I have fallen in love with an old friend

but it's probably not what you think.

In general, I like sports, but there are a few I LOVE. However, even with the sports I love, I need to be rooting for a team in order to keep my interest and make me pay attention over an entire season, but I still do love them and can appreciate watching teams I don't root for.  I just don't go out of my way to do that. So anyway, as sports goes I LOVE...

Basketball (MSU Spartans and Detroit Pistons. I used to love the Seattle Supersonics, too)
Ice Hockey (Detroit Red Wings)
Soccer or Football as it's known (more accurately) over here. (Arsenal)

Those were my three...until this year.

American football (I have to call it that or my British friends will jump down my throat about how it's not proper football-they probably will anyway) has never really peaked my interest much.  I found the game a bit slow with too many pauses in between plays.  I always saw cheering on my alma mater, MSU, during football games more of a social event and a good time to be spent with my college buddies. If I hadn't gotten a head's up about certain football games from my friends, I really wouldn't have cared.

It's not as if I could ignore American football. I grew up with it, as pretty much most every American kid did.  I played it with friends in my neighborhood and knew the rules, etc.  However, as I said it didn't really interest me much.  Since I was in the marching band in high school, I had to go to every home game, but I still just didn't care much. After high school I attended MSU. That year we played in the Rose Bowl and I still wasn't bothered. After graduation I moved to Seattle. My ex-boyfriend in Seattle and I lived together for several years, and he was and avid Seahawks fan, an avid football fan in general. I'd be in the kitchen baking or in the bedroom writing or reading and he'd yell for me to come into the living room to see the replay of some amazing touchdown or something. If anything, that just turned me off to American football.

But something happened this year.

I'm not certain exactly when American football seduced me.  Perhaps it was just seeing my facebook feed with posts from my friends back in Seattle about the Seahawks all season, but I would find myself looking up results on the internet when I woke up in the morning or searching for them at my lunch breaks.  Perhaps it was because the Detroit Lions actually won on Thanksgiving that made me start tracking MSU's football results (For me there was a link between these two teams). Whatever the reason, whatever it was, I was starting to really pay attention to American football.

It's as if an old friend from childhood got in touch with me and we started to chat. He started to flirt with me a bit and became interesting. I knew about him, knew him fairly well in fact since I grew up with him, but suddenly the things he was into that seemed dull now fascinated me and he became REALLY attractive.  Now I am in love and in another long distance relationship.

And it's been a good season to fall in love with American football as far as my teams are concerned.  MSU went to the Rose Bowl...and won.  This time I cared so much I screamed at the television until I was hoarse and cried a little when we won. And, tonight the Seattle Seahwaks are about to play in Superbowl 48.  I will be watching over here in London, which means I'll be up until 4am, trying my best to not anger my neighbors.

And so, victory tonight or no, I can honestly say I've fallen in love with American Football.

GO HAWKS!