As a student at the University of Florida, it goes without saying that I’ve come to love game days. I wake up early, put on something orange and blue, and spend the entire day roaming campus and soaking in the energy. I’ll admit, however, that I’ve only physically attended one football game (and not just because we didn’t do so well as a team this year.) After my roommates made fun of me for confusing a famous football player with baseball (he shall remain nameless), I decided it was about time to learn some basic facts.
February 2nd is just another Sunday that means homework in bed and copious amounts of coffee. For all the sports sports fanatics out there, it’s spent shot-gunning every beer within a five-foot radius and tying themselves to the nearest TV with an invisible leash. But I’m afraid there are a lot of us who are totally clueless when it comes to football and possibly all sports in general. We typically keep to ourselves, only because we feel lost in a world lacking touchdowns and emotional punches thrown over an unhappy outcome.
You are not alone, and I’m here to help.
The 48th Super bowl, hosting the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos, will be held at the MetLife Stadium in New York. The Seahawks and the Broncos first had to make it through the regular season before moving on to the playoff schedule. This is where it can get confusing. The regular NFL schedule consists of two conferences, called the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). A total of twelve teams compete, ultimately divided into four four-team sub groups by region. The winner of each group and the two non-division winners with the highest wins (called wild cards) make it to the playoffs. The playoffs consist of another four divisions and complicated rules that ultimately lead to the Super Bowl contenders. The game is so popular that cities are given three to four years notice in order to prepare for the influx of football fanatics. Ticket prices can be as high as $700 and even more than that if you’re buying them from a scalper. Attending the Super Bowl makes you football royalty.
The quarterbacks’ jobs are to receive the ball from the center, decide the most effective way to get it down the field and relay the plays to the other team members. He will hand the ball off to a running back, throw it to a receiver, or run with it. Obviously, many other positions are involved, but the quarterback is considered the leader of the team. The Seahawk’s starting quarterbacks are Russell Wilson and Tarvaris Jackson. For the Denver Broncos you need to know Peyton Manning, an incredibly famous quarterback with a name as powerful as Lord Voldemort.
With a little bit of background knowledge, the football world is instantaneously less intimidating. It’s such a complex sport that explaining the ins and outs would probably take hours, but there’s someone out there who is hopefully willing to discuss the technicalities without passing judgment. In the meantime, choose a team, grab a burger, cheer when everyone else cheers, and get ready to finally participate in the world of sports.
