Touchdown!

For most of Planet Earth's human population, the word "football" conjures up thoughts of kicking a ball around on a field. For those of us in the US, the word means something entirely different. Our version of football - or football américain, as the French call it - involves things such as quarterbacks, goal posts, and first downs. There are different point values for different actions, the players wear helmets, and using your hands isn't against the rules, it's necessary for the game. I am a huge fan of American football and an even bigger fan of my hometown team, The Minnesota Vikings. For the past two years I've spent football season in Washington, DC, where the only hope of seeing a Vikings game on local television was if they would play one of the local teams. For two years I've been starved for Minnesota football action. This fall, I'm making up for lost time, and with the season opener being played against our biggest rivals and during the much-coveted Monday night time slot, things are looking up.

I pretty much love everything about American football. I love the Sunday morning pre-game shows, I love the halftime updates and I love the Monday morning quarterbacking. I love the breakaway runs, I love the trick plays and I love the hail marys. I love the snacks you eat during the game and, of course, I love the Super Bowl.

Unfortunately, I also love the Vikings. Our team has been in existence since 1961 and yet has never won the Super Bowl. We're the team that all the other teams break records against. In 1999 we scored more points in a single season than any other team in NFL history (we have since been out-scored by the New England Patriots), and still managed to lose the NFC championship game because our field goal kicker decided that the only field goal he would miss the entire year would be the one that would have been the game winner. So we'll probably lose tonight, but what I lack in optimism I make up for in dedication. I'm not a fair-weather fan. Go ahead, lose! I'm just happy I finally get to watch the game.