Dear (_____)

Dear American football,

I can understand why you are not beloved by all.  We can start at the open invitation to violence; the idea that you don't have to be better than the person you're against in terms of actual skills required to perform your particular task, if you can just outright put them off and maybe out of their ability to do their job.  Technically speaking, being a sport means playing your sport, not mauling someone to death in lieu of the ability to perform.

We can go to concussions and human attrition.  We can go to the profiteering and cattle.  We can also go to the idea that every season has incredible twists and turns that couldn't be written if you had all of the starting elements and the end in hand.  Let's harp on that part.

16 episodes.  Each one critical no matter how lame the actual episode is.  Each one is significant until the season ends and holds little hints and spoilers even though a person can see the likely season finale.  Thinking about it, I can see how some people can get frustrated with football fans.  I've said it myself about television and cable shows.  "How can you keep watching this.  It's seven seasons in and you know who lives and who dies at the end every year.  Every year is the same.  Blah blah blah, oh my gawd it turns out he wasn't dead, only in a coma, or was it amnesia, blah blah blah, the gunman was the sister after all, blah blah blah, it was all a dream, he was driving the car that hit him, aliens abducted the cat!"

Duh!  Oh, what a twist, yadda yadda yadda, and superbowl pageant, yaddayaddayadda, and water cooler talk and speculation and rumors until the next season.  I can see it, now.  More than ever before.  American football, I can see how you haven't grown on everyone.  Repetitive formulaic television shows, I can see how you haven't grown on everyone.  I get it.




Go Steelers,

a fan