How I Watch Football

Seems like I've loved football all my life. Watching on TV is a lot of fun and I enjoy games when none of my favorite teams are participating. I just pick one of the two in the game and cheer for them.

Over the years, as I've gotten more familiar with the rules, listening to the announcers, commentators, and other talking heads has become boring, tedious, and irritating.

Many times, while watching an LSU game on TV, I would "MUTE" the sound and tune in on the radio so I could hear Jim Hawthorne, the "Voice of the Tigers". Living in the mountains of North Carolina makes it difficult to hear Jim now, so I've come up with another solution -- and it works for any game!

Again, I hit the "mute" button and now, I turn on my CD player and listen to OPERA!

Yes, you read that correctly, opera. One of my favorite performers is Kiri Te Kanawa.

One aspect of opera that appeals to me is the emotion -- and football games are full of emotion! Whether your favorite team is winning or loosing, it's a emotional roller coaster throughout. Years ago, the schools' bands were featured at half-time. Now we just get more commercials and talking heads.

Many public broadcast stations present the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday afternoons and that's great timing for college games.

NFL Films actually filmed a "Hi Mom Opera" years ago and that's where I got the idea. To see it, go to this link and skip all the way over to the last segment, at the "40 min" marker.

It's going to be a long time till football ends next year (the Superbowl isn't until May 2011), so enjoy the opera and have a great season!