Me: “Cool.”
Train arrives and we both step on…
AnotherMan (throws up the hook ‘em horns sign): “Hook ‘Em!!”
Man: “Yeah thas what I’m talkin bout. You go to football games?”
I quickly ignored this man once the train arrived so I didn’t realize he was talking to me…
Man: “What..now you be ignorin me?”
Me: “Oh didn’t know you were talking to me. Yes I did/do sometimes.”
Man: “I always wanted to go. How much do tickets cost?”
Me: “I dunno like $90 or something. I had season tickets through my brother.”
Man: “DAYYYYYUUUMMMM. That sh^t be esspensivveeee.”
I turn my attention to the homeless man that gets on at the next stop. His buddies tell him he better swipe his card, so he rushes off the train and the doors close.
HomelessMan’sBuddy: “Dat boy gunna miss him some grits!!!!!”
Man: “MAN I love dem grits down there too!”

So my longhorn pal and another homeless man babble over the breakfast food at the approaching soup kitchen. I can’t help but notice both of these men are carrying cell phones.

Moral of the story: Longhorn or not, why can’t you just order a pizza with your cell phone instead of going to the soup kitchen?

Today on the light rail, a man brought up a very interesting point that I’m in need of some audience feedback for…

This morning I hopped on the rail to the TMC with a dream in my Longhorn hoodie.
…alright I’ll quit with the Miley reference….
So I’m wearing my UT jacket, and usually when I wear this I get a lot of comments, usually because everybody in Texas that is somebody is a Longhorn.  So this man, may or may not be homeless, says “Hook ‘Em Horns!”
I smile.
FairWeatherFan: “Hook ‘Em Baby. Das wut I’m tawkin bout. You watch the game las night?”
Me: “Unfortunately, no.  I actually missed both the Rockets and Horns play last night.”
FairWeatherFan: “Yous a Rockets fan too??”
Me: “Umm we are in Houston.”
FairWeatherFan: “Man I aint heard of many girls that actually watch em on TV though.”
Me: “Well Hi, I like to watch sports on TV.”
FairWeatherFan: “Whatchu watch on TV?”
Me: “I love basketball. I can’t wait for March Madness. Not a big fan of the NFL, but I watch it.  College football I watch when I’m not at the game.”
FairWeatherFan: “You watch it cus your man makes you?”
Me: “Ha..no..I just enjoy it. Me and my brother used to watch Rockets games together as a kid.”
FairWeatherFan: “Mannnn.  I aint heard of no girl actually watchin sports without a man twisting her arm.  You’s a pretty little thang too.  Pretty and into sports.  Whatchu doin ridin the light rail?”
Me: “I’m going to work in the med center.”
FairWeatherFan: “Whatchu do down der?”
Me: “Research. I want to be a dentist.”
FairWeatherFan: “Man and you is smart too! Sports and brains. man!”
Me: “Most of my girl friends like sports too..it’s not that rare…”
FairWeatherFan: “Man I think you lyin to me. Aint no girl into sports. They supposed to be into fashion and all that.”

I laugh…and feel kind of awkward.  We don’t say much after this.  Sure, this wasn’t a very ‘funny’ experience on the rail this morning, but it made me want to ask you peeps a question.  When I was a Junior at UT, I had a subscription to ESPN the magazine that I actually read.  It was the first thing any guy noticed when they came to the apartment and their first question was “Who’s subscribed to this?!!?” with a little bit of excitement in their voice.

So my question to you today….And I need responses…this is an interactive blog today..I know there’s at least 50 clicks on here a day…so I’m assuming at least 10 of you read this a day.

What are you thoughts on straight females having a love for sports or a specific sport?  Guys, does this make you more attracted to them?  Ladies, Do you tend to hide your love of sports for fear the guy will treat you as ‘one of the guys’?

And I’m not talking girls that go to sporting events because “everybody does”..I’m talking like Victoria’s love for Will Muschamp…or Erin’s obsession with watching baseball on TV (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)

Today on the light rail, I was surrounded by Saints fans chanting “Who Dat” and other ridiculous sayings.

Now, I love sports.  The NFL is a touchy subject…I loved the Broncos for awhile because Selvin was playing.  Otherwise, I like watching the game, but don’t care who wins.  With that being said, I can’t tell you much of what happened during the Super Bowl because I was too busy eating Cane’s chicken fingers and King Cake.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Saints fan at heart…only because when I was 3 I was on a billboard and in a magazine with this guy:

Moral of the story: If Texas would’ve won the National Championship, would everybody want to move back to Austin?