Fall is almost here (much to the chagrin of a friend
of mine) and football season IS here. Lately that
seems to be a big topic. I wonder if it is because
people relate through the things that are common and
familiar, or if it might be something else.
If it was the spring, it might be conjuring up talk
about baseball, or if it was hockey season, hockey.
Any which way, it reminds me of two of my own football
stories. The first from when I was a child, the other
when I was in Chicago at a game with a friend.
I have never known much about football, but I still
went to a game when I was in Chicago visiting the city.
At one point there was no play, and I suggested that
there might be a TV timeout. You would have thought
that I just told the funniest joke ever, my friend
cracked up, and proceeded to laugh at what I said, and
told her boyfriend my "joke."
What you may, or may not, know depending on what you
are aware of in sports, is that occasionally if the
game doesn't allow for it on its own, the play will be
put on hold so that the advertisers can have their say
(commercials). It is known as a TV timeout. I had
only learned about it a short time before the game, as
my then boyfriend had explained it to me at an Ohio
State Basketball Game.
Backing up a bit, when I was a child (starting in third
or fourth grade) I was a HUGE Met fan (I know it's odd
because most New Yorkers are Yankee fans, but that's me,
picking the odd choice) and I was learning the players
names, numbers, positions, rules, stats, etc.
I never had an interest for some reason in football -
that is, until 8th grade. So I decided to ask my
grandfather, who taught me about baseball, to teach me
about football.
We got about as far as me incorrectly understanding that
you had four tries to make a touchdown (when in
actuality you have four tries to get ten yards) when the
lesson abruptly ended because my grandfather asked me,
"is there a boy you like?" My immediate response,
"Oh, nooooo, Grandpa," followed by a fairly quick
retreat.
How dare he figure that out. I was so embarrassed, I
never asked him about it again. I tried to get into
it when I was in a relationship with someone who had
a sport for every season, and that is when I had the
"TV Timeout Episode."
As you might imagine, to this day, I haven't learned
much more about the game. Any ideas why that might
be? LOL.
What occurs around these stories are a few things:
1. Sometimes we can make fun of things we don't
understand. My friend may have one day have found
out something new, but it wasn't going to be
that day.
2. How we take something has everything to do with
perspective. Was my friend laughing at me? Or
was she laughing at what I said? At the time it
certainly felt like she was laughing at ME.
3. Sometimes our reaction to something can stop
us in our tracks.
4. Sometimes someone may tell us that they're
going to tell us about "football," but it really
is about something else, and they may know that
they're doing it, and there may be times they
don't recognize it.
Do YOU have any "football" stories?
