…training camp!

We like to hear those two words. Its like our “football-seasoned” appetizer has just arrived at our table, as our main course is nearing (the regular season).  Well, then you have preseason games, which really doesn’t have a positive flavor in our football fix (as a $60 ticket for a game that doesn’t count and doesn’t really taste that good).     But still, preseason football is still football (just like bad buffalo wings & burnt fries still get eaten), we do like watching ALL four quarters on our big screen HDTV’s.  Watching undrafted rookie free agents SHINE (at least for their quick moment) and watching the superstars socialize with each other and interview with standard cliche’ answers  on the sidelines, “…one game at a time…”

Then there are the worries: The injuries    You can only hope that your favorite players have shown up in decent shape so that training camp, drills & practices do not create any NEW injuries.  JUST STAY HEALTHY and STAY AVAILABLE!!!!    Little by little, these high performance machines are getting tinkered, pumped torked & flexed into game shape. Yet if you push their engine too far,  car problems can occur and a gasket may blow or a block may get cracked.   So we all hope the hamstrings stay healthy, knee injuries are just minor, groin/abdominal injuries are slight and ligaments & bones are normal.

And that’s just the body and the guts – or the tools, motor & parts from the neck down…

What about the HEAD, the BRAINS?  Learning the playbook, adapting to new schemes, working well with your teammates,  new coaches, new positions (and the good ole’ concussion).

It’s honestly amazing how complicated you may think this 2012 training camp really is & how much rides on it. But in actuality IT’S ONLY A GAME (a race or a course).  A game that has changed our culture and dominates our interests.  A game that keeps us connected to Twitter daily, fan-blogs and to football-related websites during the entire off-season ( just because we NEED TO KNOW whats happening with our team, the players,  Mr. General Manager and every free agent still available).

This game isn’t a game at all anymore is it?   It’s a routine. It’s a social outlet, a stalker-fetish, a daily read or should I say: a secondary life…

“…Wait, what’s that?  Who got the latest DUI, who has a new non-profit organization, who shot them self, who went cliff diving, who wrecked their motorcycle, who had their 6th child, who remains unsigned, who’s suing him, who retired, he did what to his mother???”

So preseason is next, followed by our fantasy football drafts and THEN we will have our main course (the regular season), only to hope for a sweet desert in the end.

—James Fedewa