I am a football fanatic. I was raised watching college football every Saturday and the NFL every Sunday. Nowadays, my weekend plans are made around the time the Penn State game is on and my friends pretty much know that fall Saturdays means I am unavailable.
Watching sports can be a great way to bond with someone or strike up a conversation. Penn State games continue to be a way that I bond with my entire family, especially my parents. I remember watching football games with my Grandpa and Dad when I was little and getting so excited when I was able to identify a player or make a call. On top of that, if you're with someone who spends their Sundays engulfed in fantasy football, it might make it a little less dreadful to know a little bit of what is going on.
Here is my little crash course on football and HOW to watch football with someone!
- Don't root against your significant others team to be cutesy. If you genuinely like the team, cheer your heart out, but if you could care less just cheer for your boo's team. As a female who gets super passionate about her teams, I can only imagine how crazy some guys can get.
- Try to get to a game. When you go to a game you can totally feel the amazing energy and perhaps get a better understanding of why your significant other is so passionate about it.
The SUPER basics of football:
- The team with the ball at the moment is called the offense, the team without the ball, trying to stop them, is the defense.
- A touchdown, where someone runs into or catches the ball in the endzone (the part of the field with no numbers on it and the team's name or logo) is worth 6 points. The team is automatically given a a try to kick an extra point which makes it 7 points total.
- A field goal, where someone kicks the ball through the uprights (the giant plastic U thing), is worth 3 points.
- The goal of the offense is to get a first down, which is to gain 10 yards. (A football field is 100 yards) The offense has 4 tries to get 10 yards. However, most times you will only see a team try 3 times because if they do not get it on the 4th try they automatically give the ball to the defense.
- If a team does not get a first down, they have to punt the ball to the other team. A punt is a fancy word for a kick.
- There could be a turnover. A turnover can be an interception or a fumble. An interception is when the quarterback (person who throws the ball) throws the ball and someone from the defense catches it. A fumble is when someone on the offense who has the ball either drops it or has it taken from them by someone on the defense.
- There are 4 quarters in a game which are each 15 minutes and a half time which is also around 15 minutes. However, NO game is ever just an hour and 15 minutes. Between commercial breaks and penalties and timeouts expect to carve out a good 3 hours to watch a game.
- Try to enjoy! Even though you may went to yell at someone "IT'S JUST A GAME!!" when they get mad or upset while watching a game (and it totally is) some people are incredibly passionate about their sports and have spent years invested in a team. Let them be upset after a tough loss for the remainder of the day. If they are still being sore losers after that though, it's time for some tough love!!
Are you a football fan?
Who is your team?
Comment below and let me know!
Labels: adulting 101, basics, dating, football, sports
