That wasn't that hard, was it?

Consider what I did an intervention. I was worried the shitty jazz at Ike's (is it modern jazz, or just really bad "classical" jazz ... specificity would help in terms of establishing setting) had made you lose your spirit.

And, I don't disagree with anything you stated, only with the degree to which everything applies to me.

Pardon me if I wasn't clear enough; I'm no more an Eagles fan than I am a fan of the Ravens. I am a Buffalo Bills fan, because (as you correctly pointed out) geographically that was the closest NFL team and the CFL sucks. However, the fact that the NFL TV contract makes it so I can't ever see the Bills on TV makes it a little difficult to follow the team on a regular basis. Heck, even when I go out to a bar to watch games (which isn't often; I try to avoid late-morning drinking these days) it's tough to get the fucking Bills on TV. Nonetheless, they are the only team that, at the outset of the season, I wish to do well.

However, in each individual contest, I attempt to decide what team I would prefer to win. Part of it is the fact that I almost always think of things in gambling terms, and part of it is that it's boring to watch a game without stating a preference, IMO. My criteria for picking teams in those circumstances usually comes down to rooting for who my friends like, for obvious reasons. Any friends who root for the Cowboys, Raiders, Yankees, Dodgers and Lakers are excluded from such consideration. Thusly, I have often rooted for the Eagles despite the fact I would watch D-Mac get hung on Iraqi television if it meant the Bills would win the Superbowl.

That said, I think it would be pretty awesome for the Saints to win. And if that means I'm not allowed to ever state a temporary preference for the Eagles again, so be it.

I am not a Chargers fan. I have often been accused of being such, even though there's really no basis for it.

I am, however, a Padres fan. I was before I met the Finleys (Ry and I actually became pretty good friends during the 1998 playoff run). I am not from San Diego. As a kid, I wanted to be Tony Gwynn, which both explains why I hit exactly one home run in my little league career and also why I've become fatter during my adult years. I have never found my being a Padres fan problematic in re: My love of the Blue Jays. It is conceivable that they would meet in the WS (well, maybe not), and in that case I choose the Jays. But I'll cross that inconceivable bridge when it comes. I don't bother justifying my love of the Padres because it's not possible and I really don't care. If that makes me a sports polygamist, or a pussy, or whatever, I'm cool with it.

Anyway, nice to have you back.