FOOTBALL---I Love It! I Hate It! And I Shouldn’t Even Care!

I think my life would be a lot better without football. In all honesty, I love the game and always have. Even as a small child I could watch it all the time. As a teenager I would long for Saturdays to watch college football. I still like it, but not as much. Having a wife and kids and a grown up job and responsibilities kind of helps put things in perspective. Football is JUST a game. But why is it a game that affects emotions (including mine) so much?

This past weekend was a tale of two games for me. Friday night I was thrilled to see our Pleasanton Blu-Jays knock off country rival Jayhawk-Linn 13-8. We were 0-2 before this week, and actually hadn’t scored a point yet this year. So we (the team and the town) needed the victory. It gave us some confidence. It gave us bragging rights. It gave us at least a glimmer of joy in an otherwise miserable existence (sorry---maybe things aren’t quite THAT bad). I was happy about the football game on Friday night. But Saturday was a different story…

(WARNING--If you don’t watch or understand college football then skip this paragraph, it may not make sense to you). Saturday I watched my beloved Oklahoma Sooners get “ripped” out of a sure victory over Oregon. OU led by 2 touchdowns with 2 minutes left and lost---partially because of an illegal onside kick that was reviewed by the referees on an instant replay and allowed to stand. WHAT’S THE POINT OF HAVING INSTANT REPLAY IF YOUR NOT GOING TO OVERTURN BAD CALLS?!! Of course it has to be “indisputable video evidence.” How much more “indisputable” does it have to be? Dan Fouts (a graduate of Oregon who had no business announcing the game) even called the call “ridiculous.” It cost OU the game, and maybe a shot at a National Championship, and even worse than that----it ruined my evening!

To be honest, I’m ashamed of myself for caring so much. Life and death doesn’t hinge on this game. No one is going to perish because of this game. My life isn’t even really affected that much because of the outcome of a game. Although if Pleasanton had lost the other night I might have needed to provide some pastoral counseling to a few of our high school boys. Why do I get so wrapped up football anyway? An hour after the OU game I was looking over my sermon and had actually reached a point of “forgetting” about the game. I was focused where I should be--on God. Then I walked through the living room, saw the TV, and all of those horrible memories came crashing back into my mind. I sat and watched a 4 hour long football game that was painfully lengthened because of “video reviews.” The refs were reviewing everything under the sun and yet it did nothing for the game. For about1/5 of the game the TV screen showed a slack-jawed ref with a headset on talking to a “review official” way up in the booth who was telling the ref what just happened RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. It seemed that the whole afternoon was a waste of time. Oklahoma lost anyway, so what’s the point? Now, I wish I had just NOT watched the game and found out the score tomorrow.

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So what IS my point? Sports can be fun. Everyone needs an outlet. In all honesty one of the only things I do in life that doesn’t require much thought is watching football. I can set and stare at the game for hours and enjoy it. But I must make sure it doesn’t become TOO important to me. So must you. If I lose sleep over this game, then its WAY too important to me. When I’m in Heaven I won’t care about today’s game, or any game for that matter. Football is a game. I enjoy it (sometimes). But I must keep it in its proper place. I knew a pastor once who refused to watch Chiefs games because he would be too upset to preach on Sunday nights if he did. He was honest about his “weakness” and put his priorities in line. Let’s do the same thing and not let anything (even football) rule our emotions more than it should.

Sunday the Chiefs play Denver. I’m already assuming Denver will win. In fact I’ve already written off the season for the Chiefs. The KC Star’s Joe Posnanski said that Chief’s coach Herman Edwards offensive philosophy is so conservative that he has “tax cuts” written into the play book. (Now THAT’S funny). After living in KC for several years, I got caught up in the excitement over the Chiefs. I like to see them do good. But I’m not letting my Sundays hinge on how a game turns out. Sunday is the Lord’s day, not Dante Hall’s. I’m going to try to keep my priorities right---and I hope you do too. It won’t always be easy (Saturday almost killed me), but in the end we’ll all be better for it.

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Go Blu-Jays! Go Sooners! Go Chiefs! Go Wildcats! (yeah right--actually I hope K-State loses every game, no offense to the Umph. family). Go Jayhawks! (at least they’re coached by a former Sooner). Go FOOTBALL! Go! Get out of my life! You’re too cruel! Life would be so much easier without you!

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Until next time…

Comments

[Marilyn Michels]

Pastor Shane:

I read all of the blogs. Even the football one, I hate to admit that one. I am not a football fan. Everywhere ya go we have to hear about the games. Suddenly everyone is a coach & has all the answers of why their team has lost. Sometimes I think many make the football players their "gods" & idolize them more than they do GOD!
Marilyn

[Debi U.]

You crack me up! Even though I'm sure Kevin has no love for Oklahoma, it was outraged at the bad call, too. And of course, the Chiefs did lose, as you predicted, and will probably continue to do so. But there's always K-State - go Cats! Missed being in church today, but my back is better after a drug-induced coma for most of the day. Go pain pills!
Debi

[brian]

same with me, I love football, too much- i have not seen a game in over 3 years not even the superbowl. i dont have enough time to do all the important things, so why waste any on football, it takes you away from your family and some times God, yep for me football is gone. cant say i miss it too much, i especially dont miss the (football) commercials.

[Alex]

K-State is undefeated thank you. The "Gay-hawks", or Jayhawks as you like to call them, lost to Toledo(sp?). Who is that? I don't even know how to spell it. You are right though. We definitely know they have a former Sooner for a coach....Hehehehe....

[Shane]

Alex, Alex, Alex ...Toledo is a city in Ohio (Ohio is another state in the USA in case you're wondering). And by the way, USA stands for the United States of America.....Yeah K-State is undefeated. They beat Marshall last week and they may have beaten a couple of Junior College teams as well. I think they also beat Prairie View High School. We'll see how they do against Louisville this week. (BTW--in case you're wondering its pronounced LEWEY-ville. And its a city in Kentucky...and Kentucky is another state in the USA, And USA stands for.....nevermind.

[Alex]

Oh...You think you're real funny don't ya smart guy....

I guess we will see what happens, won't we.

BTW- KSU Wildcats are based in Manhappenin, a town in Kansas , which is in the USA. Which is the United States of America.

Which means then cannot be beaten by some loser school like Louisville.

[Shane]

Manhappenin?...Thanks for the laugh Alex, I needed that---The only thing "happenin" in Manhatten is dust storms, pig shows, and lousy football. Sorry, thats not true, the football team has been upgraded to "sub-par." What's K-State doing playing a ranked non-conference team anyway? I bet they made a mistake when they scheduled it. They thought they were scheduling EVANS-ville (division 2 cream puff) instead of LOUIS-ville (#8 in the country). Imagine the shock in Manhappenin when they see Louisville show up on Saturday. (AGHHH! run back in the locker room boys--its a REAL football team)...Seriously, I think K-State has a chance to pull the upset. BTW- Louisville's starting QB is hurt so Hunter Cantwell (Delyte's grandson) will be starting. That gives the game an interesting "Pleasanton" twist. (Go Cards)