Homecoming was just a little while ago, and I have to admit that I’m not sure who we were playing against or whether we even won. This is not because I’m lacking in school spirit; rather, I just don’t know much about football.
I always hear this little gasp of amazement from others when I confess my indifference to football. It’s like saying you don’t eat chocolate or you don’t think pandas are cute.
It’s not that I don’t like sports. I’m not an avid follower, but I pay attention when the soccer World Cup or the Olympics roll around. I like watching swim competitions and figure skating. While I don’t go out of my way to watch more standard sports, I have at least managed to maintain interest throughout games of soccer, basketball, and baseball.
Why does football seem to have this primacy in our sporting culture? I can understand why people are interested, but what I don’t get is what sets football apart from baseball and basketball, which are also very popular sports in the U.S. Why is homecoming usually centered around football? There are some schools that hold homecoming for basketball teams, but I think those tend to be the ones without football teams.
I am going to surmise that I am not the first person who has wondered why football is so much bigger than other sports. People who know a lot more about sports than I do have probably already written long essays about this topic. Nevertheless, it’d be nice to celebrate a few other sports for a change.
