HELLO THERE football. It’s been a while.
I thought I wasn’t going to miss you. When the NFL was locked out and threatening a lost season, I was secretly telling my friends I didn’t need you. I wanted to pretend like baseball and hockey could hold me over.
Who was I kidding?
Baseball has become dull and sterile already — maybe because my Mariners are 15 games out of first — and hockey is still three months away and it’s an icy relationship at best.
Basketball? Let’s not kid ourselves. Even in my utmost state of denial, we both know basketball can’t do for me what you do.
So here I am, crawling back to you. You just have so much to offer. You have so many levels. You’re deep.
On the high school field you offer me three Kaua‘i teams that are beginning what could be one of the most competitive KIF seasons in years. There are plenty of story lines. Kaua‘i is looking for a ninth straight title, but can they do it under a new coach? Can Kapa’a finally make a turn toward being a contender and is Waimea finally ready to merge with the pack?
And football, we know you don’t just stop there.
College camps are in full swing and there are plenty of title contenders. Oregon looks fast. Stanford looks strong. Oklahoma looks like, well, Oklahoma. There’s just so much to go around.
You even offer plenty of storylines from Hawai‘i with the Warriors shooting for another WAC title, the gunslinging quarterback talents of Bryant Moniz and you even show off with five local boys from Kaua‘i competing at the Division I level. That’s not even fair.
But then we get to what I’ve missed most about you football. We both know what it is. It’s the NFL. It’s what’s made me the most ashamed that I’ve denied you. I’ve missed it so much that I even quasi watching the Seahawks preseason game last night, which I never do.
I wanted to be able to live without you. I wanted to prove to myself I wasn’t dependent upon you. But I have three fantasy football leagues I’m part of already. I bought a TV antenna for the sole purpose of being able to watch you on Sundays and I’ve been scouting sports bars to find the best place to get a glimpse of you when you’re at your best, on Monday nights.
What I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry I doubted you football. Can we still be friends?
