Sports Widows, Already? or How We Learned (or Didn't) to Give in to the Super Bowl and Eat Our Tacos Alone

The dilemma: My roommate Michelle and I invited three boys over for Sunday dinner. Oral invitations were made last week post-church; all three boys said yes. Turns out, we discovered today, that we have invited them to dinner on Super Bowl Sunday.


The question: What do we do about it?

The situation:

• Boy 1: Already said he can't come. (He promised his roommates he'd watch it with them, and he forgot that was this Sunday, and can we do it some other time?)
• Boy 2: We're not sure how he feels about football. There's a distinct possibility that he doesn't care. We've heard no word from him regarding this issue (though we haven't contacted him to broach it anew).
• Boy 3: I ran into him tonight doing some pre-Sabbath Saturday shopping (buying food for our dinner tomorrow--I'm reading a memoir about tacos, so tacos (though nice ones) it is). An account of that is included herein for your consideration. (The following text is from an email I just sent to my roommate Michelle, reporting on the run-in. She was already asleep when I returned home from the store. Note: The account has been slightly edited for public perusal.)

I ran into A--y at Safeway. Actually, he hailed me. It was pretty cute. He asked what time dinner was again, and I said, "It's during the Super Bowl," and he looked a little sad. Just a little. We talked about it, and he's totally willing to come (he said, "I don't want you to change your plans for me--no, let's do it, let's do it") but I felt bad. He empathetically explained (when I told him DW was out for the SB), "You have to understand the mindset. Never has a team gone into the Super Bowl undefeated, and this year, the Patriots are doing it. So that's historic. Also, the Super Bowl itself just happens once a year." And he held up one finger, raised his eyebrows, and smiled. But he's in--he's in for whenever we have it. But I feel kind of bad making him miss it (though I did just buy this meat--I guess I could make it for us or freeze it?). Anyway, should we try to have the dinner later--like at 7 (though he'll probably miss the tail end of it) or earlier, like at 4 (so he only misses the middle)? Or just leave it as it is and require AP (and maybe MK--any idea how he feels about football?) to draw deep upon his selflessness and goodness and come (and hope that he doesn't begin to resent the moments we're eating chocolate chip cookies?)? I don't know, MH. It's a tough call.

Oh, the gendered dilemmas posed by professional sports!

But I think dinner's going to rock.
Sarah

Considerations:

1. Michelle was disappointed that Boy 1 chose football (but also his roommates) over us.
2. Michelle has purchased taco fixings that will not wait until next week. We could eat them tomorrow ourselves, or invite girls (and more non-football-interested boys?) over tomorrow. But then we'd have to think of a meal and procure food anew for when, eventually, we invite Boys 1 & 3 back over again.
3. We have to make this decision by sometime early to mid-Sunday afternoon.
4. By the time you read this post, this issue might be moot.

Care to weigh in?