A Very Cap-py Birthday

Max's birthday is May 22, and for months, whenever we'd talk about what to do to celebrate, we'd always say "well, since the Caps might be playing that day..." Not IF they're playing, but WHEN they're playing. We thought about throwing a Caps party to watch the game. Max and I talked about trying to sneak a few players some invitations during our parking garage stake-outs, in case it was their off day and one of them was so inspired to make a kid's LIFE by driving out to the burbs and attending a 7-year-old's party.

We all know where this is going... no, the Caps didn't play on his birthday. Or the night before, or the day after. They played their last game almost a full month before his big day came along, so a Caps viewing party just wasn't in the cards. The players couldn't attend the party because they've long since traveled back to their native countries. Instead we watched the Flyers, who no one expected to make past the first round, win on his birthday. My dad had gone to the game a few nights before (my dad is a pretty big Philly sports fan - Phillies and Eagles, mainly - and this was his first ever trip to Wachovia Center - Max has even converted him to a hockey fan) and sent Max a shirt from the game, so he wore the XX-large tee and rooted for the Flyers. Basically, Max is a play-offs fan, and in each series, he loves finding someone to root for, someone to get excited about. I do too, but it's not as much fun.

Max had asked a long time ago for an Alex Ovechkin fathead for his b-day - the really big one - and we panicked after they lost, thinking that this present would get crossed off his wish list. After the loss, I cautiously asked him what he wanted for his birthday, and he said "an Ovechkin fathead. Even though they lost, I still want it!" Phew - no signs of long term damage from the defeat.

So that's what he got. The fathead, which is gigantic. It's 5 feet, 11 inches tall and 5 feet, 4 inches wide. We couldn't find a wall big enough in his bedroom for it, so it's in the basement, which is fitting because it's in the basement, with his little hockey goals set up between the wall and the back of a couch, that he becomes a cross between Ovie and Backstrom on offense, Varlamov in goal, and Joe Benanati when he calls his own shots and saves.

But it didn't end there. The zipper on his backpack was broken, so of course!, he needed a Caps backpack! And then my friend Marcie, scrapbooker extraordinaire, who also happens to be a huge Caps fan herself (born and raised one, which is more than I can say) was commissioned to make Max a Caps scrapbook. I handed over every picture from the season, game tickets, drawings Max doodles in school of funny looking people (mostly named Backstrom) with speech bubbles over their mouths that say "Goal!", and she pulled them all together in this amazing keepsake. Whether it remains in Max's room forever or in mine remains to be seen, but I like to imagine myself visiting Max in his own house some day, while we look through the album and reminisce about that first season when he (we) became a diehard sports fan... you know, the season when they blew it in the playoffs, right before winning those 5 consecutive Cups in '11-'15?? Ovie will be a middle aged Hall of Famer, and we'll say "we knew him when..."

By the way, not my birthday, but I still got myself a nice new Caps t-shirt - the time to buy is now, after they got prematurely knocked out, but before the new stuff comes in. The long-sleeve tee that I had been eyeing all season was marked down and I ordered it. I also ordered little Caps jerseys that will keep beer bottles cold, but they haven't arrived yet. If only we could tailgate at Verizon - we'd throw our cold beers in the Caps backpack, with our shirts on (not the Flyers one), and take lots of photos of the real Ovie (not the fathead) to add to next year's scrapbook. We'll be sure to save room in the back for pictures of the Cup. :)