It is Super Bowl week. It is nauseating hearing only about the last two teams. I mean seriously, I think the only topic left to discuss is the color of Cooper Kupp's underwear. In the rear view mirror, there are 30 NFL football teams and fan bases left in the dust who are angry, disappointed, frustrated and down right bummed. Do we trust our hearts to do it all over again? Why is football so important to so many people?
Funny you should ask.
I equate football pre-season to dating. It's exciting and new, even if a little scary. What if this is the one? Pre-season begins and we are all apprehensive, but ready to engage. All the broken feelings from last season are distant memories. It is fun again. What if this is the year? I think this just.might.be.the.year we go all the way. Redemption is possible.
Then the NFL football season kicks off. It's as if you just turned 18 and school's out for the summer, this is the real deal, it all counts now. The stats are tabulated, the wins and losses recorded. There are weeks when your feet don't even touch the ground. Then there are weeks when it is a dirty hard-knocks grind. This is life man, the highs and lows of the game parallel a relationship, your job, a hobby, your family, the song in your head that just can't find its way to paper. We get gritty in the tough times, and do a celebration dance in the end zone when our kid gets accepted to college. Or even better, a Lambeau Leap when a friend's cancer is deemed in remission.
Post season arrives, the play-off games, the intensity dials up to eleven. You dedicate your life. You add 20 minutes to your bathroom time each morning so you can watch every single video about your team. You've made it so far. You got that promotion. It's a bigger stage now. Until it's not. A blocked punt with a pick-six run into the end zone by the opponent. Dammit. It's like flying all the way to San Diego to give a major business presentation and discovering your laptop is on the desk in your office, back in Wisconsin. Major fail. Defeated. Angry.
So why is football important? Is football life? A sports writer recently wrote, "We all need things to matter in our life that don't really matter." Ultimately football is a game, it feels good that it matters... but it doesn't really matter. So no, football is not life.
But there's hope.
"Hope Springs Eternal" is the caption on a picture showing my cousin, uncles and me all smiling, dressed in green and gold at a Home Opener. When each year begins with hope we all get fresh starts, we can rebuild, we can heal after injury and pull off all sorts of victories in life. We get to the other side of the play-offs, to the biggest of life's stages, with a dose of determination and undying hope. Every football season survives on hope. Having hope matters. Pass it on.
Be a positive influence!
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