As early as I can remember, my father has watched football on television (as long as there was a station showing the game). To my knowledge he never saw a game in person, but that didn’t matter to him. He would say that you get a much better view of the game at home. Especially as technology advanced and instant replays and screen overlay graphics became more popular. I also cannot recall him having a favorite team, though back in the day he really enjoyed watching Dallas Cowboy games and it wasn’t for their football 🙂
Yes, Dad was a fan of the game. If there was a game on, he wanted to be watching it. He was excited each time additional game days were added to the schedule. The games were also incorporated into our holiday traditions as we needed to have things picked up and quieted down by the time games came on. Being from San Diego, you would think he’d be a die hard Chargers fan and in their better years I am sure he was, but mostly his discussion about the Chargers were how their offense would put them in position to win the game early and in the late game their defense would give the game away. Really pissed him off when they would lose the game in the fourth quarter.
Dad was a big fan of going to football parties, preferring to stay at home where he can sit peacefully in his leany-back chair and watch the game. Sometimes drifting off to La-La land when the game got boring or when his eyelids became too heavy. I get the feeling that dad was a bit disappointed that none of his boys shared the passion he had for this game. I’m sure he would have liked to have someone else in the family to arm-chair quarterback with, but at least he had they guys at work or at the gym to talk football shop. There is no doubt that the game will be the only topic discussed at the gym tomorrow.
This season (2014) there was no football on the television in my father’s house. My father is not watching the Super Bowl as I type this. I have spent a good portion of the day today thinking about my father and how strange it is that we aren’t sharing a beer while I feign interest in the game. If I couldn’t think of something to say to my father, I knew I could always ask, “What time is the game on today?”
As for this Super Bowl, well I have watched some of it. Dad would have enjoyed this game. He would have had a difficult time choosing which team to root for and I think those were his favorite games because he wasn’t disappointed in the outcome. He would have thought both teams worthy of playing in today’s game. He also would have been dismissive of the ‘Deflate gate’ scandal, choosing to brush it off as a big nothing that the news used to fill some empty space due to the lack of real news. Here in the fourth quarter it might be looking grim for the Pats and that would have given dad a reason to root for them over the Seahawks. I too hope the Pats can pull it out, mostly because I really like Brady.
Football is surely missing a fan today!
UPDATE: The game is over and dad would have definitely enjoyed that 4th quarter. What an exciting final 5 minutes.