Dont mess with football..

Most of you who have heard me chirp about sports know that I talk about every sport under the sun.  I may not be right all of the time, but I feel like I can and have given insight to the world of sports like few can.  I watch everything and I used to love playing everything.(when I had two knees of course).  I can usually talk ones ear off about tennis, baseball, basketball, boxing, golf, just to name a few.  But i don't dare however mess with talking football.
  Football should be taught as a curriculum course in college, high school and grammar school. Once you are hooked on the sport, you have an opinion and swear that you can explain defenses, offenses and special team.  You seem to understand the importance of a 40 time, the wunderlict test, the shuttle, and the standing broad jump.  You can explain the draft and why your team selected players. You can explain the direction of your team, transactions, team colors, mascot, and of course your teams play calling.  You can be the nerdiest geek, the coolest cool guy, an executive of a fortune 500 company, a lawyer, nurse, waitress, work at kinkos, beautician, a train conductor. Every person who follow pro football has something to say about his or her team.  I was at the cyber cafe yesterday and ran into a former co-worker friend of mine who is a die hard 49er fan.  He explained to me the Niners thinking on the Randy Moss transaction and where he fits in with the offense.  He talked about some of the defections on the offensive line and the draft.  He mentioned players who have less catches than I do.  I started to laugh because he left no stone unturned.  I know now more about the 49er team than I do the New York Giants who are my team.  I met a British gentlemen on the bus who hosts a radio show here in L.A. He talks my ear off about the Raiders.  Says he cant wait to get home tonight and watch the Carson Palmer interview on Espn tonight because he cant wait to hear what Palmer has planned for the season with all of the new coaches in Oakland.  I can give you several examples of people who can talk ad nauseum about their teams and no more about football than they do about their individual jobs.  The two things that most Americans can tell you about more than anything else in the world are the life and times of Tupac and the NFL.  Every person I run into out here can tell you everything you want to know about Tupac. 
 Now the reason for the post today is that Espn and the NFL network daily ask questions about what the stories are heading into the pre-season and what are the key questions beyond the pre season.  Every NFL fan has there own themes of the year and some scoff at the talking hairdos telling us what the themes could be.  The Jets seem to top everyone's list and I am fed up with them already.  Tebow and Sanchez have as many super bowl wins as I have.  Who cares about a a team that didn't even make the playoffs last year? Another story is Maurice Jones Drew.  He is on the Jacksonville Jaguars and wants a raise and wont report to camp.  Jacksonville won 3 or 4 games last year.  Is he that vital to the NFL?  what about Mike Wallace? Wes Welker?  The quarterback controversies in Cleveland, Miami, Arizona, Seattle?  Are any of those teams going to win a super bowl this year?  Iam sure that if you talk to their fans, they will be able to explain the relevance of all of these mellowdramas.  Peyton Manning starting over in Denver is must see television.  As a Giant fan I am amazed how everyone overlooks the Giants and thinks that last year was a fluke.  No one gives Eli Manning any credit for his come from behind victories.  They talk about the defense a little bit but, most pundits think that the Eagles will win the east and either the Saints, Packers, or Eagles will represent the NFC in the super bowl.  Who is to say that they are wrong?  We that is why you play the games right?
I am amazed by the passion of people when it comes to the NFL.  Some cities who don't have a professional team and have a dominant college football team have equal passion.  States like Alabama, Nebraska, South Carolina, Oklahoma just to mention a few have these rabid fans who can tell you any and everything about their teams and get rather upset when you question their knowledge.  I did a live interview last year and the only question got the interviewer angry at me was the debate over the place of Nebraska's football team in history of college football. Lets just say that I was lucky to get out of there in tact.  With fantasy football taking over most offices, it should not be a shock that football has supplanted baseball as the sport most americans follow.  Dont mess with football, cause if you do, you may not like what happens to you.