Blistering cold and windy Sunday afternoons with 200-300 pound men beating the snot out of each other in front of millions of fans. Each team has the same goal: winning the Super Bowl at the end of the year. This could only mean one thing, every team is on its own, there's no allies in the game of football. Beating the other three in the division race is goal No. 1 on every coaches' list of things to accomplish. After that? Destroy every man in its path, giving us fans a great spectacle to watch every Sunday (or Thursday, Saturday and Monday in some cases).
If you're truly a fan of football, specifically the National Football League, you should not only follow your favorite team, but every aspect of the game, league, and all 32 teams. I am not a huge fan of "fair-weather" fans or "bandwagoners." If you're gonna categorize yourself with every other guy out there, "die-hards" especially, then actually know the players and keep up with everything. One of my many pet peeves is what I call fake fans. They're there when the team is winning, but when the team is in the dumps they are no where to be found. To call yourself a fan I'd like to think that you'd at least have an idea of what's going on.
My other major pet peeve? When people refer to the men in stripes as referees or refs. No, I'm sorry, but there's only one referee on the field and he's the head honcho of the group of seven officials. If you're going to referee to the zebras at all, please call them "officials" like you're supposed to. The referee is the one wearing the white cap and is the one who does the talking over the intercom every time he, or one of the other six officials, throws a penalty flag.
What's with all this nonsense about boring games? There really isn't such thing as a boring NFL game, I can at least never recall a time when I was truly bored while watching a game. Yes, there's such thing as a sloppy game in which one, or both, teams make mental and physical mistakes, including but not limited to too many penalties (I'd say around seven or eight is a bit too much for one team) and turning the ball over three to four times. But a boring game? No way.
If there isn't enough hard hits, or the scoreboard doesn't read 42-35 then it seems as though fans are disappointed and say "they suck."
That brings me to another pet peeve of mine. Yes, the Lions had an 0-16 season back in 2008, but I would still be highly offended--if I was on the 2008 Lions squad--if a lame, 5'6'' 160-pound middle-aged man said I "sucked at football." These are professionals out there, they are there for a reason. Scrubs are not allowed in the professional football industry, meaning these guys are the cream of the crop. The reason they failed to win the game was because there were other professionals that outplayed them....just so happened to happen every week. Saying a team that about a team whom wins the Super Bowl that season, too, is a big no-no in my book. Stop being jealous of a team that outplayed yours and get off others' backs about it. Please. You are taking away from the joy others get from the game.
I apologize that this turned in to an article in which I announce just a couple of my pet peeves about the fans of the National Football League. It had to be said. But with all of that being over with, here are just a handful of entertaining/funny/famous/motivating quotes from current and former coaches and players that I have stumbled upon, enjoy:
"Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence." --the oh-so-wise Vince Lombardi (former Green Bay Packers' head coach; more to come from him).
"I approach you from the front and you're like 'wow this guy is pretty serious' but then I walk away and you're like 'damn, he likes to party.'" --Jared Allen talking about his mullet in 2009.
"If you don't pick me I'm going to kick your butt for the next 15 years." --Peyton Manning on draft day in 1998.
"If winning isn't everything then why do they keep score?" --Vince Lombardi
"If I needed someone to give me advice then I'd have a second brain to tell me what to do." --Randy Moss in 1997 (Minnesota drafted him out of Marshall in 1998).
"If my mother put on a helmet, shoulder pads and a uniform that wasn't the same as the one I was wearing, I'd run over her if she was in my way. And I love my mother." --former running back Bo Jackson...Bo truly does know best.
"I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid." --Terry Bradshaw; Hall of Fame QB, Super Bowl champion and 1970s pretty boy.
"I've got news for you. We're gonna win the game. I guarantee it." --Joe Namath's famous guarantee before Super Bowl III. New York, of course, followed through and defeated Unitas' Colts.
Several of these allow us younger kids truly appreciate the rich history the National Football League holds, as well as look in to the present-day game of football and clearly see that there are just as many entertaining and important figures in today's game as there was 10, 20 even 30 years ago.
Just another reason to absolutely love "America's Game."
(Side Note: Photo does not belong to me).
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