Why I Like Football

Ever since actually learning the rules to football in 9th grade P.E., I have been quite fascinated with the game. I don't get to watch it often because the girly shopping urge always hits me during the weekend and I don't ever realize there's a game on tv. But I did happen to watch the Arkansas/Alabama rivalry match a couple weekends ago, and it reminded me of why I love football so much:

1. I live vicariously through the players. I've been brought up to be a polite and proper young lady, so rough housing isn't really an option for me. But football is the absolute opposite of polite and proper girliness. In watching my team tackle the enemy to the ground, I feel like I'm letting out some built up aggression. Is it wrong that I feel good when the other team gets an injury?

2. It gives me a reason to be loud. When I'm watching a player run down the field toward the end zone, I steadily move up from my cushy seat on the couch while yelling at the tv. Then I throw my hands up in the air, scream at the top of my lungs, and do a happy dance when they score a few points. Mom always has to cover her ears and then she'll say something about how we're being too loud, but I can never understand what she says because my ears are still ringing from my own loudness.

3. I feel like I know something when I'm heckling the refs for bad calls or the players for doing something stupid. While I am by no means a football expert, I can say whatever the heck I want at the tv and feel justified because no one else in the house is paying enough attention to challenge my limited football knowledge. Of course, I've no idea why I talk at the tv so much, because nobody on the other side of the screen can hear me.

4. It's a reason to eat tons of salty, buttery popcorn. You see, popcorn is best in only two situations: Watching a movie and watching a ball game. So when I have the chance, I'm eating some popcorn, dangit. I know that I would probably regret it later, but I eat it anyways.

5. It absolutely wears me out, perfectly preparing me for a good post-game nap. Without even stepping onto a field, I exhaust myself with all the jumping, happy dancing, and screaming. And then there's the emotional exhaustion either by pure happiness or utter disappointment depending on the outcome of the game. What weekend wouldn't be complete without the ritualistic nap anyways, right?

While I enjoy watching football games, it is definitely not an obsession of mine. I'm not one to spout off stats of popular players or tell you which quarterback is better than another. I just enjoy the excitement of the games along with the excuses to be unapologetically noisy, potentially gluttonous, and encouraging of bodily harm. Sooooo not polite and proper.