September 9th, 2011 by CrispRoot

To some, it seemed like it was never going to get here – for a lot of reasons, this time around – but get here it did… and on 9/8 at 8:30 p.m. EDT, the 92^nd NFL season kicks off. Literally.

This year, game one, or “Game One” as NFL aficionados would put it, will be held on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. Being as the game time temperature will likely being the middle 60’s, frozen the tundra won’t be…  but no true football fan can ever hear the words “Lambeau Field” without mentally adding the words “frozen tundra” in their head, most likely in a deep and foreboding announcer’s voice.

256 regular season and 11 post season games from now, we’ll know who wins it all. But for now, that doesn’t matter.  Right now all 32 teams are equal, mathematically at least, so fans of each team can believe this is their year, that their team has as good a shot at winning the Super Bowl as any other team*.  And, if the pattern of recent seasons holds, a few cellar dwellers from last year will rise up and contend, while a few playoff teams from a year ago will find themselves on the outside looking in come playoff time.  (*Carolina Panther fans, your faithful blogger included, are sadly exempt from this in 2012.)

Admittedly, for all but diehard fans, getting into the true football spirit when there are still leaves on the trees – or here in the land of CrispRoot, while tourists still roam the beaches –  may take another month or two.  Actually, this may be the reason the San Diego Chargers always get off to a slow start…

However – whether it’s now or in late October, you’ll give in.  You’ll catch the bug.  There’s something about the return of football that resonates in American culture. It could be that it evokes pictures of tailgating outside the stadium, or having your friends over to watch a big game.  Maybe it’s the association with the fact that the year is winding down, and that the holidays are right around the corner with their festivity and family get-togethers, etc.

Or maybe it’s that you just like watching 300 pound men try to pound each other into the ground… or for that matter, watching 95 pound cheerleaders doing their thing.  It’s a free country – you can like football for whatever reason you want!  The point is, like it we do.  C’mon, would the NFL be a nine billion dollar industry if we didn’t?

So, in honor of the return of NFL football, a poem:

Yes, it’s September, with the Saints at Green Bay… while the rest wait for Sunday before they can play.  So get out your jerseys, your team hats, your flags.  Head to the stadium – don’t forget, security checks all bags.  Watch your team romp, then sit back and grin… or see them get walloped, and take it on the chin. They’ll be draw plays and screens, hand offs and bombs… and maybe a trick play on fourth down and long.  For one reason or another, you’ll likely jump up and cheer… so let the networks rejoice, the NFL season is here!

OK, CrispRooters – to get you thinking, and to get your mind off bad poetry, here’s a challenge for you:  Can you name the ten teams who have never won a SuperBowl? For bonus points, how about the four who have never even been to a Super Bowl?  No fair looking it up – just post your best guess and let the chips (cassava chips?) fall where they may.

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