Football is King!

A couple weeks ago (pre-August 30th, Yes I know the exact date and you'll see how that comes into play in a second) my wife lamented, "Ohhhhhhhh! I'm so mad! Starting this Saturday you're about to become worthless for four months!" Why was I about to become worthless on Saturdays (and Sundays to a large extent, besides church of course)? Because that coming Saturday, August 30th, was kickoff day for the football season. I dare say 90%+ of males who read that last sentence had the following phrase pass through their mind, "YOU KNOW THIS!!!"

Yes, football is king. Even I can admit that, and I tout the Utah Jazz as my favorite team. I've learned over the years that the Jazz are my #1 because I follow them year-round, even in the offseason I'm always looking for news. My buddy Gerry, on the other hand, will call me in April-when football is farthest from my mind-to update me on some sophomore in high school who BYU is recruiting for 5 year from now (post-mission of course). That tells me I'm a Jazz guy; however, football is most definitely #1A. I pretty much only like the Jazz and no other NBA team or any other level of basketball. I LOVE football on every level: high school, college, and NFL.

If a football game is on, no matter what the level, I'm watching it until the end. In this past week while I've been out of town here in Washington I've watched college games, pro games, even a high school game of some USC-bound quarterback. I don't care, I love every second of it.

Rachel is so mad about Saturdays becasue she knows who is the King of the King of Sports-BYU! Two years ago, she wanted to spend Thanksgiving in Idaho Falls with her family. As soon as she suggested that, I called her Aunt in October (plenty of notice of course) to ensure she had CSTV so I wouldn't have to miss the BYU-Utah game; otherwise, she would've been spending Thanksgiving solo in Idaho Falls. Her aunt said she had it. . . she later realized she didn't have it and promptly added it to her satellite package before we came up, knowing the consequences of such a mishap could have been devastating. If I would've missed watching the Beck-to-Harline catch live, I don't know if I would've ever been able to return to Idaho Falls.

Football is so great, even playing pretend football is great. Yes, I'm talking about fantasy. Fantasy football makes games you would not usually care about (wait, that doesn't happen anyways) very interesting if you have a fantasy player on one of the teams. I play in multiple fantasy leagues, but the one I care most about is my espn league with my boys. There is nothing like smack talk all week long and glorious victories that players who actually do things on the field produce for me (two-time defending champ!). Again, "YOU KNOW THIS!!!"

Why is football so huge? I am convinced it is the scarcity factor. Only one game a week, only a few months of the year. Baseball and basketball have so many games that missing a few here and there is no big deal, but missing even a single game of the BYU season means missing them play that team for the entire year. If I miss us play UCLA this Saturday, when will I see that again? Granted, it's a rare situation where they're playing for the 3rd time in a year span, but usually missing any given game means waiting at least a year, and in non-conference games potentially waiting indefinitely, for the next game. I've missed two BYU-Utah games in my life, the two years of the mission, including the final game of Lavell's career, and I can pretty much guarantee I won't sacrifice that game again if it's at all within my power. Men across the state concur with an "amen brother!" All of this same scarcity applies to the NFL. I don't even have a favorite team, I'm pretty much happy to watch whatever game is on, whenever.

I am worthless on the weekends for a few months, and for that I apologize to my wife, who I love with all my heart. How do women put up with us?