I agree with Jen. The jersey thing is no different than spending money on anything else one enjoys. The only jersey I would probably buy is a baseball jersey because it's the only sport one can actually afford to go to around here. Can't get tickets to a Giants game and even if I could, no way could I afford it. Rangers and Knicks are almost the same. Can get tickets but they are crazy expensive. We do try to go to a baseball game or two each season. Baseball is our favorite, DS plays serious competitive youth baseball, and it's relatively affordable. We even travel to Baltimore at least once to go to an Orioles game. I do buy DS jerseys, but I buy them at Marshalls or places like that and they are not crazy expensive. I love when I leave my office in midtown Manhattan on a night when the NY Rangers are at the Garden. It's amazing how many people I see walking towards the Garden wearing Ranger jerseys. Not sure why, but don't see Knick jerseys when they are playing. And basketball is way more popular than hockey. I went to a college that has football team (Rutgers Univ). I went to all the games when I was in college. And I still live within 20 minutes of my college. And I'm a huge sports fan. But, I just cannot get into college football and never could once I left college. I'm not sure why. Maybe because we have so many pro teams in this area. Or maybe because the players change so often (only there for 4 years max) I don't feel the connection. I did recently go to a Princeton Univ hockey game for the 1st time. My DS has been asking to go to a hockey game for years. Can't afford Ranger tickets. Well, I could afford the seats way up, but I've sat there for Ranger games and there's no way I would take a kid there. It's crazy! Anyway, it was AWESOME. Will definitely be doing that again very soon.

Thank you for the follow-up, Becky. Still, I'm inspired to come up w/ a roasted chicken pasta bake since you mentioned the dish up thread. I've come up w/ a pasta & veggies bake that the family loves and I'm thinking that I can incorporate chicken (maybe chkn tenders) to move it from just a side dish to being an entree. I've been lightly steaming broccoli & carrots and mixing the veggies w/ cooked rotini. Pasta & veggies go into a glass baking dish & gets drizzled w/ olive oil & seasoned w/ grated romano, fresh garlic & liberally doused w/ that no salt seasoning (house brand stuff from Big Lots, of all places!) Pop into the oven for 30 minutes or so. Maybe I could lightly saute some breast tenders and top the pasta dish w/ the tenders & finish in the oven? I doubt I would have thought to expand on the dish w/o your having mentioned the recipe you were going to try. Ci

Our friend is making a classic spinach dip. Another is bringing dessert of some sort. I'm bringing the munchies: cheeses, bread, crackers, summer sausage and beef/turkey meatballs in mushroom sauce (no pork, as one person is Muslim). All of us love cheeses but seldom get to indulge in an all-out cheese tasting so I sprang for some of our favs: Cypress Grove's honey chevre and Humboldt Fog; Marin French's triple creme brie, Cowgirl Creamery's Mt. Tam, Bellweather's Carmody and Jasper Hills Cabot Cheddar. Bread is fresh-baked today from a good local bakery, smells wonderful. Crackers are from a little company some Midwesterners might be familiar with: Potters Crackers from Madison, WI. They recently established a Sacramento CA office and have been making inroads into the restaurant industry. We encountered their Caramelized Onion Crisps, which come in both a flatbread and baguette style, and liked them a lot. A touch of sweetness from Blenheim Apricot jam from a wonderful little artisanal local company called WeLoveJam. It's a couple that fell into preserve-making when they bought a property that contained remnants of one of the last remaining Blenheim orchards left in Silicon Valley. That's right, Apple, Google, Facebook, Oracle, et.al. are all built on what used to be some of the most fertile fruit orchards in the U.S. They make the least-sweet jam we've ever tried, and offer several unusual varieties such as Elephant Ear Plum (tastes like cherries!) and feijoa (tasting like a stupendous cross between pear, apple, pineapple, and super-fragrant lime). I buy a mixed case from them every year, but we love the apricot best and have turned several people into big fans. We're rooting for Denver, since our hostess is from there and loves Peyton Manning. Hard to see how they can beat Carolina, though. But at least we'll have a good time together, LOL.

If your team continues to lose year after year to the Patriots in the run up to the Superbowl then you tend to not be that enthusiastic about them. That does not mean that you "hate" them. Just because you dis them and are not a fan does not mean you hate them. That's sports. I root for my alma mater in college sports and might trash talk other teams but I really don't care enough to hate them, and my indifference to a team could turn to love depending on how the game goes. I tend to like teams that have some kind of Cinderella story behind them and I also have certain teams that I know people affiliated with so I like them. Indifference, boredom or lack of rooting for a team does not equal hate. You can admire and respect the talents of a team but still wish your team had beat them!