[caption id="attachment_11280" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=11280" rel="attachment wp-att-11280" target="_blank"><img class="size-medium wp-image-11280  " title="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/P9070039-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> Just a couple of chicks reliving their glory days![/caption]

I am not a fan of football.  Yawn.

&nbsp;

I am a fan of mingling with friends, eating occasional stadium junk food, and marching bands.

&nbsp;

So when Christy Jo invited me to the big local rivalry high school football game, I accepted.  It had been 25 years since I had been to a Friday night football game.  Sounded like old-fashioned fun!

&nbsp;

Christy Jo picked me up at 6:30 on Friday night with her freshly injured Jr. Varsity teenager and 8 year-old in tow.  We all wore white in support of Desert Vista High School.  Go team!

&nbsp;

On the way to the game, Christy Jo informed me that over 10,000 people were expected to attend.  She hoped that gang fights didn't break out like at last year's game.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Whatchyoutalkinbout, Christy Jo????  Gang fights?!?!?!  At the high school football game???  We live in Suburbia!!!!</strong></span>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

I thought she was kidding.

&nbsp;

She wasn't kidding.  You can read all about it <a href="http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/20120905ahwatukee-bowl-security-plan.html" target="_blank"><strong>here.</strong> </a>  Last year's game had to be called off in the 3rd quarter.

&nbsp;

I wondered if Christy Jo would let me and the 8 year-old split to go watch <em>Brave</em> at the mall.

&nbsp;

But Christy Jo is one of those suck-it-up-buttercup types.  As we entered the stadium, I kept my mouth shut and my wits about me.  I made a mental note that I should consider taking Kung Fu for an upcoming playdate/preparation for next year's game.

&nbsp;

Now, I went to high school in Texas.  I think we would all agree that Texas and high school football are synonymous, no?

&nbsp;

And I used to go to <em>all</em> of the Friday night football games!  I even dated a star football player my senior year!  Were so different from one another.  It was very Romeo and Juliet.

&nbsp;

But I have NEVER witnessed anything like the insanity of The Ahwatukee Bowl.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=11281" rel="attachment wp-att-11281"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-11281" title="Screen shot 2012-09-30 at 6.04.20 PM" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Screen-shot-2012-09-30-at-6.04.20-PM.png" alt="" width="528" height="200" /></a>

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Michelle's Ahwatukee Bowl Recap</strong></span>

&nbsp;

10.  Throngs of people.  Forget the gang warfare!  I kept thinking that we were going to be the next stadium stampede to make news around the world.

&nbsp;

9.  Stadium junk food of the night:  Giant pretzel dipped in nasty nacho cheese.  I ate half, regretted it, and gave the other half to an ecstatic 8 year-old already pumped up on Jamba Juice and hot dogs.

&nbsp;

8.  From my vantage point, the majority of the crowd was over the age of 40.  I was either in a sea of mid-life crises or hyper-supportive parents.  Teens steered clear in their own section.

&nbsp;

7.  Boom Boom Crash!  And it didn't come from the marching band.  We had been experiencing a rare wet-stuff-falling-out-of-the-sky week in the desert, and a light drizzle sprinkled the crowd.  A crowd clad in white t-shirts, I remind you.  Thankfully, we were spared a downpour and subsequently Ahwatukee's Largest White T-Shirt Contest.

&nbsp;

6.  The rain was short-lived, and there we sat shoulder to shoulder in a swamp of humidity.  People started to sweat, and someone smelled like vinegar.  Had my sister been there, she would have dry heaved fo sho.  It was disgusting.  But the plague of bugs that descended on us liked it.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

[caption id="attachment_11286" align="alignnone" width="300"]<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=11286" rel="attachment wp-att-11286"><img class="size-medium wp-image-11286" title="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/P9070037-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> Those black dots are bugs, people!!![/caption]

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

5.  How about those cheerleaders?  Well, the ones from our team looked bored.  But across the field, the Mountain Point cheerleaders performed like the U.S. Women's Gymnastics Team!  Look for them in Rio in 2016.

&nbsp;

4.  Halftime!  Yay!  I always love a good show.

&nbsp;

3.  When halftime was over, I was talked out, stuffed, and tired.  So was the 8 year-old who started to get cranky and begged for a back scratch until she finally zonked.  I, too, pleaded for a back scratch and a lap to sleep in, but all I got was a suck-it-up-buttercup look.  I desperately hoped for a fight and a 3rd quarter release, but no such luck this year.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

[caption id="attachment_11287" align="alignnone" width="300"]<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=11287" rel="attachment wp-att-11287"><img class="size-medium wp-image-11287" title="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/P9070040-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> Lucky kid.[/caption]

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

2.  I apologize, but I can't tell you a thing about the game because I don't watch football.  I chat, eat, and try to stay awake by dancing to the marching band.  I tried to explain this to you earlier.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

[caption id="attachment_11294" align="alignnone" width="300"]<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/2012/10/02/playdate-36-friday-night-lights/olympus-digital-camera-777/" rel="attachment wp-att-11294"><img class="size-medium wp-image-11294" title="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/P9070042-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a> Mountain Point wins! Their fans in black rushed the field. Don't ask me what the score was.[/caption]

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

1.  <strong><span style="color: #ff0000; font-size: small;">Streaker! </span> </strong>I blinked, and I missed it.  Except for the very tail end.  Ba dump bump.  I am beside that myself that I failed to capture this streaking fool on video to show you today.  A YouTube search turned up fruitless.  Except for this happy memory from the only football game that I have ever enjoyed watching.  (Click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmguLIpU6C0&amp;feature=share&amp;list=EC9BA9575EC8DC6D1C" target="_blank"><strong>here</strong> </a>to watch for yourselves!)

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;