Sports is such an intrinsic part of this country’s psyche that it permeates every facet of American life. Sports metaphors are used in daily conversations, in business meetings and in the political arena. Talks of “home-runs and slam-dunks” can leave the uninitiated fumbling for an appropriate response. If you don’t understand sports, you can’t understand America.
With the Super Bowl next week, I am reminded that I spent the first few years of my life in America blissfully ignoring football. Several dates ended unsuccessfully because I expressed a total lack of interest in the game. It was not until a few career moves landed me a seat in management meetings that I started to take it seriously. Many presenters used football analogies and most of the time I didn’t get the point. First time I heard someone speak of “tossing a Hail Mary”, I thought they meant we had to pray!
It also did not help that my then boyfriend was a total sports freak who watched all the games, plus the re-runs, plus the analysis, on all the different channels. It became painfully obvious that I needed a crash course in the game, if only to understand what was going on around me.
To educate myself, I spent time reading the basic rules on the internet and watching the game on my own. I now know enough to casually toss in appropriate one liners in conversation and this Sunday, I am throwing my first Super Bowl Party. I guess I am no longer a rookie. Touchdown!
P.S. Go Steelers!
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