Football Finesse - Ain't Oxymoronic any more

Any given Sunday, heck!! any given day..I was not a serious football fan. I always viewed it as a game that was designed to appeal to the self-indulgence of power and ferocity, a game that treated its players as crash test dummies - 250lb dummies. And finally a game that was single handedly supporting the beer, wings and all the finger food economy. You get the flow of my cynicism :)

All that changed last nite. The Rose Bowl sure lived up to the advertised excitement and all that football finesse. I say finesse, because, for the first time I could interpret the nuances of a solid defense and rush plays. The game sense of making a 2 point play after touch down rather than taking a 1 point goal kick. The edge that a team has if your quarterback is a darn good rushing offensive player as well.

Strangely so, I have been keeping up with all the football action this year - NFL and college football. Right from being disappointed to see the Colts come that close to the dolphins record set in 1972 (16 straight wins in regular season) to the disastrous season that the Falcons have had. And, talking about Falcons, here are my four words about Vick. Vick was once Vince.

Watching Vince Young play yesterday was like watching a fire spitting mammoth dragon having the nimble skills of a Russian gymnast doing a floor routine. I hope Vince doesn’t fall prey to the cautious play techniques that NFL players employ to avoid injuries and lose million dollar contracts in the process. Well!! I don’t blame them, but somewhere there the spirit of football (hitherto undiscovered for me) is lost.

So with this new found spirit I am looking forward to watch the super bowl on Feb 5th and yes! With lots of finger food and beer to wet my sporting appetite. Let’s hope the colts make it there to save the pride and consistency of a 13-0 winning streak they enjoyed.