In Defense of Football

Today feels a lot like Christmas morning except I am watching everyone open their presents and I have to wait until tomorrow night to open mine. Okay, that may be a little dramatic, but when you have been waiting since February for this day to come and your team plays the late Monday night game, it's a mild form of torture. Football Sunday is finally here and so begins the first of many Sundays spent parked on the sofa, a bar stool and in one stroke of luck, a stadium seat since the Chargers play the Giants this year. This football season will be a huge adjustment for Mike and I for many reasons, most obviously, we no longer live in San Diego. No more games at the Q. No tailgating (well technically it was condo-gating). No rolling out of bed just before the 10am game. No more of Emmy's Football Sunday snacks (mmm...fried tofu in peanut sauce). No more touchdown shots...well maybe. What remains the same is our Sunday routine of making last minute adjustments to our fantasy teams, Mike making a quick run to the store to pick up supplies for our favorite red curry-lime chicken wings, and the irritation of our non-football friends that our lives revolve around it for the next 5 months.

You see, there are two extremes when it comes to football, or sports in general. There are the fans, and by that I mean the real fanatics that live and breath for their teams, never miss a game, own a wardrobe of team gear and have anxiety about how they are going to watch games when inconveniences like weddings, funerals and untimely visits from non-football friends pop up. Then the other extreme are the people who think we are crazy. The ones who just don't understand what the fuss is about and why anyone would care about a team as if they were a family member. Of course, there is a huge group of people in the middle: the casual fan. The casual fan varies in degrees from the girlfriend who roots for a team because her boyfriend is a fanatic and if she wants to see him on Sunday, she better play along, but she really is only rooting for them to win so he isn't a complete grouch for the rest of the day if they lose. Then there is the guy who claims to be a fan but couldn't tell you the names of any of the starters on his team beyond the QB and star running back. And there are the casual fans that go to games, don't really know what's going on, don't pretend to, they're just here for the beer and atmosphere. There is nothing wrong with any of these people, well maybe the pretend fan guy, but really, I get it if you don't care for sports or if you think it's a waste of time or if it's just not something you can get into. But this time of year, I often find myself having to defend the way we choose to spend our Sundays. So I am going to preemptively issue a statement to all of my friends, family, visitors, classmates, associates and people sitting next to me at a bar where I am watching the game. I love football. I love it the way you might love to play golf, go shopping, eat cupcakes or watch Lost (if you do any of these things obsessively and you know who you are). I look forward to it like you would a vacation, a holiday with presents or Thanksgiving dinner. The anticipation of watching my team gives me a buzz a day in advance. The joy of watching them play, play well and win is a high like no other. Alternatively, the gut punch and ensuing depression that settles in when they lose can be torturous. If you've ever woken up the day after a brutal playoff elimination and the first thing that dawns on your awakening brain is the heartbreaking loss you suffered the night before and you just want it to be a bad dream, then you and I have something in common. So please, let's put football in a category with religion and politics. I won't tell you who you should vote for, what you should believe in and how you should spend your Sundays and all I ask is that you do the same. Now please excuse me for the next 5 months while I board the roller coaster of being a Bolts fan.