Not your typical chili: During college football season, there are magic beans in a bowl of leftovers.
The Texas Longhorns are in the College Football Playoff semifinals, so I suppose dreams do come true and miracles do really happen. This indicates that my spouse was ecstatic for roughly sixty seconds. He was overjoyed to see that UT had advanced to the semifinals when the teams were announced. Then he entered his dark side, where he began discussing all the possible ways they could fail.
This is nothing new to me, the wife of an avid Longhorn football fan. I’ve spent years observing this degree of football angst. Although the team actually had a 12-1 record this season, you would have thought the games were awful if you had been with my husband.
This is because he feels deeply. (Please note I’m using “feels deeply” as code for “crazy.”) Every freaking play is life or death and worthy of a “comment.” (My code for “swearing” is “comment.”) We even had tickets to the November Texas vs. Iowa State game, but we chose not to attend. The justifications were numerous and varied.
The top three were our attendance might be a jinx and Texas would lose. Number two was I told my husband I would only go to the game with him if he promised I wouldn’t have to listen to him rant non-stop for the three-plus hour car ride home if Texas lost. That was a promise he wouldn’t keep, he told me. The main reason we didn’t attend the game was that I persuaded him that watching a UT game outside of his safe haven in the basement would be too taxing on his emotions. Because he “feels” so deeply, you know.
These emotions have now entered the tumultuous phrase. That damn portal is to blame, at least for me. I’ve learned more about the college football transfer portal than I ever wanted to. For those of you who are fortunate enough to be unaware of what this is, in a nutshell, the portal lets student athletes announce to all the other colleges that they are available to play for them. Make me an offer, then. It wasn’t a good day for Longhorn fans, or anyone who loves a Longhorn fan, when UT’s backup quarterback declared he was going to the portal just 20 days prior to the College Football Playoff semifinal. This is due to the quarterback’s declaration that he has opted not to participate
This is the history. My husband was eating chili when Texas defeated Oklahoma State and won the Big 12 Championship, which sent the team into the college football playoffs. The leftover chili was then preserved and stored in the freezer. I’ve seen him conversing with the “good luck” chili that he took out of the freezer. He seems to be pleading with the chili to use its “power” to help him win another game.
I suppose this is what happens when you have “deep feelings” for your former school and its football team. All I really know is that my husband will undoubtedly be watching Texas vs. South Carolina in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day and cuddling up with that bowl of chili. Let’s hope the chili comes out on top.
