Soar like an eagle

I used to hate football.

I couldn’t understand why people went to the games. I didn’t understand why people would argue over which team was better. I didn’t understand how people could remember the stats for 47 different players and the schedule for the 1967 Colts.

Of course, most of this disinterest was because I didn’t understand the rules of the game.

Now I do, and I’ve just spent an evening with family and friends, screaming at the television, moaning about dropped passes, and cheering at fake hand-offs and end-zone runs. To the uninitiated, I actually looked like a fan. Then again, to a real fan, I still look like a no-nothing novice. I’m like a 20-year old, stuck between the teenage years and adulthood.

Viewed objectively, it’s astounding how much money and energy is invested in watching 22 men pound the crap out of each other every weekend for 6 months out of the year. It’s surprising to see how energetic and fanatical the spectators get. And it’s startling to find that I am now one of them. I spent money on food to munch on, not just for myself but for 7 others as well. I fired up the surround-sound system, so we could hear the crowd yell in all its glory. I ran to the bathroom during the ads so I wouldn’t have to miss any of the game (just the reverse of what I traditionally do during the Super Bowl). And I screamed myself hoarse when the Eagles won in overtime.

Am I a jock? No way. Even if I wanted to be, it couldn’t happen. I’m too far along the path of geekdom to make the switch now. But I am a little wiser in their ways, and am starting to appreciate their mode of life. I learn a little more each game, and even though my team is still in it, I am looking forward to the next season already.

Go Eagles.