The Mother's Day Moment

I realize the following is kind of a trite way to fill the bloghole, but so be it. My mom rocks, and since this is the day that everyone in the world tries to convince you of that, far be it from me to miss the boat.

Three years ago, the Shooter Mom got roped into a big money fantasy football league with guys from her work. It was one of those situations where she was asked to be the treasurer, and then got begged into owning a team. While she knew teams well -- honestly, she's always been an ace at pools and point spreads -- she was at a loss for fantasy. So I came to her draft and served as a co-owner, giving her the benefit of my player rankings, and generally throwing a bucket of cold water on the room full of guys who were counting on taking her money.

At the end of the year, we were lucky enough to be playing for the championship. The winner took down 8x the buy in, while the second-place team took down 2x. The other team, who had a higher point total for the year but was basically a toss-up for this week, called to offer a chop -- 5x for each.

And the Shooter Mom turned him down cold, and I couldn't have been prouder. We wound up losing big time due to injury, and she never complained about the decision.

Six months later, she was in my league, and competing against me directly. She has, of course, outperformed my teams in the two years since. That's because she's just relentlessly competitive, will work you under the table, and has learned a few things in, well, the decades that she's watched the game. She's also such a football fan that when I took her to Lambeau, it just about made her year.

But she's more than a football fan. When I went away to Syracuse for school, she more or less picked up college basketball in toto, and started nailing those games and pools as easily as she took down the football games. She can talk baseball, hockey, and anything else that's playing... and I suspect that, at some time, she's going to wind up at my poker table. And when that happens, I'm getting out of the hand. With speed.

Because, well, my mom has never, ever, stopped learning. Or emphasizing how important it was to do that. Which is kind of amazing, given that she didn't go to college, and has worked in the same field, for the most part, for my entire life.

Finally, there's this. You know you've lucked out in the parent lottery when your exes all want to keep her as a spare mom after things end. All of mine have done exactly that. Folks, you might have an awesome mom and all, but trust me, you are playing for second.