How Important Is Football?

[IshbelRobertson]

Catherine...
1853 trumps 1859

[catherine]

Catherine...
1853 trumps 1859

Geez, Brits trump Yanks in football; we're all working for Princeton Tigers, I guess I shouldn't have brought it all up!

[Dhiana]

I grew up loving American Football. Then I happened to catch an All Blacks Rugby game and I am now a convert.
No more woosey American Football for me. Not that I see many Rugby games since I don't have cable. But I now
have zero interest in the nfl.

[IshbelRobertson]

Secretly, whilst I do suport Hibs, one of the Edinbugh football tems, my passion is Rugby
Union!

[Glo]

My favorite sport is basketball; namely, Ohio State and Cleveland CAVS. Last year, I got into Ohio State football. Football does bother me in that it is so violent. My middle son played 1 year of football in high school; I cringed every time I heard helmets crash together. Glad that lasted only 1 year!

[bae]

High school football seems to be A Big Thing in my corner of the world. (Oddly, while you have to raise private funds to let our "award-winning" high school be able to offer fundamental language, music, math and science courses, the district is happy enough to make its resources available to send our football team all over the state, starting out with a very expensive boat ride...).

When there is a home game, we station an ambulance down at the game with a paramedic, some EMTs, and some firefighter/FR/rescue folks. To handle the inevitable injuries during the games. We've flown off several kids in the past couple years by helicopter to the regional trauma center...

I don't quite get it.

[Packy]

High school football seems to be A Big Thing in my corner of the world. (Oddly, while you have to raise private funds to let our "award-winning" high school be able to offer fundamental language, music, math and science courses, the district is happy enough to make its resources available to send our football team all over the state, starting out with a very expensive boat ride...).

When there is a home game, we station an ambulance down at the game with a paramedic, some EMTs, and some firefighter/FR/rescue folks. To handle the inevitable injuries during the games. We've flown off several kids in the past couple years by helicopter to the regional trauma center...

I don't quite get it.

What you've described is a classic case of Institutional Football Fundamentalism. The game is a demolition derby for our youth-it is not healthy exercise. Not only that, but I think that football kids receive an unhealthy amount of attention. It is a bad use of resources. I think that once their glory days are over, it has a negative effect on many of them through their adult lives. One other thing I've noticed is the adults who are the most fanatical football fans also seem to be the least concerned about being physically fit.

[Blackdog Lin]

I am not proud of myself for being a fan (bread and circuses indeed) - but fan I am of the NFL. The injuries, the money, the politics.....it's all bad.

But the game itself is beauty, sheer beauty. The athleticism, the geometry, the gamesmanship: beautiful.

[Alan]

I am not proud of myself for being a fan ......

I am. I love the game of football and everything that goes along with it. If someone else doesn't like it, well, too bad.

My home team is sitting atop the AFC North and I'm proud of them. Today I experienced highs and lows as I sat through an overtime game, against another division leader, which ended in a tie. Does that mean I'm a fanatic?

[ToomuchStuff]

How important is it, to who? To me, not a bit, not the least. I actually get po'd from trying to shop and can't find help because they are watching the tv's or listening to "the game" on the radio. Then they have the gall to ask me what channel is "the game"on or grab your arm and scream excitedly, "did you see that?". You have your thing, I have mine, leave me the location alone.
Now to the players I have met, the crews I know that work the stadiums, vendors, owner, etc. very important. I don't really have a problem when the ones telling the story played it, but I do when others live vicarously through them and try to make you think it is all important. I even found humor when our Christmas tree was broken by some players, reliving a bad end to a good game.
Not my thing.