McCartney Green

Football can be a beautiful thing visually. All the bright colors, bands with a heavy beat, big strong guys in colorful tight pants. I love football and.... well....I hate football! I will try to explain my bipolar reaction to the game.

I've always understood the game. Back when I was cheerleader in high school, we actually knew what was happening on the field. We were as into it as the players and actually believed if we revved the crowd up enough, we could help the outcome of the game. Waaaay back then, every school's cheerleaders and bands thought of themselves as the "12th man."  Being quite the tomboy, I also played football with a lot of the guys who were on our high school team at weekend pick-up games. I was fast and intercepted many passes much to the admiration of those boys. Back then, football was plain ol' fun.

Then my 5 sons played football. All quarterbacks. All really good. And suddenly football became much more serious. I was that mom, the QB's mom, pacing either on the top stadium seats or behind the stands. Nerve racking. We all got through it. Now, one of my sons is coaching high school ball, and one of my grandsons is a high school QB. I thought I was over it, the nerves, the anticipation. And I AM much better than I used to be. But I admit, I've felt those old worries and stresses coming back. The old wanting to scream at a ref, or yell, "Are you freaking kidding me," at the play the coach just sent in. I don't yell at the players anymore, because I've begun to see them all as my own children and know they are doing the best they can do. I think it was the politics of football that made me want to distance myself as far from the game as possible.

Still, when it turns fall, and the excitement builds as each team believes they are going to do better this season, and tail-gating takes off, and the bands rev up I feel the old pleasure from a long time ago. With all that, there is one thing, to me, that is the most attractive thing on that football field and it's something I wish we could see more of, something I wish the coaches and parents would think is more important...and that is...a show of good sportmanship. Whether it's putting in your "twos" when the score is 45 to zip, or no late hitting when you're frustrated because you're losing, or even just the helping up of an opposing player. Yeah, when one player helps up a player on the opposing team, that is THE most attractive thing! Of course, I realize they may not be saying something nice, they're probably saying, "Come at me again and I'll knock you down again..." (I cleaned that up, lol.) But I like to picture in my rose-colored world, that they are doing what Andrew Luck is thought to be doing.... paying a compliment to the player for a great effort.

Yep, a show of good sportsmanship is really, really attractive...not just in football, but in every sport, in every game, in every thing. It's one of the things that sets us apart as humans. Would sure love to see more of it. How about you?

Pic from WSJ http://www.wsj.com/articles/andrew-luck-the-nfls-most-perplexing-trash-talker-1418663249