UNDERSTANDING FOOTBALL

I know it is not football season but...
After one and one-half hours of composing a masterpiece, I needed only to wrap it up and post it. When I hit the "enter" key on my computer, everything disappeared...never to be seen again. So, I resurrected an old unpublished article. If you are desperate for reading material...you've got it!

Everyone is talking about football these days, and I got to thinking about the influence that sport has had on my life.

I was in junior high in Andrews, Texas, when I went to my first football game. There are two things I remember about that experience. 1) The band major was a full-blooded Seminole Indian. It seems to me that there was some controversy over a boy in that position. and 2) The junior high boys teased me because my hair kept falling in my eyes and, to avoid being conspicuous about the dilemma, I would stick out my bottom lip and blow it back.

We moved to Tucson between junior and high school. Of course, high school football was far more educational in the big city high school. I attended most of the THS home games and never missed a Thanksgiving rivalry game against Amphitheater; that game was played near our house at the University of Arizona stadium. What I recall most about high school football is my wardrobe. Without fail, I always wore red and white every Friday, My favorite outfit was a white blouse and a full skirt (red with huge white polka dots) poofed out with numerous crinolines. I remember most of the cheers: T-T-T-u-c; S-S-s-o-n and We are the Badgers, Mighty Mighty Badgers. Who can forget First and ten; do it again. Harder! Harder! Yessiree, I sat on the front row in front of the marching band and yelled my little heart out, It was not hard to identify me as a real fan though I hadn't a clue what the cheers meant, No one ever bothered to educate me; and, truthfully, it never crossed my mind to ask.

The year I started college was the last year Pepperdine had a football team. I may have attended two or three games. Early on, I learned how many players were supposed to be on the field. Apparently, this was a piece of information that had alluded our team.

In our years in Juneau, football was not a part of the school sports program nor even community sports. With the advent of cable TV, and eventually the addition of a daughter-in-law whose brother is a college football coach, at last I was (somewhat) educated about the game. So, when asked if I watched the Super Bowl, my answer was "The last 39 seconds."

"Well, then, you did not miss anything." has been the standard reply.

Somehow, there must be a message here about life.