Being Mature Ain't All Its Cracked Up to Be

It's rare for me to meet a girl I'm actually interested in. In the past when this has happened, I've been too much of a pussy to make a move. To be fair, it is hard for me to pick up on the subtle signs that some girls give off, so rather than make a move when there might be nothing there, I've chosen not to do anything at all. As a result I tend to only enter into relationships and the like with girls who go about making their intentions known in a very obvious way. Almost without fail, these girls usually have a myriad of issues, and as a result the relationships end up collapsing in one way or another. After a particularly bad breakup with one, which you can read about here, I finally decided to pull the douche out of my vagina and actually pursue girls I was into. So I asked out this girl I was interested in.

When we first met we were both involved with other people, so I didn't take much notice of her, other than the fact that she was kinda cute. The more we got to talking, the more I liked her, so eventually I asked her out. At this point I was still reeling from the breakup with the ex, so I wasn't really even thinking of anything romantic, I kinda just wanted to hang out with her. She seemed to enjoy herself, and I enjoyed having her around, so I asked her out again. While it was a pretty good time, I didn't feel like we really clicked. Also, there were . . . circumstances that led me to temper my pursuit. But there was something about her I just couldn't get out of my head.

We hung out sporadically over the next month or so, when one of her friends decided she was going to make a move on me. Now, I was not attracted to this girl and am still not, but I do enjoy getting attention from females, even ones I have no intentions of getting involved with. But I made it pretty clear I was not interested. Shortly after this interaction with her friend, I asked the girl out again, and I brought up the exchange the two of us had had. It turned out she had told her friend she didn't think I was attracted to her, so I made it clear that I was. She was an attractive girl with a decent personality, why wouldn't I be?

Things progressed after that date. We began to hang out more often, though still sporadically. And the more we hung out, the more I found I liked about her. Eventually I realized that she was the type of girl I could see myself in a long term relationship with. So I told her I was crazy about her. It went well, or so I thought at the time. But it turned out to be a harbinger of the end of the relationship.

See, something I failed to mention about this girl is the circumstances through which we met each other. I'm not going to get into the specifics here, but most people reading can probably figure it out. And yes, these would be the same circumstances that led me to cool my pursuit of her for a bit. But eventually, I got over them. I'm not the type to throw away what could potentially be something special for any reason. Sadly, she did not feel the same way.

What sucks is I didn't find this out until I went to end things. I got tired of being the one doing all the pursuing, and laid it out there for her. She told me that the reason she had been hesistant to pursue anything was because of said circumstances, and that she didn't think she could ever get over them. So I decided that if I couldn't have it all, I'd rather have nothing.

It wasn't a tough decision. It was the right thing to do, and the mature move to make. Still, it stings. The thing that kills me the most is that if it wasn't for the circumstances that caused us to end things, we never would have met in the first place. Just another one of fate's cruel jokes.

Still, if anything, this experience has made me more determined to go after what I want in life and love, consequences be damned. Though things wound up not working out in the end, I feel better having made an effort than doing nothing at all. And that's the way I plan on looking at things from here on out.

If the Suit Fits. . .

Since the Panthers season was pretty much cursed before it even started, I haven't really paid as much attention as usual to football this season. Another reason for this is I'm also not a fan of the NFL's new tv deals among other things, cheifly the removal of NFL Prime Time from my television. One of the few new quirks the NFL has implemented this season I do favor is the allowing of coaches to wear suits on the sidelines. Sure, its only two coaches, and its only for two games, but it got me thinking, "What if the NFL let coaches wear suits whenever they wanted? Which coaches would/should?" There's no better place to answer those questions than right here. Let's get started.

Bill Parcells (Dallas Cowboys) - I don't know that they even make suits big enough to fit Big Tuna. I'm surprised they can even find team apparel that fits him. He's another couple of burgers away from having to wear an official Dallas Cowboys mumu on the sidelines.
Tom Coughlin (New York Giants) - I've seen him wear suits at press conferences, it just doesn't work. He looks like a jackass. Plus he needs the hat to cover up his bald head. I hate Tom Coughlin.
Andy Reid (Philadelphia Eagles) - He is another fat bastard. For some reason when I picture him in a suit I keep picturing Oliver Hardy. Or Laurel. Whichever the fat one in Laurel and Hardy was. I think he could make it work though.
Joe Gibbs (Washington Redskins) - Back in the day, before FOX even dreamt of the NFL, and before TheRick had even drank coffee, let alone gotten it for Dick Ebersol himself, Joe Gibbs was on the NBC pregame show. He looked pretty good in a suit. He also looks good in his current sideline apparel. Too bad for Redskins fans that it doesn't translate to the football field. He could go either way and look fine.
Lovie Smith (Chicago Bears) - I think Lovie could pull it off, but I think he'd look better in the team apparel. He looks quite comfortable out there. And snazzy.
Brad Childress (Minnesota Vikings) - This man is bald and has Rod Marinelli's cheesy mustache. In a suit he would look like a 10th grade biology teacher. Not that he really looks like he should be coaching football in the team apparel anyway.
Mike McCarthy (Green Bay Packers) - I have no idea what he looks like. Upon viewing his picture, he is a chinless, pasty white guy. Maybe a suit would make him look respectable. At least people would actually know who he is then. As is he looks like he should be bagging groceries at Shop Rite.
Rod Marinelli (Detroit Lions) - As has been stated before, he does not have a cheesy mustache. In his NFL.com picture he is actually in a suit. He looks like a shop teacher. He doesn't exactly project an air of authority. He should stick to the team apparel. Not that that really seems to be working either.
Sean Payton (New Orleans Saints) - He looks good in a suit, but I was originally going to suggest he stick to team apparel. But after watching Sunday's game against the Giants, I think he should definitely switch to the suit. With his sweats on and his hat pulled over his eyes, he looked like a little kid out there.
Jim Mora (Atlanta Vicks) - I could definitely see him in a suit. However, I think he would look more like a salesman than an NFL head coach. Not that he's all that imposing in the team apparel either.
John Fox (Carolina Panthers) - I keep trying to picture him in a suit and all it reminds me of is someone's uncle who had too much to drink at the wedding. Stick with the team apparel.
Jon Gruden (Tampa Bay Bucs) - I definitely think he should stick with the team apparel. He looks like he's twelve years old to begin with, stick him in a suit and it looks like he should be going to his grandfather's funeral.
Mike Holmgren (Seattle Seahawks) - Team apparel. With his bifocals and thinning hair in a suit he would just resemble an ineffectual guidance counselor. Not exactly the image one looks for in the head coach of a pro football team.
Scott Linehan (St. Louis Rams) - He moves around alot on the sidelines, so you would think he would be good in the team apparel. But he also does a lot of yelling. In a suit he would give off the aura of a stockbroker on wall street trying to close a big deal. I think suit is the way to go.
Dennis Green (Arizona Cardinals) - He wore a suit while cohosting ESPNews' Monday Quarterback during his time off from coaching, and he looked quite dapper. Now that he is back on the sidelines you can tell how fat he really is. Without a doubt he should go back to the suit. The team apparel is not flattering.
Mike Nolan (San Francisco 49ers) - One of the two NFL coaches to actually wear a suit. And he wore it well. Too bad he couldn't wear it the entire season.
Bill Belichek (New England Patriots) - The man just looks at home in sweats. The few times I've seen him in a suit he fidgets worse than a five year old having to get his picture taken.
Eric Mangini (New York Jets) - He is rather large and squat, but he also bears a passing resemblence to the late Hank Stram, who patrolled the sidelines in a suit for years. I definitely think he could pull it off.
Nick Saban (Miami Dolphins) - Definitely a suit kinda guy. If you look at what he wears normally, its a team polo shirt with some nice khaki pants. You can tell he's aching to take it one step further.
Dick Jauron (Buffalo Bills) - See, its a tough call with him. He's not a very good coach to begin with, and he looks like a doof in the team apparel. So you would think he would look better in a suit, but that would require him to take his hat off and reveal his awful haircut. If only there was a way he could wear the hat with the suit, then maybe things would work out.
Brian Billick (Baltimore Ravens) - He is a laid back kinda head coach. While the suit would definitely give him more of an air of authority, I don't think that's really his style. He is pretty pompous though, so he might go for it.
Marvin Lewis (Cincinatti Bengals) - Definitely should switch to the suit. Although he manages to look good in the team apparel, I think the suit would definitely bring some much needed discipline to the locker room. In other words, maybe if he wore a suit, his players would actually worry about getting arrested instead of throwing caution to the wind.
Bill Cowher (Pittsburgh Steelers) - He's been a fixture on the Steelers sideline in the team apparel since I started watching football. I can't picture him wearing anything else.
Romeo Crennel (Cleveland Steamers) - Again, someone I can't picture in a suit. Could fit into the Denny Green category, but I think he is more along the lines of the Big Tuna. Stick to the team sweats.
Tony Dungy (Indianapolis Colts) - Could go either way. But I think he should stick to the team garb, if only because he can wear the hat to cover up his oddly misshapen bald head.
Jackass Del Rio (Jacksonville Jaguars) - The other head coach to wear a suit this season. He looked quite handsome.
Jeff Fisher (Tennessee Titans) - Along the lines of Cowher, he's been wearing the team apparel so long I can't picture him in anything else.
Gary Kubiak (Houston Texans) - You could put him and Mike McCarthy in a lineup and I couldn't pick either of them out even if there was only one other guy there. Upon viewing his photo on NFL.com he's tan with slicked back hair. He kinda resembles a pro golfer, so I think the team polo's and khakis are the way to go. A suit would be too much.
Marty Schottenheimer (San Diego Super Chargers) - Similar to Cowher and Fisher, he's been coaching for so long in the team apparel I can't think of him any other way. Plus he's got that unfortunate combover thing going with his hair, so he benefits greatly from the hat. Now that I think of it, he also worked for ESPNews' Monday Quarterback in his time off from coaching. He looked like a tenth grade English teacher who loathed the fact that he'd been stuck in the same school teaching the same stuck up kids for thirty years. While it definitely gave off an "I can snap at any minute and start shooting people from the clock tower vibe", I don't think that's the kind of guy you want coaching a Super Bowl team.
Mike Shanahan (Denver Broncos) - Another veteran of the team apparel. While I think he would look good in a suit, I feel like he would look too much like a high school principal. Especially if you picture him taking off the jacket and acting out a play on the sidelines. He's a principal, but he's not afraid to get his hands dirty and interact with the kids. Stick to the team gear.
Herm Edwards (Kansas City Chiefs) - While he looks quite handsome in the team apparel, I think a suit would put him over the top. Though I doubt it would improve his clock management skills, it might distract the other team to the point where they forget what they're doing also.
Art Shell (Oakland Raiders) - I can't picture him in a suit. He doesn't look right in the team apparel either. When I think of Art Shell the image that comes to mind is one of him wandering around in a robe and slippers like a patient at an old folks home. And with the way he coaches his team, I can't think of a better look for him on the sidelines.