Nov 22: why I like football

I didn't grow up watching football. I can't remember a time when a game was on. If anything, we'd watch the cubby's play during the summer. [ I actually got to sing the national anthem at a game once while in a children's choir. ] But it was never football. Thanksgiving at my aunt's house is the only time I remember it being on. There was the talking room and the football room and the family divided between them.

I grew up, went to a small liberal arts college that I think had a football team but I didn't really follow. I got married and we moved to Pittsburgh, The town that bleeds black and gold. Early in our marriage, watching the game on Sunday was a way to spend time together. I'd knit, he'd watch. Since I was there, I started asking questions about the rules and started to care about the players. This was during the 90's, when the steelers were almost good. The infuriating coaching by cowher. Cordell trying to run it. Again. Or handing it off to the Bus. You could see the potential and then you could see them give it the game away in some spectacular debacle. [Honestly, the Detroit lions this year remind me of that 90's steelers team, that was getting it's talent and training back on it's feet, but still not there yet. ] And then there was cope, cracking wise on the radio. I was hooked.

I feel vindicated that we've gotten a few super bowl rings now, because it was a long road up from where the team was in 1996 when we moved to the three rivers. I still miss Randel El and I will always have a soft spot for Hines Ward is the awesome. I totally should have gotten his jersey.

The secret is that football is better than soaps. They are full of drama, not just the drama of the game, but the little personal dramas of injuries and attitudes. Team rivalries, and of course the competition to the super bowl. I remember going to a game (which was near impossible, btw. People would will their season ticket seats to their children when they passed away) and the steelers lost. It was cold and rainy. But they showed the last 10 minutes of the browns game on the jumbo-tron. And the entire stadium stayed there in the rain and booed the browns until they lost. I always wanted to put that into some kind of motto: "Pittsburgh: Where there is always a football stadium of people booing you." It was one thing we could agree on. Rich, poor, educated, uneducated, young, old, we all knew what where we stood when it came to the steelers.

Now that we're in Denver, I have a hard time carrying about the Broncos. They just aren't the steelers. No one stays to boo KC.