NFL Football is On!

Alright folks, the 2011 NFL season is on. Please be warned that the first pre-season game is scheduled for August 11. Over the next few weeks, the NFL will try to cram the business usually done over the four – five months they have lost. Expect your fan to be tuned in to their preferred news outlet from now through the end of August. Here are a few articles that will help you understand a few aspects of the New Deal.

What is coming the next few weeks:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/don_banks/07/25/free.agency.frenzy/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_t11_a1

What the agreement has outlined:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/07/25/nfl.deal/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1

The season match-ups and a bit more on how that is determined:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81d70273/article/2011-teambyteam-opponents

Schedules:

http://www.nfl.com/schedules

Smack talk

A quick word on smack talk. You have probalbly heard the adage, “you can dish it out, but you can’t take it”, smack talk definately falls in the scope of this adage. If you are not familiar with football, I encourage you to refrain from smack talk for the first season. Smack talk can be personal and rather crass. Fantasy football smack talk is known to get particularly nasty.
My fan and friends have been dishing a lot the last few days, just one more indicator that the season is quickly approaching. So, if you hear your fan and friends getting into verbal sparring matches, fear not, it is all part of the culture and “fun” of the game.

Stop fighting over football!

It is July 14th, there is a heat wave sweeping the nation and at least 40 days until the first scrimmage, so why am I writing about football?  Well the season rosters are out, this year’s ea sports video game is about to hit stores and your fan is already thinking about it.  Have you walked in on them watching last year’s playoffs game on tv?  Have you seen the sports websites open on their computers?  It’s coming, the question is, what are you going to do with this season?

Are you going to:

A. Fight over every hour they are hooked to the TV/Sports Radio/Computer?

B. Enjoy the time they are yelling at the screen to catch up with your friends?

C. Turn irritation into intimacy by sharing this passion with your fan?

D. Some combination of B and C?

E. Find someone new who doesn’t like football

If you chose E, good luck to you, there is nothing I can do to help you.  Though I encourage you to reconsider.  Football fans are a passionate and loyal lot.

If you chose any other letter, let’s chat.  You have an opportunity to start your season off on a great footing.  No matter how long you have been with your fan, each season has the sense of new hope, new opportunity and the potential for being a year for the record books.  

One of the key areas of friction in any fan, non-fan relationship is scheduling.  The season may be short to the fan, but it can get pretty long for the non-fan.  Scheduling friction can be avoided with pre-season communication. 

First step, figure out their favorite team and their least favorite team.  This is a pretty simple task, you can ask or you can look at all of the paraphernalia that is lying around.  If they have a beat Bama flag flying it is pretty safe guess their team is in the SEC.  (more about what SEC stands for later).

Second step plug your fan’s team into your preferred search engine and ask for the schedule for the season.  Print it out and put it on the fridge.

Third step, get out your social calendar for the fall. 

Fourth step, find an evening you are both free, order in your favorite treats and schedule your season.  Let your fan know what dates you definitely need their attention.  Let your fan tell you what dates you will not be their primary focus.  

Fifth step, put all the dates on a central calendar.  When a compromise is necessary, circle the winning event in ink.  This way if you or your fan develop mid-season amnesia about Aunt Susie’s 80th birthday party, it is right there next to the away game at rivalry U, with the circle to prove which one will be getting the nod.

Sixth step, figure out the last weekend before the season starts.  Schedule a great date weekend.  Pamper yourself and your fan and most importantly, enjoy their undivided attention.

Best wishes for a great pre-season.

Wedding season to football seasom

So I find myself sitting in an airport delayed for hours. My fan is getting wrestless, we have been up since three and there have been several grueling weeks leading up to this vacation. Thank goodness the news stand has some football pre-view magazines!! Thank you, football! We also just heard that the Ohio State coach just resigned. ESPN updates on that story will also prove interesting until we get on the plane. Happy pre-season!

When the game is an impotant one

So when it is a big game day, tread lightly. I was just teasing a little, saying I was going to call a friend and start the smack talk. I was qwelled with a look.

Stopping the clock

Stopping the clock:
The play clock can be stopped in multiple ways:
1. Quarterback or coaching staff can call a time-out
2. Player who has the ball goes out of bounds
3. NFL has a mandatory time-out before the beginning of the last two minutes of the final quarter.

Friends, Football and Food

We had a great time last night with an impromptu dinner party and game watching experience.  We had some good friends who also love football over for some grilling and AU game watching.  We had a lovely evening and it made me think that it is time to stock the pantry for the season.

Grocery List:

Fixings for Chili

Chips and Dips

Frozen Pizza

Pizza Rolls

Brunch materials: Bacon, pancake mix and hashbrown casserole ingredients

Stash of my fan’s favorite liquor and mix

I like to have enough so that if we have a crowd for a game, we already have the food covered.  This also helps with budgeting.  My philosophy is that thinking ahead this way is a lot cheaper than going out to eat or ordering in.

Saturdays in Fall

At a gas station in Decatur, AL this morning I had the privilege of watching two rival factions preparing for tonight’s game.  In one car, blue and orange clad supporters poured ice over coolers.  In a Bama-red pickup two slots over, another set of supporters was prepping for their tailgate.  The atmosphere was civil and excited with a minimal of smack talk.  The first Saturday of college football, oh the possibility, the hope, this could be the year.  I was in the car surrounded by Bama fans, had this been the Iron Bowl, I imagine there would have been tension, but today it was more like Christmas eve, the anticipation of what is to come veritably crackled in the fall air.

First night of college football

Welcome to the first Thursday of college football.  Yes, there have been games going on before tonight, I think this one actually counts towards the championships.  Feel free to correct me.    Either way, we are in full-on football mode in my house.  I am crunching numbers for the wedding, yes, we have gone from dating the football fan to marrying the fan.  Getting the fan to focus on the numbers I am crunching is not happening.  I had him for 30 minutes when one slow game was ending and before the next one started.  Timing is everything in football and in engaging your fan’s attention.   That is fine though, I am no better when I am in the middle of a painting or the last two chapters of a good book. 

This is when I would like to make a suggestion to those of you who do not have a DVR.  If you really would like to have a decent conversation with your fan during a game, I recommend that you invest in a DVR.  Fans, if you are in the middle of a significant life change with your partner, or they are new to the game, I recommend you invest in a DVR.  There are few things more annoying than being interrupted.  If you have a DVR you miss nothing, you pause the game, answer the question, rewind the game and move on.  If it happens repeatedly, you pause the game, request an alternate time to discuss the issue, unless the house is burning around you, ya might want to get up for that one.

2010 Season

Hi Everyone! We are back for the 2010 season.

In my family that season starts today with the first of three fantasy football drafts. This is also the first of many afternoons to entertain myself as I choose.  Ah the freedom.  Today will not be incredibly exciting, just some laundry and a Jane Austin movie marathon.

For those of you not familiar with what is entailed in a fantasy football draft, let’s run through the basics.

About two to four weeks before the draft your fan will start listening to more sports radio, have an increased number of calls from his league mates and in general begin to exhibit signs of pre-season excitement and distraction.  In the days leading up to the draft, your fan will spend inordinate amounts of time on the phone talking strategy, researching strategy and creating their materials to take with them to the draft.   They will need time and space for these activities.  I encourage you to ask when the drafts will take place and plan to do something fun for yourself. 

If you are interested in learning more, I encourage you to ask your fan the following questions:
1. Is your league a keeper league?
(Do they get to keep some of the players that performed well for them last year?)

2. Will you be doing the draft on-line or in-person

(This is key for your personal planning – If the draft will be done from home – I recommend you make your fan some food and find something else to do either out-of-the house or at least on the other side of the house.  interrupting the draft is not wise.  Drafts can take a significant amount of time, I encourage you to plan accordingly.  Example: My fan left at 2pm and I do not expect to see him until probably 10 or 11pm.)

3.  What is the most important position for you this year?

(If you are new to dating a football fan, this piece of information will be an anchor for you during the season.  Once your fan has drafted their players in that position, spend 15 minutes and do a little research on those players and what the function of that position is on a football team.  Knowing something about the individual player and the role they have in the game will make the experience of watching them more interesting for you.  An added bonus, by showing interest, you will be earning brownie points with your fan.)

Alright, I am off to Blockbuster.

If you are new to the site, check out some of last year’s posts, they will help you get ready for the season. 

Talk to you soon!