Choke!

Good football is emotional, and watching the Texans play the Colts today brought up all kinds of emotions. First, pride in my favorite team as they systematically took apart the Colts and made Peyton Manning look silly.

Then disbelief that beginning the fourth quarter they were up 27-10 and it looked like nothing could go wrong.

Then horror as I watched Sage Rosenfels make more mistakes than a high school quarterback in his first game. Diving over a defender, Sage? Really?!?

Then finally relief when the game was over and I knew that the Texans were the same team they've always been. The same old reliable team that always comes through in a pinch. The team that never lets me down. The team that always comes through at the last minute and manages to throw the entire game.

The Colt won 31-27.

Watching the last four minutes of the game felt exactly like watching the Houston Oilers choke and blow a tremendous lead to the Buffalo Bills back in 1993. I remember being at work at Foot Locker watching the game on TV and just feeling like I was drowning in slow motion, helpless to do anything.

Fast forward 15 years.  So now we have a new team. A better team. A new coach. A better coach. Better players. A new stadium. A fresh start, right? Allegedly...

So why does it just keep happening? Why does it all feel the same, over and over and over? It's like watching the Bad News Bears play every week. Is it the water in Houston? Is it the fans? Is it the weather? What is it that makes our teams constantly choke and just generally suck? I have a theory, but I'll save it for another time.

But a HUGE silver lining to the game... This was the first game that Noble and I got to watch together. Well, I watched it. He snuggled in and fell asleep. And he slept on my arm the whole time. And it was magic.  And there was the best emotion of this game.