in my non-planning life, i’m an avid sports fan. so avid that the boy likes to joke that when i come home, i’ll have to “wash the baseball” off of me before i can cuddle with him. how is it that the sports fanatics almost always end up with the non-fanatics?

anywho, the point of this. i was reading espn.com’s page 2 today and came across patrick hruby’s list of “20 things that make you look like a sports doofus” and was amused [and validated] when i came across this item:

7. Proposing via JumboTron

Dubious behavior: Popping the question on the big, big, big screen before 20,000 of your closest nonfriends.

Doofus factor: As tall and wide as the University of Texas’ “Godzillatron,” the second-biggest hi-def video board in the Western Hemisphere. Consider: You’re shoehorning an otherwise romantic moment into a context of chain gangs and drunken tailgating. You’re putting her on the spot in an aggressive, borderline-creepy way. You’re risking epochal failure if she says no. And for what? To make a “creative” proposal that’s actually clichéd? To live out the climax of a Drew Barrymore movie? When Karl Marx said history repeats itself — first as tragedy, then as farce — he wasn’t actually talking about JumboTron proposals. But only because televisions had yet to be invented.

Suggested solution: There’s nothing wrong with a candlelit dinner at a nice restaurant. Or skydiving.

Mitigating circumstances: If you are: (a) working as a scoreboard operator, (b) filming a scene for a Barrymore film or (c) dating the team mascot, then all bets are off.

Related behaviors: Using the team mascot to advance your romantic life in any way.

as a sports fan, i say THANK THE GOOD LORD. seriously, i’ve always been bugged by in stadium proposals. i don’t really see the inherent charm in being proposed to on a jumbotron. this is one woman’s opinion.

i told the boy that under no circumstances is he to propose to me at a sporting event. nope, no way, no how. i’m going to be to involved in the game to want to have to pay attention to something else, and usually i’m annoyed when i am bothered [though i have gotten better at that] plus i really want that moment to be just the two of us because i have a strong feeling i’m going to be a hot mess when it does happen and i don’t want to breakdown in front of several hundred strangers. no sir, not me.

and i LOVE being the center of attention.

that said, i also want to be able to enjoy the moment and i’m not going to be able to surrounded by several hundred people. i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again and again, i want to relish in that moment for as long as humanely possible before revealing it to the world. i want it to be our little secret, even if only for a night.

but to each their own. some people find the stadium proposal to be perfectly utterly them and love the idea. but i think the proposal should be a reflection of the couple and since we don’t share the same level of sports enthusiam, this would be more me than anything else. i want a proposal that speaks of him as well, whatever that may be.

i don’t imagine how it’ll be. i leave that up to him and i’m sure it’ll be perfect for us.