Earlier on this board football was called a kid's game. And it is. Someone tried to defend it by talking about the money involved but I'm going to go a different route.
My first memory of football was in elementary school. The game looked rough but I tried it anyway. As soon as I got the ball a bunch of first-graders dog piled me. I came out from under that pile thinking, you know, that was kind of fun. Little did I know it was the beginning of a great love affair.
We played every day at lunch. Even though I wasn't allowed by my JW parents to play on the team I regularly competed with those who did. I have great memories of slow motion catches and shake and bake runs. I was even proud of my bloody nose when I blocked a punt with my face.
The guys would always come back to school on Mondays talking about Sunday's games. The camaraderie was something that I still feel with other fans to this day.
No matter what girl I was interested in or how close the end of the world supposedly was, football was always there for me. Going out in service after the Sunday meeting had me going to a householder's door where the game would be playing inside. The religion seemed more important than the sport at the time. Turns out it wasn't, really.
When I recall specific games I drift back in time to wherever I was at that point in my life. The game is a rich history of colorful figures teaching life lessons. Sometimes things look hopeless only to have a sudden miracle come out of nowhere. Sometimes you have to grind it out. And sometimes the disappointment is undeniable.
After 9/11 people needed something to distract them and make them feel better. For many it was sports.
When football season is here I cherish every game. When it's gone I miss it badly. I think there's a reason it gets played on Sunday. It is a deeper religious experience than anything I've ever felt in a church.
Consider these quotes from the Billy Crystal movie "City Slickers" about baseball. I think they apply to the pigskin, too.
- [Mitch, Ed, Phil and Bonnie are sitting on bedrolls discussing which is more interesting, women discussing relationships or men discussing baseball]
- Ed: That's easy; we win.
- Bonnie: [laughs incredulously] How can you say that?
- Ed: Because honey, if that stuff were half as interesting as baseball, they'd have cards for it and sell it with gum.
- You're right I suppose, I mean, I guess it is childish. But when I was about 18 and my dad and I couldn't communicate about anything at all, we could still talk about baseball. Now that - that was real.
There are many here who won't get what I'm talking about. But there are many others who know EXACTLY what I'm saying. Call me shallow. Call me unenlightened. I am proud to say that I love this kid's game. And it's a love that I know will last me until the day I die.