another good weekend

This year is closing in a great way so far. Spent the Saturday before last in D.C. with friends. Spent several hours in the Smithsonian looking at cool stuff, including an awesome exhibit of early biblical texts. Wandered around some usual capitol sites and saw the White House Christmas tree (which was actually kinda dumb but it sounds cool). Spent three days last week in/near the D.C. area. Saw more Smithsonian stuff. Saw Handel's Messiah at the Kennedy Center, in what was one of the best artsy things I can remember attending. Even signed up for a young professionals' group to go see it with, no less. Met people I wouldn't have met otherwise. Got lost trying to get into Arlington National Cemetery the hard way (i.e., by purposely not taking the Metro to the "Arlington Cemetery" stop and getting off there) and enjoyed it because wandering in cities rocks when you're not on a schedule.

And it's just going to keep getting better. Not only might I find myself with another very short work week next week, which technically isn't part of this year but counts anyway as a continuation, but I'll be heading up to D.C. yet again this Saturday. I feel like I've been up there more than in the office recently. And I have! This time I hope to spend several hundred dollars at REI on Saturday, meaning they'll have so much stuff so deeply discounted that I'll add truckloads to my collection for pennies on the dollar. Almost. Anyway, should be a good sale. After that I need to find something to do in D.C. for the day, but that's never been hard. And Tim will probably hang around all day too because he'll of course be at the REI sale. That and we decided last-minute to go to the Redskins game Saturday night.

I'll wait a second to let that last bit sink in... Yeah, re-read it just to make sure you read it right... Yup, it does say that... I haven't been to an NFL game since junior high but I'm finally getting to go. Sure, we dropped some not-so-small change for seats in row 15 of section 422, but I'm sure they wouldn't sell the tickets if you couldn't at least make out the green patch way down there. Hey, it's a football game. In December. We could get to sit through a blizzard, which is the only way a real football fan should ever attend an NFL game in December. So what if it obscures our view and we can't even see the field much less make out any action. We'd still be physically at the game. Whatever happens it'll be awesome. Best of all, this will be a big game.

Check that -- it will be a huge game. This is the last week of the regular season and the Deadskins are of course out of the playoff hunt. But their bitter division rivals, none other than the much-hated-by-all-Washington-fans Giants, control their own playoff destiny and must win to get in. If there was ever a rivalry game to be at, this just might be it. This could be like Army-Navy or Michigan-OSU in that the home team could suck all year and yet have a successful season just by crushing the hopes of its rival. As they say, when it comes to rivalries the only thing better than winning is watching your opponent lose.

Consider the circumstances leading up to the game. The Deadskins have a bad record but have been playing everybody close lately and even thumped the mighty Saints on the road a couple of weeks ago. The Giants, on the other hand, have been playing like crap for the entire second half of the season -- they're 1-6 since the midway point -- and are right there with the Colts for least deserving team still in the playoff picture. And now they must come to Washington and figure out how to get out with a win!? Come to think of it, just getting out of FedExField alive might be a higher priority. I'm sure the 'Skins are still seething from getting beat down 19-3 at the Meadowlands earlier this year so they should be looking to exact some revenge. And what better way to take vengeance into their own hands than shatter the Giants' postseason dreams?

So we have a team playing under the pressure of what is basically already a playoff-like scenario versus a team playing only to make sure its rival also gets to watch the playoffs from home. Man, it's a great week to hate the G-Men. I almost feel some pity for any fans that hapless bunch still has left. Ha! Who am I kidding? I need to bring plenty of salt to the game so I can add to their misery. I'm usually not much of a Deadskins fan but I'll be yelling for them all game come Saturday night. Even from so high in the stands my noise won't reach the field.

I can't wait. Heck, with Stupid Bowl tickets way out of reach, this could be the greatest sports event I'll attend for a long time.