It’s probably an understatement to say we’re a sports-obsessed family. Fun fact: the whole reason DadJovi and I even met each other was because Syracuse was playing in Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament and his friend, an SU alum like me, brought him to our school’s official watch-party bar in DC.

From the very beginning, many of our trips have revolved around our favorite teams. We’ve traveled to Syracuse, N.Y.; Durham, N.C.; Greensboro, N.C.; New York City; Tallahassee, Miami and Tampa, Florida; and now the Bahamas (!) all to watch our beloved Syracuse and Duke teams play. So far, at least, it’s been no problems cheering for each other’s collegiate teams since they play in different conferences. That all changes next year when Syracuse joins the ACC.

It was a nice run while it lasted.

But from the very beginning, there’s been one area where we do not see eye-to-eye … NFL football. You see, as a Pa. girl, I’m a born, bred and long-suffering Eagles fan. When DadJovi, my Florida native husband, was living in Washington, D.C., he adopted the Redskins as his team and even had season tickets for several years with his friends.

I’ve long argued with him that you can’t just PICK a team. You have to be indoctrinated from birth.

That’s what made the stakes so high when E. was born. One of the first questions everyone asked us — after what’s her name, weight and length, of course — was, “So, will she be a Birds fan or a ‘Skins fan?”

And of course, our friends and family staked their sides by sending her gear from both teams.

We didn’t know how to come to terms on that. Then, in the fall of 2008, DadJovi let his optimism get the best of him. At the beginning of the season, the Eagles stumbled and the Redskins were flying high. One day, DadJovi says to me, “I have an idea. How about whoever’s team finishes with the better record gets E?”

I reluctantly agreed. And totally won!

Besides, “Fly Eagles Fly” is much catchier than “Hail to the Redskins.”

So I claimed E. as an Eagles fan, which, as someone who loves her ferociously, I should have known better than to sentence her to a life of heartbreak.

But she’s all in now!

I was recently offered the chance to check out a new place to stock up on all our sports goodies — SportsFreak365.com. And I think I have a new favorite site. In a mixed marriage like ours, it gets annoying ordering from so many different places — the Duke store for my husband; the Penn State store for my dad and brother; and the SU and Eagle sites for E. and me (I would NEVER stoop so low as to purchase a Stinkskins item myself).

Now, it’s one-stop shopping and they have some really cool things to choose from. I think I just found something for my Santa wish list!

When I was told I’d be able to order a Custom 2013 Calendar on SportsFreak365.com to get to know the site, I jumped at the chance. It accomplished two goals — 1) E. is currently obsessed with calendars and is constantly asking me how many days it is until Christmas, her birthday, etc. Now, I’ll just be able to tell her to go count the days on her new calendar 2) Any time I can decorate her room in Iggles’ green and white is a good day.

She was even more excited than I thought she’d be!

The cool thing about the calendar is that you get to choose which players you want and for which month. Often when you buy a team’s official pre-designed calendar, you end up with whichever players some team marketing official decided to include.

As you may know, though, this has been a really tough year for my Birds. As I was picking my players, I kept wondering which ones wouldn’t be here next year. That’s why I only picked two Vick pictures.

If they’d had the option to include pictures of Andy Reid and a few more Vicks, I might have just filled the entire calendar with those two so that next year, when we’re sure to be just as awful during a dreaded “rebuilding” year, I could at least remind myself monthly that at least we’re moving forward as a team … not stuck in the past.

But I digress.

My one suggestion, though, is I wish that there were a couple more options to pick from for the calendar, namely Swoop (the Eagles’ mascot), pictures of The Linc on game day and maybe a few group shots. If I’d been making the calendar for me, I may not have worried about those things as much, but since it was for my 4-year-old, I thought they would have been nice to include.

Plus, I’m just picky and grumpy about our current roster of players. Thankfully, there were plenty of pictures of some of my favorites, including DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and LeSean (Shady) McCoy, to choose from.

E., welcome to your heritage. Your indoctrination will commence during the end of the Reid era. We have nowhere to go but up! Besides, us Eagles fans wear our loyalty during lean years (I’m looking at you Rich Kotite and Ray Rhodes) like a badge. Surviving these next couple years will just make you a stronger Eagles fan.

Don’t worry, maybe someday, in the far, far future, you’ll even be able to sing “E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles!” once again.

One day.

Showing off your team spirit has never been easier! Whatever team you root for and whatever sport they play, find the gear you need at SportsFreak365.com. Just in time for the holidays, you can get 30% off  any purchase using the code “Clever30.” And while you’re there, be sure to enter to win $500 toward team gear in Ditka’s SportsFreak of the Week Contest!

Disclaimer:

I was selected for participation in this campaign as a member of Clever Girls Collective. I received a free SportsFreak365.com calendar and was compensated for my honest opinions about the process and for sharing with you why we’re a family of SportsFreaks! As the saying goes, all opinions are 100 percent mine.

Are you a Sports Freak? Is your family all on the same team or are you a house divided, too? How did you decide which teams your kids would cheer for?