Not So Super Bowl
I'm not a huge football fan by any stretch of the imagination. As a matter of fact, the idea of repeatedly sitting in front of the TV for three hours at a time seems like an utter waste of life, unless you're hanging out with friends at the same time.
Ever since high school, the concept of being a sports fan has been a mystery to me. Memorizing statistics that have no bearing on life, talking about yesterday's game that neither of you played, being madly devoted to a group of men who wear the same shirt... I just don't get it.
But as you might have heard, the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts are the two teams going to the Super Bowl this year. And here in Fort Wayne, we're about halfway between Chicago and Indianapolis. So you can imagine the buzz around here. Everybody wants to talk about their favorite team, what the season was like, and what the upcoming game holds.
All I can say is "Aaaauuuggghhh! If one more person tries to talk football with me, I'm gonna drown myself in my bathtub!"
Please talk to me about something REAL. Talk to me about LIFE. Talk to me about YOUR life, not some game that other people are playing. What do you feel? What secrets are you afraid to reveal? Who are you when you're the only one around? What are your plans, your fears, your dreams? What could happen that would make you happy? What thoughts do you have that you think no one else does? THAT'S what I want to talk about. I want to know YOUR statistics, not the average rushing yards for a team's away games in November.
If that's where you're at too, please feel free to email me.
That being said, I thought it was funny to read that the Colts' coach Tony Dungy said, "It's a shame we have to go to Miami. We should just go to Fort Wayne and play this off." If that were to happen, I bet more people would be coming to visit me here. And I might actually get a chance to talk to them when the game was over...
posted by Ron Daniel @ 9:55 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
The only thing I will say regarding football is not one but two black coaches will be coaching in a Super Bowl for the very first time. That's a cool thing.
I'm looking forward to hearing Dungy's comments after the game. Twenty buck's say win or lose, he will thank his Lord & savior for the oppirtunity that God has given him. That alway's makes our society cringe when someone glorifies Christ on national TV.
Dungy = A Class Act
As for life....way too much drama to post here. :> )
Nuthin but love for ya bro!
I think it would be a depressing world without sports. Why? There would be less for a community to rally around...like a sports team.
I think it's unique that a game like football brings so many people to a common ground--a common interest week after week.
You're right, memorizing stats and stuff isn't the best use of energies, but I'd much rather have a world with football, baseball, hockey, basketball, and soccer...than a world without.
Not to mention, I enjoy football also for the strategy of it. I find it incredibly interesting because no two games are the same.
Enjoyed your blog today! As a former anti-sports fan, I can support both sides of this debate.
I never understood football. Tried, half-heartedly, for many of my 45 years. Life responsibilities made Sunday a very bad day to spend a large chunk of time in front of the T.V., and it was easier to become a critic of sports fans than to accept other people's passionate interests.
Well, I get it! Not only do I get football, I love watching football! It's especially fun with other people. My son is an avid USC fan (boo hoo), he has been instrumental in my new appreciation of College football. I love the NFL, and will be watching the Superbowl with friends this year. I watched the playoff game, and I'm thrilled for the Colts, but I was born in Chicago, so I'm torn...I'll be happy no matter who wins, and sad for whoever loses.
There's a lot to be learned about character (observing others overcome obstacles and learning from it is a lot easier than crashing through and over the obstacles yourself) and teamwork. It's also a great unifying factor to bring people together (where all they talk about is not directly related to the game). Ultimately, football isn't life and watching is just recreation (finding pleasure in it isn't a bad thing at all. God intended for us to enjoy ourselves while serving Him).
As for being a sports fan...I cheer for my kids athletically, academically and in pretty much every way possible. I also cheer for "my" football teams (college and pro). I don't die a little when any of them lose but I do appreciate the work and effort and skill involved in any athletic activity. I love great competition and what it brings out in the participants.
I'm a Vince Lombardi fan and respect him for a lot more as a man than the fact that he was a great coach. Fundamentally, he had his priorities right...God is #1, Family is #2 and Football is #3.
Here's what he had to say about excellence:
One man's perspective on excellence...
"What It Takes To Be Number One" by Vince Lombardi
"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that's first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.
Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he's got to play from the ground up--from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's O.K., you've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.
Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization--an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win--to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is.
It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there--to compete. To know the rules and objectives when they get in the game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules--but to win.
And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.
I don't say these things because I believe in the 'brute' nature of man or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour--his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear--is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause and he's exhausted on the field of battle--victorious."
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