I’m a Royals fan living in New York and my husband worships the Mets. Here’s how I plan to survive the 2015 World Series.
I was born and raised in Overland Park, Kansas — part of the Greater Kansas City area. I love good BBQ, country music and Target. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’m a Kansas City sports fan too. I’m a Jayhawk fanatic, love my Chiefs (sorry, Griefs), and a proud Sporting KC-er. So, when my Royals made it into the playoffs this year, I was clearly ecstatic.
Plus, ever since I moved to New York about 10 years ago, my love of my hometown has grown. I almost feel a need to interject into every conversation that I’m not from the tri-state area. And I love explaining to people “which Kansas City” I hail from.
My husband, who has been a Mets fan since the womb, was ‘happy’ for me, but was obviously more excited about his team. Neither of us thought much about the prospect of potentially playing each other until last Friday night, when the Royals won the pennant (for the second year in a row I might add!) and Game 1 of the World Series of the Royals vs. the Mets was just four days away.
My husband and I watched game 6 when the Royals narrowly beat the Blue Jays together, and as I finished clapping with glee, our eyes met and I fell silent.
“Uhhh.”
“So, good luck.”
*Lights out*
Shoot. What am I supposed to do?? We aren’t quite Lincoln’s “house divided” here, but yikes! So today, one day before the first game, we’ve decided to set some ground rules:
- Don’t talk about it. Seriously. It’s obviously going to be a touchy subject, so when we’re together, let’s focus on other things. No need to bring up a topic that is (forgive me) not vital to our survival. We can get by for the week without mentioning our beloved teams. No trash talking and when each game ends, only one congratulatory text. That’s it. Which brings me to the next point…
- We are NOT watching together. That would just end badly. To be fair, we live together, but we’re lucky enough to have two TVs: one in the bedroom and another in the living room. Still, I don’t think a single wall is distance enough. So, we’ll alternate dates when one of us will find somewhere else to watch the game.
- The “loser” gets to be a winner too. We haven’t yet decided what that might be, but the loser of the series gets to be treated. Maybe a dinner of his/her choice, maybe a week off from dishes/laundry duty. TBD, but at least there will be some sense of a consolation prize for them.
While I don’t doubt that our marriage can withstand this battle, it doesn’t hurt to have a plan, right??
Oh, and…LET’S GO ROYALS!
