Sports Talk

I’m not a big fan of organized sports. People going out and playing a game, sure, get some fresh air and have some fun. I enjoy watching the Olympics. But team sports are mostly boring for me, and it’s rare that I want to watch someone play a game.

I used to love horse racing, but when I found out how horribly the horses are treated in the US, I vowed to not watch anymore. The short version is that they run injured horses, treating them with painkillers and antibiotics and such, so they are much more likely to break a leg (also, American Thoroughbreds are bred to have thinner legs, it makes them faster) and they are then euthanized. So I’m out. I don’t like football for similar reasons. I mean, football has always bored me, so not watching is not the loss for me personally that horse racing is. But when I read about the extreme health conditions that football players suffer from, I find it hard to believe that we collectively ignore it and still let these athletes go out and take these risks.

That doesn’t mean I wasn’t excited when our local WNBA team won the playoffs recently! I mean, I wasn’t paying attention, didn’t realize the playoffs were going on, etc. But still! Go team!

Maya’s high school has a really good Varsity Girls’ Flag Football team, and Ted said he wanted to go and see them play. OK, no brain damage likely, so I’m in! We went on Saturday evening, and it was a lot of fun to see our team, especially since they won the championship for their division! The last football games I attended were the Freshman Boys’ team when Maya was a cheerleader many years ago. So, what’s different (between the varsity boys tackle team and the varsity girls flag team – many of these things were true for the Freshman back then, though they did have halftime and cheerleaders). Well, it was on a Saturday at 5pm, and I would say 90% of the people attending were families. There was no band, and there are no cheerleaders. The halftime was more a break than an event. I suspect that if the varsity Boys’ team were playing at end of their season (especially since the team was undefeated) there would be a lot more public interest and more money spent.

Regarding the play itself, it’s pretty different. The girls do not wear any kind of protective gear. No helmets, no padding, no shin guards, nothing. Shorts, jerseys, and gloves. When a football player with padding catches the ball, their chest is protected by padding, and that padding absorbs some of the hit. When a flag football player catches the ball, it’s just their hands and their body. Because they’re not trying to sack each other, just grab the flag, it’s closer to tag than football, but of course they are kicking, throwing, catching, and making goals.

Overall it was fun to go out and do something different, especially since we were home by 7:00 to watch Bake-off. I doubt I am going to become a huge fan, but I did enjoy supporting the girls, and am glad that they won. I will admit that I kind of hoped the other team would get at least one goal (final score was 19-0), so it wasn’t so much of a shut out. Ted said that the other team had been dominating the other teams they played, so not to worry about it. He’s smart that way.