I hate football.
There. I said it.
My oldest kiddo is in football camp at his high school. I tried to talk him out of it, but it fell on deaf ears (oh yeah, pun intended!). So here I am at Panera Bread each morning as I wait for him to sweat out two hours of hitting other guys. It’s a 20-minute/half hour drive each way, so it makes no sense for me to head back home after dropping him off.
When I picked him up yesterday, he was covered head-to-toe in sweat but had a huge smile on his face. He excitedly told me about the drills and how his neck hurt from craning it to see the interpreter while face-down during some exercise. He’s the only deaf kid at the camp, but there are two others in different grades.
“It was hell, Mom, but I loved it!” he said.
Did I tell you that I hate football?
I used to actually like it. Back in college, I would follow football on TV and actually sit next to the hubby and watch entire games. We even hooked up the tv in the bathroom and watched an entire playoff game when the Bears were playing– from the tub, complete with snacks and drinks. (What can I say, we were thin and in college back then! Mom, cover your eyes and don’t read this.)
Then along came Fantasy Football. The kids were little. I still liked football enough to help the hubby decide on a few players to play each Sunday. I listened to him as he agonized over the player’s fumbles, the low passing scores or an injured player. I celebrated when his wide receivers racked up yards and scored touchdowns. I even attended the Fantasy Football drafts to help the guys run the meetings.
Good gosh.
As the boys became older, the hubby sucked them right into football. The youngest kiddo dog-eared his favorite football book to the point it fell apart in two. He could tell you which helmet belonged to which team and one year, he was fixated on the Maimi Dolphins and received a Dolphins headrest for his bed. We’ve got Raider pillows and another bedrest for the oldest kiddo featuring some green team. (That’s how much I don’t follow football anymore, I can’t tell you the name of the team even though I pass by his bed every morning.)
The oldest kiddo played football in eighth grade. I went to a few games and cringed every time I saw him slam into another kid. I know why I hate football, it just seems so brutal to me now and I hate seeing the guys hit into each other. Plus, I’m afraid my kid is gonna get hurt. Or hurt someone else.
So this fall, I plan to attend the football games with my dark sunglasses on.
Perhaps I can weasle in nap time during the games.
Comments
12 responses to “Football, I Hate Football”
I love your humor in your posts, Karen!! 🙂
I dislike football too, so you’re not the only one!
Nitas last blog post..A Child’s Admonishment
Ha ha don’t all Moms hate sports? Sigh! Moms love to watch figure skate and recently the girl fell on the ice from a man dropped her. Ouch, this is ice that is very hard the hardest floor you ever fell on! That’s brutal! Wink…love your post.
Well, I have good news and some possible bad news, although I am really reluctant to pass along the possible bad news. The good news is that all the pads you son wears really take a huge amount of the abuse that is being dealt to your sons body and to his opponents.
The possible bad news, he could always wind up like me and others I know. I suffered two dislocated shoulder injuries in my right arm, one year apart. Being 52, I have had to deal with the remnants of those injuries ever since. These injuries took place in High school, and especially the second one took the wind right out of my sails about playing football in High school again.
Beamer
Beamers last blog post..Yellow in Spring
The green pillow was probably wither a Philadelphia Eagles or a Green Bay Packers pillow….
This is completely off the subject but I found you on Twitter. I enjoyed your article “The Deaf Gene” and I was wondering if I could ask you a question.
No one in my family is deaf and I have never met anyone that is deaf. For many years now, I have been wanting to learn sign language so I could be able to help people with hearing loss. Who know’s if it’ll ever be put to use, but it is something I feel strongly about. My daughter will be 1 on June 15th and I would really like to teach her sign language. I was wondering if you could steer me towards the right path of where to find help with learning sign language. Maybe a book or a website. I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks and I hope you have a great evening,
Sarah
Sarah @ The Pitter Patter Boutiques last blog post..Tackle It Tuesday
Your blog is soooo funny! All I can really say is that I know that your son is enjoying football camp very much and hope that he appreciates the time it takes you to allow him to play it…..along with the gas driving back and forth!
Hi Karen, I was trying to leave a comment on the deaf gene post but I couldn’t find the comment box! Was I just having a bad morning?
Anyway, I wanted to say how fascinating it was, and to thank you for sharing it.
Joanna
Joanna Youngs last blog post..Asking Questions For A Change: Part IV of the Questions Series
Hey Karen,
I read this the other day and was like, I know what you mean but for Hockey!
My husband wants the girls to go out for hockey, but frankly, I’m tired of cold rinks and long drives to play opponents! I’d much rather go through multiple four hour performances of dance.
Lisa Callsens last blog post..Introducing Shai Orbach – an Israeli Coda
@Lisa,
Yeah, we did hockey very, very briefly– for a week at a deaf camp! I was so happy that none of the kids wanted to take that up.
@Jackie
Yes, David is really enjoying the camp so far and I don’t mind driving him as I’m getting some writing done each morning!
@Beamer,
See, that’s one of my fears, that he’ll mess up his body for life!
I know how you feel- in our house, it is ice hockey! Not only is it a very physical sport, but its also expensive to play!
Leahs last blog post..Carving Our Own Path