Sign Of The Apocalypse? Or The Rapture
-
My son made a startling announcement to me this week. He told me "Dad, I think I am going to try to learn about football."
Now, my son has never in his life been interested in sports. He wouldn't have known a quarterback from a quarterpounder, so this was a bit of a shock.
He is a senior at Kenyon College with a 3.9 in Molecular Biology, so this announcement did have a bit of a catch in that he said, "I am not really interested in what team wins or loses, but I am interested in learning about the technical, scientific aspects of the game".
So, for the last couple of nights before he has to go back to school and start class we have sat down a bit and watched some old college games either on ESPN Classic or The Big Ten Network.
Doing this gives one some perspective on the game. I have had to explain to him the difference between offense and defense and special teams. And the difference between a tackle, guard, and center. Or what a punt is.
Last night we saw the very end of the Ohio State/Oregon Rose Bowl game. There was about a minute left and the Buckeyes were winning and taking a knee to run out the clock to end the game. My son asked "why are they doing that? there is still time on the clock, they should be running real plays to give the other team the chance to get the ball back." I had to explain to him that the object is to win...not to give the other team the chance to beat you and that if you can run the clock out while you are ahead it assures your victory. He still didn't accept it, thinking it was cheating or something.
It made me realize how much we take for granted when we watch the game. There are those out there that don't have a clue. My son is started to get a few clues, but it is a slow process.
I did tell him that for his NFL choices that if he tried to proclaim that he was a Steeler fan that his career...and life...would be short lived. I did say to him that he was honor bound to be Browns fan, but I did give him dispensation if he wanted to like the Packers since that is his grandfather's favorite team and since his mother is from Wisconsin. I think he may be prone to go for the Buckeyes since he does go to college in central Ohio, and that's OK.
-
How did he not end up a football fanatic (and an orange and brown one to be precise) with you as his dad? That's the most astonishing bit. I would have thought he'd have been read stories from NFL stats books when he was in his crib!
Tailgate loving, Steelers hating, Trans-Atlantic Browns fan. Annually disappointed since '88. Annually optimistic since '88. GO BROWNS! -
Here in north central WV, 95% of the mouth-breathers are Steeler fans.
My wife works at the elementary school where both my daughters attend. Last year, on the
Friday before the first Browns-Steelers game, my wife reported that, while in my oldest
daughters classroom, the students, most of who were wearing Steeler jerseys began the mind-numbing
'Here we go..." chant. My then 7 year old daughter stood up and said "No, no, no---Steelers suck--Go Browns!
I was so proud that I almost cried.
-
How did he not end up a football fanatic (and an orange and brown one to be precise) with you as his dad? That's the most astonishing bit. I would have thought he'd have been read stories from NFL stats books when he was in his crib!
How did he not end up a football fanatic (and an orange and brown one to be precise) with you as his dad? That's the most astonishing bit. I would have thought he'd have been read stories from NFL stats books when he was in his crib!
I guess it is a question of human nature. It was just not in his nature to be a sports fan. You can try, but you can't make a kid do something he doesn't want to, so you go with the flow with his own interests. He is an Eagle Scout and liked camping and nature. He did like running and weights, but that was for his own benefit, not to be a fan of anything. He rarely attended his own high school's football games.
Now, maybe, he will get on board a bit.
-
Actually Great NEWS I have to Older Boys not home anymore Tony the oldest 26 In florida and the other colby 21 is80 Miles away Both watched football with me later in there ages like 12 or 13 have agreat time.
-
next thing he will tell you is he likes girls!
That I am not worried about. In fact he once had a "girlfriend" named September. The next time I talked to him I asked how was September. He said he was no longer going with her, but with a new girl....and the next month I spoke with him he had yet another new girlfriend. I didn't even bother to ask their names. I simply said who is Miss April, who is Miss May, Miss June etc. Why bother with names when there is a new one each month?
And, FYI, yes he does like beer. We took him back to school yesterday and we stopped and had a Guinness with him before we came home.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login