Every now and then people have to make tough decisions. I am finding that as you get older these tough decisions come with increasingly alarming speed and regularity. The toughest decisions are often those where financial expediency trumps a lack of desire to do something. This is one of those times because bills have to be paid so half a league, half a league, half a league onward.
Everyone has their little peccadilloes when it comes to the sports that they care about. Everyone does something a little different, a little off, something that you wouldn't like your co workers to know that you partook in away from the office or the workplace. I am no different, I have several of them. I don't like to sit down, ever. I like to yell touch after every 5 yard game thinking it is going to be a TD. I often refer to players by nicknames that I either know that they go by from personal experience, For example Curtis Young last year is known as Pig to just about everyone, or that I appoint upon them. The example there is Dustin Grutza who forever shall be known to me and my old roommate as IOG, Instant Offense Grutza, after Al's penchant for benching Gutza for a 4 star Freshman on the NCAA 07 video game until he threw a pick or something. At which point he would put Grutza, his impact player and captain, in the game where he would invariably lead the team to victory. Either way almost no one has heard of the nicknames that I yell on a frequent basis when I attend games in person. As a result I am given a wide berth by the people that are around me. And any person who is unfortunate to have come to the game with me is made to feel a sense of deep deep shame.
As a result I prefer to watch games at home with a nice TV and a DVR. Don't get me wrong, I love going to Nippert, I love the feel of the place, the atmosphere, hell even the long lines to go to the bathroom. OK so I don't love the last one. But I do adore the experience of a game at Nippert when it is packed, loud and rocking. There are few things like it anywhere in the sport. But TV is the best of both worlds for me personally because I enjoy the game on two very distinct levels.
I get into it at a very visceral level. The bands, the noise, the crowd I enjoy all of that, they are vital parts of my Football experience, and when I go see a game live in person they are great for giving me a sense of the game. Additionally it is very easy to determine where the mind of a fan base is by going to a game and listening to how the crowd reacts to an adverse event like a pick or a turnover. That is more important to me now that I have this blog and I have to sort of predict where the fan base is residing at any given week. So all of that is sort of wrapped up in the visceral experience of the thing, and while you can't get the kind of detail on TV as you can in person, you can get a sense of the important ones watching on your couch.
But the area where I find the most enjoyment out of Football is at an analytical level. Anyone who has read this blog for a little while has probably come to figure that out. I like to see where things are happening, but more importantly why things are happening. I get sucked into the battles within the battle. I want to know what personnel groupings are on the field and when. I am not a detail oriented person in my life, I am aware of them, but I don't focus on them. In Football I am 100 per cent detail oriented at all times. While it is possible to grasp those things watching live, its quicker and easier to do it at home, and that's not even touching how good DVR is at enhancing this side of the story. That's why I enjoy games at home more than other people do, well at least more than other people I know do.