Okay, some of you may have been a little “put off” by my status after last nights Super Bowl.
Here’s what it said if you didn’t see it, or don’t remember what it was:
“Nice job Packers…but seriously, 40 seconds left in the LAST game of the season and you take a knee????? Pussy’s!”
Before I explain, I need to give you a little background info…
I was born and raised in Indiana…
I have 1 sister, no brothers…
The Whetsel side of my family is a Basketball family through and through!
My Grandpa was on the 1940 Lapel Basketball team that went to State…
My Dad played Basketball in high school…
Heather and I played Lions Club Basketball growing up…
My cousin is the Lapel Boy’s basketball coach that won the State Class 1A championship in 2005, and his son was on the team…
That same cousin’s daughter works for the Pacers…
Another cousin was Miss Indiana Basketball in 2005…
Her Dad is a basketball coach in Alexandria…
Let me just shorten this to say that multiple family members have been/are players and/or coaches of basketball!
I distinctly remember being moved out of my Dad’s recliner and having the remote taken from my hand because Basketball was on TV…not Football, BASKETBALL!
If I stepped in front of my Dad during a basketball game on TV, there were no words that came out of his mouth! He would clench his teeth, get wide-eyed and then there was a full body, full arm wave that we knew meant “GET OUT OF THE WAY OF THE TV, THE GAME IS ON.”
My Dad is not a mean or scary person (much to the disbelief of all of my ex-boyfriends), and none of this was done in a mean/angry way…he’s just an Indiana boy who LOVES Basketball!
"Some people say that Basketball is a Craze in Indiana. It is not, because a craze is used to describe something brief."
Basketball makes COMPLETE sense to me!
So…the point of this is that, while I went to EVERY football game in high school, I didn’t understand a darn bit of what was happening during the game. It was a social event for me, NOT a sporting event! The actual game of football meant nothing to me.
Here comes a shocker (that was said sarcastically by the way)…
I had never actually watched a football game (not even a few minutes of one) until the Colt’s Super Bowl win a few years ago.
*I can just hear the collective, "Oh My Gosh!"'s right now!
Since then I’ve watched more games, and Chris has been extremely patient with me and has taught me what’s going on, and what the rules are (well, as much as I’ve wanted and been willing to learn).
I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on things now, and as I’ve said before, sometimes I yell at the TV and players more than he does when watching a game with him.
Now, let me explain my status, and a few other frustrations and things I don’t understand about Football with you.
And before you become a hater of me, please understand! I really do get the game of Football…maybe not every single in and out, but I get it, and I do love it now that I know what’s happening! And while I understand why these rules exist in Football…they still don’t make sense to me!
It irritates me to NO END when they take a knee at the end of the game!
Yes, yes, yes, I know why they do it. So they don’t run the score up inappropriately against the other team. And so the players don’t get injured in a last ditch attempt when they’ve already won/lost the game and don’t really need the extra points at this time. And so they don’t accidentally fumble the ball giving the other team the chance to score a last touchdown and ultimately win the game.
I GET IT!
But it still frustrates me…
I mean really?!?!?!?!?!? You have 40 seconds left in the game…
40 SECONDS!!!!
Just kick or run the ball!
I just kinda feel like it’s the easy way out!
I mean 40 SECONDS!?!?!?!?!? COME ON!
Hence why I call them Pussy’s!
*P.S. I was happy the Packer’s won last night. I was rooting for them!
And while I’m at it…What’s with having the option to run out of bounds????
Okay, why do we even have boundaries in Football then?
In Baseball, if you hit a ball outside of the foul line (aptly named I think)…what happens?
You go back to home plate and you hit again!
Let’s parallel football rules to baseball for a minute.
Let’s say the foul line is called a foul line, but (as in football) apparently means nothing.
In football…the quarterback throws you a pass from the 50 yard line and you catch it at the 35, and run out of bounds at the 20…Where do you start the next play? At the 20 yard line!
NOW, here’s our baseball parallel…you hit the ball down the 3rd baseline, it’s a foul ball and because the foul line means nothing…you go straight to third base…because that’s where the ball went out.
WHAT?
Makes absolutely no sense, does it?
In Basketball, you dribble down the court and step out of bounds…what happens? The other team gets the ball!
The ref doesn’t come up to you and say, “Three point line, time to shoot, let’s go! Ball in!”
That would be ludicrous!
This is why having an out of bounds area in football confuses me, because they don’t have any kind of penalty for running out of bounds.
Yes, I understand why they do it. It stops the clock. In many cases it keeps the big bad 250-350lb man chasing you from tackling you!
But come on, it’s the easy way out!
Why not call it the “Safety Zone?”
Or better yet, let’s take it a step further and plant a tree at each 30 yard line out of bounds and call it "BASE". When the player runs out and touches it, they’re safe cause they’re on base!
No more tackling him, He’s on BASE!
And this whole thought of running out of bounds so as to not get tackled…
Okay, I get men not wanting to be pounded into the ground by another man who is significantly larger than themselves (though you’re more than happy to get smacked on the butt and given a “Good Game” multiple times in a 3 hour period, WHATEVER), but you’re paid MILLIONS of dollars each season to run a ball up and down the field. Take one for the team!
When you started playing football, you knew it was a CONTACT SPORT! You didn’t go into it without the idea that tackling was part of the game! You knew this and the idea of getting to hit someone else and not have the Principal and Dean of Students involved afterwards was probably part of the appeal!
When you play “Red Rover Red Rover send Tom Brady right over,” do you pull your arms apart upon his approach, because you don’t want to hurt the precious Quarterback?
Does he have the option to run around the line, instead of trying to go through it?
NO! You grasp each other tighter and make him fight for what he wants!
And in my book, if he stops just short of your “Hands Across the World” gesture, then he’s the one labeled a Pussy!
That’s just how the game is played!
Let me be clear! I am an equal opportunity name caller when it comes to these things! I LOVE the Colts…but when Peyton takes a knee I call him a Pussy just like everyone else that “wimps out!”
I understand there are reasons for every rule and everything that they do…and there has to be rules and reasons behind them for every game that is played!
And like any good, empathetic healthcare worker, the last thing I want is for someone to get hurt, especially if it’s so severe that it takes them out of their career for life!
But I grew up and understood that when you choose to play a game, and be a part of a team, you choose to go ALL IN! You give 110% percent! You don’t take the easy way out.
I was taught to follow and understand the rules of the game, and they made sense to me!
I guess my idea of rules for games fall in this box that the rules of Basketball and Baseball portray...
…you have a specific area of play and you don’t go outside of that area of play without having some sort of penalty.
...and when there’s 40 seconds left on the clock, you play that full 40 seconds.
...and if the other team intercepts the ball, you don’t hit the basket, or you don’t make that last run needed…well that’s just a chance you take!
That’s part of the game!
It’s how the game is played!
So, my dear football…as much as I love you, and understand you now…there will still be some of your rules that just don’t make a darn bit of sense to me!
But you know what?
That’s okay!
I’m sure that there are some things about me that just don’t make a darn bit of sense to football!
And with that…
PLAY BALL!
That's what I'm talking about, sister! I especially enjoyed your "red Rover" analogy! Very well thought out and executed. I'm with you: "go balls-out, boys, or don't play!"
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