football fans burning jerseys

The reckoning. 

These people are not coming back. 

When I saw the women burning their memorabilia I was triggered to a dormant awareness. My own mum was a sports fan and, boy, did she ever collect memorabilia. There was nothing to check her obsession. Jerseys, jackets, coffee mugs, beer koozie, in her case Pepsi koozie, plastic helmet, large plastic cups, padded seats, noisemakers, pompoms, posters, automobile decals, dashboard protectors, antenna streamers, bobbleheads, dolls, blankets, she knitted Bronco afghans, headscarves, and Bronco cowboy hats, Bronco baseball type caps. To my dad's distress she colored her hair to match Bronco colors for important games, she painted her nails in Bronco colors and designs. And everything in multiples. She put herself out there as fan in outrageous ways. She liked to draw attention to her enthusiasm. She made the most noise. 

Likewise, in her way she expressed her patriotism openly. She was women's auxiliary president for VFW several years in a row and by that she collected a massive amount of their reward jewelry that she had all over the whole house. It seemed inordinate to available time. I found earrings and pins and broaches, and necklaces in every drawer that opened, literally strewn all over the whole house. She outdid all previous presidents by her fundraising, even to funding a scholarship, and I still see patriotic bumper stickers that she designed and aggressively sold. And by seeing the women in this video I realized none were crying. If Mum were ever forced to put her sports enthusiasm up against her patriotism there is no doubt she would ceremoniously dump her full collections. But I cannot imagine her doing that without crying. She was delicately tenderly emotional that way. Anger, yes. But with great deal of anxiety and tears. And there would be no going back. I know this because I saw it. She was a huge Elway fan well past his term until a friend of mine mentioned Elway's infidelity and she dropped her affection like a rock.