… football. It really holds no fascination for me. I’m usually stifling a yawn by the time sports comes on the news anyway b/c it’s my bedtime, but if the sportscaster starts talking pigskin, I’m out.
I wonder if it’s b/c I never had anyone teach me football. It seems like this totally foreign, unfathomable beast of a game that I don’t have the mental capacity to decipher. I mean, I understand that there’s this ball, and these two teams that each want to take it to the other end of the field, and sometimes they knock each other down to stop each other from doing so, and sometimes someone kicks the ball instead of throwing it or running with it. But what’s a first down? What’s a cornerback?
I can barely pretend to care about the teams my friends & family like—this weekend was Homecoming at our U and there were literally hundreds of people who couldn’t get tickets to the game. Or so I hear … The Boy and I stayed on the other side of town from the revelry. And the teams I used to feign to follow when we lived back East aren’t even mentioned out here, so I’ve forgotten all about them.
I get the excitement and pageantry of a football game. I went to every home game when I was in high school and had lots of friends on the team and on the cheerleading squad and in the band. But I didn’t really know what I was yelling about unless I was sure I’d just seen our school score. Mostly I was flirting and drinking hot chocolate and gossiping.
I wonder if it would help if I started watching “Friday Night Lights?” Or had my brother give me a play-by-play tutorial on the phone while we watched the same NFL broadcast. Somehow I doubt it. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t think football is stupid or a waste of a fine fall afternoon/evening, and I totally respect and appreciate those whose loyalty to a team verges on the insane. I just wonder what happened to me—what gene I’m missing—that renders me instantly bored when people start talking about the Super Bowl.
Unless they’re talking about a Super Bowl party and therefore party snacks. Then I’m all ears.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I had to marry a (college) football fanatic before I could learn to love it. I still prefer to only watch half a game - a whole game is a little long for me. But I'm with you on the flirting and hot chocolate! Gimme four long quarters to spend chatting with friends, cuddling under stadium blankets, and sucking down warm drinks. I'll be there!
i L-O-V-E football! i wait all summer for the new season to roll around. unfortunately, i don't get the chance to sit and watch a game anymore; my girls just won't let me do it. but i love the games and i love the competitiveness. i always have and i always will! i'm sorry you don't possess the football gene. imo, you're really missing out! ;)
I enjoy all sorts of sports, but I've never been obsessively into football. The games are fun and I love feeling like a part of a huge crowd who are all cheering for the same team.
Superman is always trying to explain the nuances to me, but I much prefer to be reading a good book while he spends entire weekends glued to the television.
We're compatible that way. :)
p.s. I am SO with you on the snacks part! But you already knew that!
Lurker-Alert :)
So, my high school did not have football. My first college didn't have it, my second (and final) one did...but it was a small team, small campus - so the excitement was minimal and I wasn't into the sport at all.
However, my second (and final) college was in Pittsburgh, home of the Steelers. I was there when they went to (and lost) the Superbowl, and the following year when they went to (and lost in) the playoffs. I have NEVER seen a city get SO EXCITED about something the way Pittsburgh did about their football team. I couldn't help but get swept away.
Did I understand the game? Not necessarily, but after watching a few here and there, listening to chatter and paying attention I actually started to get it- and once I did I was hooked.
Eleven years later (holy crap...I've been out of college for eleven years?!?!??!)I'm a Patriots fan (with a soft spot for the Steelers) and I absolutely love the game.
Of course - it must be said - along with the game itself I do love the 'accessories'...you know...watching with friends, drinking beer and eating salty snacks.
I hope you all enjoyed the novel I just wrote. I'll stop taking up space right about....now.
Post a Comment