Why I Love Football

I'm sitting in my office, drinking coffee, and scowling out the window at a blustery January day. The only problem is, it's not January! It's March!! Someone (ahem, Mother Nature) didn't get the memo about March arriving and March break being just around the corner. Last year we had bathing suit/picnic weather for March break - I don't think we'll be so lucky this year. I don't like to be a complainer, especially when there's nothing I can do about the situation, so please consider the above sentences to be a mere reporting-of-the-facts.

I've been thinking about football lately. Of course, you all know that the Green Bay Packers won the Superbowl last month, a source of much happiness at our house. However, many people (and to clarify, I mean girls) just don't understand what you might call my "football obsession." I prefer to call it a passion, but that's neither here nor there. I decided it was time to explain, hence the above title. I may not sway you to becoming a fellow football fanatic, but perhaps you'll begin to understand...

Confession number one: I'm a drama queen. Maybe not in the true sense of the expression ("a person given to often excessively emotional performances or reactions", which conjures up a tantrum-throwing schoolgirl who doesn't get her way, although I'm sure there are those who might disagree). What I mean is that I love drama. I need excitement and action and suspense. (And since I've been consulting Webster, drama is defined as "a state, situation, or series of events involving interesting or intense conflict of forces"). Doesn't the definition of drama seem to be written for a sports context?

I thoroughly enjoy watching sports. I'll watch just about anything, at least once in a while, with the exception of curling. I'm sorry, I just can't do it. Every sport has an element of drama (I'm sure even curling does, but I just don't get it) which is why there are entire networks on TV devoted to sports coverage.

But when it comes right down to it, the only sport with enough drama and suspense to hold and keep my attention for an entire game and season, is football. (I do need to differentiate here between Canadian and American football - while I will watch the CFL, it's the NFL that is the recipient of my devotion). Football is truly a game of seconds and inches. An entire game of football can be determined by just a few seconds, or by just a few inches. A team who is losing may need those few precious seconds to either even the score or pull into the lead for the win. Or the game may be decided by inches - a team may come up short of a touchdown by mere inches, or a player may catch a touchdown pass with mere inches to spare, toes hovering on the sideline. I have spent many a Sunday afternoon or Monday evening literally on the edge of my seat, as the outcome of a game is decided by seconds and inches. Heart pounding, palms sweating, eyes glued to the TV, I am riveted, and have been known to either collapse in a heap on the couch or to jump jubilantly to my feet with whoops of joy (just ask my kids).

When you consider (and you really should) that the NFL season only lasts 5 months (including one month of playoffs) and that the teams only play once each week, you will (hopefully) understand the importance of each and every game. The drama and suspense build each week and culminate in true excitement as each game unfolds. There's none of this "8 games back" business that you might see in hockey as a team fights for its playoff life - that's half a season in football, my friends!

Emotions run the gamut - from a high as the quarterback executes a perfect pass - a bullet - to his receiver who runs the ball into the endzone for a touchdown, to a low as the quarterback is sacked, fumbles the ball and the opposing team recovers it for a touchdown. Are you starting to understand just how much drama is contained in one game of football?

I always feel a void when the season ends each year, especially if my team had a less-than-successful season. The wait until preseason begins feels much too long, but it is one thing to look forward to as summer comes to an end. However, this year was different - the end of the season brought with it much joy and celebration as our team (the Green Bay Packers) became Superbowl Champions, a feat they hadn't accomplished in 14 years. As the proud owner of a large, bright orange foam cheesehead, and the displayer of a pair of fuzzy green and yellow dice in my van (a symbol of recognition for the neighbors), I was one pleased and proud Packers fan this year. Winning or losing are not the criteria for how loyal I am to my team, but a Superbowl win just makes everything that much more sweet.

My love of football does not mean I understand every aspect of the game (although I'd like to). I'm often slow to understand why a flag was thrown for a penalty, or how a certain play was executed. But this doesn't take away from the beauty of the game: the bullet passes, the impossible catches by one hand or by the fingertips, the agility of the running back as he dodges yet another defender, the sprint from one end of the field to the other as a kick-off is returned for a touchdown, the games played in any kind of weather and watched by die-hard fans,
or the game-changing play made by a surprisingly agile 350 pound player. My love of football has nothing to do with men in tights - one could just as easily go to the ballet for that - but rather a love of the drama and beauty of the game.

This drama queen can hardly wait for the season to begin!