Went to a Dallas Burn soccer game with my brother tonight and scored a free "game-worn" jersey, i.e. it has been used by an exceedingly sweaty and anonymous soccer player. The jersey is wrinkled but doesn't smell. The number is eleven so the player was most likely a midfielder or perhaps a forward. Everybody advised that I dry clean the jersey before I frame it; I'll dry clean it, but I intend to wear it. The jersey has the greatest value to me when worn - no one is going to pay money for a jersey stained with sweat from an obscure soccer player in Dallas. It'll be my good luck charm. I had a blast and we went to the Old Mill Inn after the game for the "Group Leader" dinner. (Thank you Roger Allen!) The perks included were meeting the players, a coupon for a free drink, and entry in the raffle for Dallas Burn goodies (how I got the jersey). Notice that dinner is not listed anywhere as a perk of the "Group Leader" dinner. We discovered this after attempting to order the most expensive meals on the menu. Fortunately, the Old Mill was operating on a restricted menu that omitted all of the expensive items.
The only downside to the evening was that I was not in the company of a woman. I love my brother dearly, and I enjoy his company more than any other single person I have ever met in my entire life, but everywhere I go I feel like something is missing. When I lie on the couch watching television, my chest aches to feel the weight of someone leaning against it, and my arms encircle air as if to hold someone that should be there. I feel like a hollow man.