As the Wife of a Sports Fan

My husband is always considerate enough to announce in advance that he will be particularly useless to me when the Masters golf tournament is being aired.  This means from Thursday night through this Sunday he can be found sitting in his Lazy Boy in front of his 58-inch widescreen with remote in hand staring at the beautiful course in Augusta, and getting lost in the game.   

There are brief breaks which include updating me on whose on the leader board and who used which club on which hole and ended up in which hazard, only to amaze the hushed crowd by birdying the hole.  Breathtaking!

Why is it that men make sitting on their butts watching hours of sports sound like an activity?  My husband can even make it sound like a chore:  “Oh, there’s way too much to watch this weekend, the O’s are playing, the Masters is on and HBO is airing that Civil War series again – it’s exhausting.” Should I mention that his daughters have a softball tournament too?

He speaks of the golfers like they are old poker buddies: Rory, Angel, Tiger, Hunter, Bubba, Luke.  Or are these baseball players? I just can’t keep up.

Although the Masters is an upscale setting for sure, we don’t do upscale meals on the weekends.  Our weekend meals are casual, and can be eaten easily from one’s lap while sitting in a Lazy Boy watching sports.

Here’s an easy favorite:

Meatball Sub Casserole

1 lb. ground beef
2 eggs, beaten
½ tsp dried mustard
½ cup chili sauce (ketchup is a fine substitution)
¼ cup bread crumbs
salt and pepper
1 loaf Italian bread cut into 1 inch cubes
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
½ cup mayonnaise
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried parsley
3 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
28 oz. jar of spaghetti sauce
1 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 350. Toss the meatball ingredients together with your hands and roll into ¾ inch balls.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Once they are cool, cut them in half. (OR skip this step and use prepared, frozen meatballs – I won’t tell)
2. Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray.  Arrange the bread cubes along the bottom, completely covering it (you may not need all the bread)
3. Combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise, oregano, parsley and pepper, and spread over top of the bread cubes.  Sprinkle with 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella.
4. In a separate bowl combine the halved meatballs, spaghetti sauce and water.  Pour over cheese mixture and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella.
5. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes in the 350 oven.