'Twas the Night Before...

Aaaaah yes...just like Christmas Eve has it's own giddiness surrounding it for the kids of the world, so does the night before opening day of the football season for fans all over this country. We've waited patiently, asked the football "Santa" for a just few things in the off season:

• A new head coach that we can all get behind and support. (check)
• Don't waste a lot of draft picks on players we don't really need(almost got that one..it improved over the previous years..so I count this one as gifted to me)
• Don't allow us to lose over abundance of players to injury during practice, training camp and pre season games(this also wasn't too shabby although some of our warriors are gimpy, most are in one piece)
• That our record be better than the season before(high hopes I know...but hey look at the name of the blog...'nuff said)

With everything on the list checked off, we started the long wait from the tumultuous end of last season to this...the night before opening day in the NFL. Can you feel it? Soon the day of reckoning will be upon us. Come 7:00 pm EST tomorrow, the wait will be over and the kick-off will take us into the realm of helmets hitting, pads crunching, footballs flying, clashings of the titans on tap for opening night. All of the what ifs, how-to's, and do overs will be finished. All of the chalkboard X's and O's will be real people with real intentions of winning this game. And just like waking up Christmas day and tearing open the packages to find just what you wanted or the exact thing you didn't want, our emotions will rise and fall by what transpires on that field. Until then, it will feel, to every Redskins fan, like we're standing on a cliff, teetering on the edge and whether we fall or not, depends on this team's ability to rise to the occassion and leave no doubt about what direction this franchise is going.

There's so much that we don't know about our beloved team and it leaves us(me is more accurate)with a somewhat uneasy feeling going into this season. So many questions that beg to be answered. Will they be the consummate pros, executing with precision the playbook that was laid before them? Will they thrill us with their polished passes and spot on defense? Or will they struggle just to get a first down? It can be nerve wracking to say the least. Add to that the fact that we're jumping directly into the fire by playing the defending Super Bowl champions and our collective nerves are strung tighter than a guitar string about to be plucked by Jimi Hendrix. (that's for my over 40 friends)

Our opponents will receive their "bling-bling" and all the accolades that come with that prior to the contest. There will be a feeling of superiority in the air that surrounds the Meadowlands tomorrow night and I'm hoping that there is just enough "super bowl hangover" to allow the Skins to "sneak in the back door" and snatch the prize without so much as breaking a sweat(ok..ok..so that's a bit over the edge. Can't blame a girl for trying though).

As I call it a night, on this the day before THE DAY, I have visions of an upset dancing in my head. The bubbles of Giants fans bursting as we fade out of sight. On Campbell, on Portis, on Moss and Cooley, take 'em home boys before this crowd gets unruly!

One can only hope. Ready or not...here we come NY!