Football. Wow.

When I was growing up, I developed a strong dislike for football. This was tied directly to the fact that my dad loved to watch football, and I loved to have my dad's full attention. Whenever he was watching football, his eyes glazed over and he got this far away voice, and it took him several hours to answer the simplest questions. I would say things like, "when is this game going to be over?!!!" Dad would respond, "there's just one minute left." An hour later, he would still be claiming that there were only 15 seconds left or something equally unbelievable to anyone that could tell time. When I left home to find my way in the world, football continued to play a role in my relationship with my father. I often received letters or emails with detailed descriptions of the latest great game he had watched, as though these things had some kind of relevance in my life.

This morning my dad called to tell me that he had enjoyed looking at some photographs I sent him. The topic soon drifted to Boise State's amazing game against Oklahoma last night in the Fiesta Bowl. According to my dad, this was the greatest game he ever watched in his ENTIRE LIFE. He was so excited, he went into some kind of play by play recap of the entire second half and overtime. I could not understand a word that he said, it was nothing but secret-code-language football jargon, but since I had at least gathered that BSU won, I just kept repeating, "wow." He promised that he would bring the tape of the game to Michigan on his upcoming visit so that we could watch the whole thing together, complete with his commentary on all of Boise's players. I can't wait to see him. And as for the game? Wow.