Editor's note: As a public service to the regular readers of Kevin's column, once a year during the Patriots' bye week, his wife gets to say her peace. The lovely and talented Mrs. Rousseau somehow manages to put up with him and this is her only outlet. So please, lend her your ear once again.
This year's bye week guest column snuck up on me this year. I was kindly reminded on Friday night and along with my reminder came the warning: "Kevin's been perfect this year so I'm not sure what you're going to write about." Well, okay then. Let's bring it on.
For those of you who have gotten over last season's Patriots Super Bowl loss, you'll love this one. I still continue to get questioned by co-workers, friends and relatives who ask "Is he (you know who he is, don't you?) over the Super Bowl yet?" And then there's "What about Brady? What does he think now?" I simply shrug my shoulder, smile and then answer "Yes to the first. I don't know about the second." He tells everyone he's over the loss but like a bad hangover it comes up every so often. So I asked him the other day "You're not over that loss yet are you?" His response is very conclusive; somewhere along the lines of "Well, yes. No. Yes, I really am. Really. The Giants won fair and square." Sure.
Our two beautiful kids have been enjoying the thrill of discovering baseball and football cards. Of course, this is a daddy treat when they are out and about with him and typically involves the clan standing outside Target ripping into packages of cards. "Jake, let Daddy help you open those. Evelyn, need some help with those, honey? Who you got? Let me see. Oh, that's a good one Jakey. Daddy should hold onto that one. Who wants candy instead?"
The kids have discovered the well-documented bobblehead collection. Go for it, kids. Psst, hey kids. Daddy's got a pennant collection, too.
A month or so ago, we got one of those NFL Shop catalogs in the mail and our son enjoyed looking at all the different team jerseys and is taking to team recognition. Basically, it goes something like this for a good ten minutes:
Jake will ask "What's this team?" Miami Dolphins.
"What do they do?" They play football.
"What's this team?" The Jacksonville Jaguars, etc. etc.
My husband foolishly asked his near four year-old son what his favorite team was and I shit-you-not he pointed to the green jerseys and said "New York Jets." Hearing this go down from the kitchen, I quickly dropped what I was doing (some chore that needed to be done probably) and held my breath and listened for the gasping of air. I envisioned my husband on the floor cold, blue and clutching his chest. However, I was very proud to see him recover quickly and gently say to him "No, Jake. You like this one. New England Patriots."
At which point, like Pavlov's dog our daughter pumps her right fist in the air and shouts out "Go Patriots!" Even at two years old, she knows how to play him like a fiddle. And he falls for it everytime.
Oh, here's another one. He has to be the only Super Bowl host who invites half the town over to the house but then is upset when they haven't all left by kickoff. It amuses me when he is trying to watch the game and the non-football fans are asking him questions about hot topics like annual snowfall totals or the state budget.
There have been two season-effecting injuries thus far. As we all know, our beloved Tom Brady is out for the season. Our other beloved, Kevin, had a near-miss season ender himself with a broken 5th toe. Yes, the last toe. The baby toe. The pinky toe-whatever you want to call it. After hearing every excuse in the book about way something couldn't get done or should get done due to this marvelous injury, I finally had enough after hearing "In your opinion, whose injury is worse? Tom Brady's or mine?"
While I'm talking about injuries, the other near season-ender for our boy was a chronic shoulder problem. In my opinion—not that mine should count for anything—it is an overuse injury from too much golf. It certainly wasn't an overuse injury from rotating his right shoulder to reach back into his right pocket for his wallet.
It has been deemed that I am going to the St. Louis Rams game in late October. I have no idea what the Rams record is but my guess is that if past history is any indication they aren't heading for any Super Bowls anytime soon.
The dog is still chasing after Chester Cheeto when the Patriots are on the television.
And jersey apparel? Well, I gotta say I think we own every throw back, new and futurist jersey the NFL puts out.
That's it for another year. Thanks for hearing me out once again.
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