Drink Rum

So we're just a couple of weeks away from the grand opening of the football season. I am excited.

Some how this year, I snoozed on my normal football prep. I think it's because I didn't go to the beach this year. Usually I head down to Myrtle Beach for a week in August and one of the things I do is catch up on the football. So I've been trying to think, though, about why I like pro-football so much.

Firstly, I think professional sports are over-hyped wastes of time and money. Every one of them. With the exception of football, I cannot spend a minute watching someone else play a game. I've been to football, baseball, soccer, swim meets, track meets, all sorts of things. And with the exception of pro-football, have bored the hell out of me. I love to play games (and some sports) myself, but not watch them.

I used to play football. I loved it. I played defensive middle linebacker and was a pass rush specialist. My job was to make pretty boys (quarterbacks) and meat heads (running backs) eat as much dirt as possible. My best game, I got 6 sacks, 10 tackles, and caused 4 fumbles (recovering 3). It was great, great fun. But then I had my first run in with the knee fairy. That ended my ability to play contact sports.

In college, I coached intermural football for two years and won the championship both times with two different teams. That was also fun.

But going to a game as a spectator just doesn't interest me. If someone invites me to a baseball game... all I hear is, "Do you want to drink beer and eat peanuts outside?" And that's fine because I do like to do that. But the fact that there are people running around on the grass with a stick doesn't get me going.

I've been to one pro-basketball game and I have to admit that it was the worst experience ever. I was bored out of my mind. They go left... then they go right... then left again... then right... back and forth... back and forth... boring.

I used to watch women's softball and soccer a lot. That was fun... but not particularly because of the sport... it just usually meant that I was crushing on a player (or three).

So pro-football... why is that the exception? I think it has to do with fantasy football. I really started getting into it after I started doing the fantasy thing. I was in a big money league for a while and managed to win a pretty substantial amount of money out of that for about four years. I can say that Marshall Faulk alone won me several thousand dollars. He's my hero. So yeah, I think that's the big thing. The fact that the game isn't passive makes it enjoyable.

Although that doesn't explain why I love going to a Redskins game. At first I thought it was because of the experiences I had there. When I was with Unisys, I got to use the company box suite at FedEx to watch the game. That was unreal... free buffet, open bar, 50 yard line seats... it's the kinda thing most people never see in their lifetime. My dad took me to a game with my mother and brother-in-law and we got into another suite. So those are awesome experiences. But I also had a blast sitting up in the nose-bleeds when I went to a game with Mat. I dunno. It's just a lot of fun.

I don't know if I'll get out to a game this year. I hope to do so. It's just so expensive to get tickets.

I had a point to this post, but it got derailed. I'll get back to it tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm reconsidering my anti-baseball stance. I found myself downloading a baseball game for my PS3 last week. Who knows... I may end up a Yankees fan.