Reply to If you don’t like football, what do you talk about with your teen son?

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Reply to "If you don’t like football, what do you talk about with your teen son?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Meet him where he is. You learn with him and enjoy it through his eyes. Thats what I did when DS was into Pokemon, or Greek mythology, or animals, or diggers… you find out what they love about it and learn to love it too. [/quote]

This is correct, and it is called being a parent.

The weird thing about team sports that most people, who do not like and/or never played team sports, is how much time and effort goes into choreographing movements.  Football could easily be described as a series of violent/physical dance routines (plays) where you don’t know what your opposing partner is going to do.

No one not involved at a high level really understands what’s going on.  But, you can learn the basics.  A suggestion that provided a basic level of knowledge for me as a kid, and then later for my wife.  (We bought season tickets to our undergrad college’s games.)  Pick up an old game called NFL Strategy off eBay.  Not expensive.

The game itself is obviously for football nerds and you and your son might play it.  But, what it does do well is lay out the very basic principles of the sport in a visual way.  It has cards that have plays drawn out like coaches do.  The cards stack on each other so you can see how a particular offensive play looks when it is “called” against a particular called defensive play.

Now obviously it’s simplified because no actual people are involved.  Coaches in real life use plays that try to take advantage of the skills of their best players, and limit the risks caused by their weakest players.  And, of course, coaches work to anticipate and counter the opposing team’s strategies.  But, the game gives you a very good visual of the basic strategies in the game.

Then - buy some tickets and go see some college football.  Get there a couple of hours ahead of time.  Grab some food at a place near campus and walk around.  Enjoy the atmosphere.

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