My wife and I met at BYU in the ’70s. We have followed the Cougars for a long time and attend games when we can. It’s not that we’re crazy, die-hard fans who live and die by the wins and losses – at this point. It’s more that it gives us an excuse to get out of town and enjoy the fun of it all.

I was excited enough about the BYU game against Notre Dame in Las Vegas last Saturday that we tripped down for it. I booked the hotel more than a year ago when I first heard that the game had been scheduled. It was a great weekend – other than that little final score thing. BYU has now dropped out of the rankings.

I am glad for the University of Utah being ranked in the national top 20. The loss to UCLA over the weekend dropped them down low in the rankings though – dang it.

The 4-2 Badgers of Snow College have their homecoming game this Saturday at 1 p.m. There will be lots of festivities including a parade. Go Badgers!

Football is not everyone’s “cup of tea.” There are some who don’t understand the game well enough to enjoy it. Or perhaps, they understand it all too well and don’t enjoy it. To them it’s just a bunch of big, brutish guys trying to smash each other and the ball is just incidental. It seems brutal and dangerous and so they are philosophically against it as a sport.

A lot of people would rather skip football and stay home and watch something civilized on television like “Criminal Minds” or “Naked and Afraid.” (Just kidding – or not.) There are, in fact, people who would much rather read a book, watch a movie, tie flies, reload bullets, crochet afghans, or pursue some other hobby rather than watch a football game.

Some would rather pull weeds, clean toilets, pull their fingernails out, be water boarded, eat worms, or anything other than watch football. Football is boring and torture to these people.

I remember a time years ago we invited another couple to go to a BYU football game with us. I got the idea that the woman wasn’t really into football because as we left the car for the stadium, I noticed that she had reading material with her. The prominent book was the Bible.

I’ve wondered since if the Bible has anything to say about football. I know that football is almost a religion to some people.

Some years ago, we were in South Bend, Indiana for, coincidentally, a BYU versus Notre Dame football game. Being there reminded me of a Bible verse: “I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.” Psalms 3:6

As we sat in the stands at Notre Dame, even Jesus seemed to be on the side of the home team. We looked straight across at the image of Jesus looming above the stadium as mosaic art on the side of the library.

His upraised arms are in a similar position to a football referee’s signal for the scoring of a touchdown. Back in the sixties, soon after the mural was completed, the nickname “Touchdown Jesus” became popular and is now a part of the rich football lore of the “Fighting Irish” of Notre Dame.

Occasionally football feels like a guilty pleasure for me. I sometimes feel like I should be doing something more productive. Once in a while, I ask myself a question when I’m sitting at a game somewhere and looking at all the spectators.

I ask, “What if we were able to get all these people gathered together with the same amount of dedication and spirit for the purposes of a service project?” When seated at a game with tens of thousands of people, it makes me wonder how much good could be done if that kind of group could be unified for a few hours on a Saturday afternoon.

But, I have to remind myself that wholesome recreation is a good thing. “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.” I certainly don’t want to be a dull boy. So I salve my conscience and enjoy the game.

The thing I need to do is not become overly concerned about becoming a dull boy. It’s easy to overdose on football. This time of year there is always a game on TV. And it doesn’t matter who’s playing, any game can be more interesting than cleaning out the rain gutters on the house or mowing the lawn or any number of other things that need to be done.

There was a list circulated around some years ago entitled “Twenty Reasons Why It’s Great to Be a Man.” Two things that I remember which were on that list were, “The world is your bathroom” and “There’s always a game on TV.”

I think that’s a little sexist for today’s society. Females have caught right up if they were ever behind.

My son-in-law was on the bow hunt for elk a years ago and happened upon an incident demonstrating that the bathroom thing is not just a male phenomenon. (When you gotta go, you gotta go – regardless of gender)

And – it’s no secret that many girls like ball games too. I know several women who know football better than I do.

I find that the game provides a great camaraderie among the spectators, fosters school spirit with the students, and is generally a positive influence in the lives of the players. And, besides all of that, it’s just plain fun to watch guys smashing into each other. — Merrill