Women and Football.

I probably should have titled this thread, "A Woman and Football" because this is a story about my personal experience. But in the broader context of Women and Football, I felt it necessary to title the thread as such.

Just a quick story about my own personal experience growing up as a football fan.

Growing up as a young man in WashingtonD.C., Redskin football was borderline religion to many. On Sundays I couldn't wait to plop down in front of the T.V. in anticipation of watching the Redskins kick off and start another NFC East battle or whomever they were playing. Burgundy and gold dominated the back drop, quick flashes of Joe Gibbs pacing the sidelines, and that magical feel of RFK stadium literally oozzed right through the TV screen into the bedroom; I was pumped!!

My mom would yell at me to try to get me to go to church with her, but I wasn't having it. What a horrible day, I thought, God had chosen to have me, of all people, come and 'see' Him. The nerve of Him! By the time my mother returned from church, the game was usually right around half-time. My focus hadn't waned one iota. She would quietly go to her bedroom close her door and proceed to endure countless yells, screams, loud claps, ohhs and ahhhs at the very top of my voice. She would emerge just long enough only to prepare dinner or fix me a plate.

Once the game concluded, it might as well had been Monday. The weekend, as far as I was concerned, was over. Yes, I had to endure another 6 or 7 torturous days before I was in front of that big, old colored TV with the bad reception. But all that burgundy and gold came though just fine.

Time went on and the Redskins under Gibbs I started to look strong, very strong. They began to roll along like a well oiled machine. I still remember that first victory day parade. The envoy of vehicles with Gibbs and the boys twisting and turning through the city to a relentless throng of burgundy and gold. Then one day it happened....I'm not sure exactly when or what game it was, but Anna White sunk down in that recliner she loved to sit in and asked me to teach her about football. I almost had a coronary at the age of 17! I was so excited, but felt so inadequate to actually teach her something that came, well, so naturally for me.

I started teaching her the game in ten yard increments. I said, "mom, this game is all about getting ten yards at a time until you run out of space." If you can't keep getting ten yards, you have to give the other team a shot - plain and simple. Well, that seemed easy enough. She could handle that much. Before long, she would be yelling at Joey T. or Joe Washington, for that matter, to pick it up or 'score a touchdown guys!' Yes, I had proselytized my mom to the First Church of...well, 12thMan.

Suffice it to say, I'm leaving out some details for the sake of brevity, but once I moved to the west coast for a number of years, I would routinely call home to get detailed updates on roster moves, games that I missed, and what coach Gibbs was talking about in the media. She was almost like my own personal Warpath way back then.

I share all of this because, one, I do know that women know and understand football. But I can only filter that knowledge through the lens of my own personal experience. A very real one at that. I think there was something about teaching my mom to love the Redskins that made me love them a little more.

Where am I going with all of this? I'm not really sure to be honest. But I wonder why, we as men, feel that women aren't as qualified to speak on certain topics, especially sports, especially football. Where does that stem from? Is it that, perhaps, we see football as one of the last 'instituitions' that we can claim exclusive rights to in a society that talks so freely about women's lib and other so called feminist agendas or topics?

I don't know the answers, but I think it's well worth discussing.

I think its because the women who do write sports say either really ridiculous things, or really obvious things.

It would be sexist to generalize all women as ignorant about sports, aside from just being not true. Most female friends I talk to about baseball or football or whatever are able to formulate logical opinions just as well if not better than my male friends. But for whatever reason, women like this generally tend not to head into the field of sports.

Thus people like Sally Jenkins and Suzy Kolber and Linda Cohn get the jobs.

i don't really know anyone other than JDALY on this site who goes around saying women don't know anything about football.

My grandmother, an 80 year old mother of 13, has to tape the games and watch them only after she already knows the final score because otherwise she will get too worked up when things aren't going the Redskins' way. She might see that the Skins got their butts kicked, but she'll still watch the game, just to see why it happened.
She told me that she couldn't sleep fall asleep the night of the Monday Night Miracle so she got up around 2am, and fast-forwarded the tape to check the final score. When she heard Al and John talk about the amazing outcome she got so excited that she rewound to the beginning and watched the entire game until the sun came up.
To this day she gives me crap because I bought a ravens hat in college (I was young and dumb and my roommate was a big fan and I still regret that purchase) even though I have become a born-again Redskins fan. I think I'm finally starting to win back some of her respect, but it will take more time. Every time I see her we talk about the Skins for at least 15 minutes, regardless of what else is going on around us. The last time I saw her was the day of the draft, and she had very strong opinions about Landry and the overall direction of the team.
Because of her I'd like to say that the vast majority of the women in my family (and we're Irish Catholic so you know it's a huge family) a very intelligent and passionate Redskins/football fans.

I think some men feel like women don't belong because it's a "man sport"... and some men feel intimidated by a woman knowing about/being interested in something that only men play. Weak men feel very intimidated by a woman being that close to something, and having knowledge of something, that has been considered "manly" for so long. All I have to say about that is - grow up!

One of my favorite people to talk about the 'Skins with is one of my wife's best friends from college. She was born in Fairfax and owns an autographed game-worn Darrell Green jersey.

The stereotype against females not knowing jack about football has some basis, simply because the majority of women do not like football. But that does not preclude the ones who do love it from knowing what they're talking about.

My wife is just starting to get into the Redskins, last season was the first time she would sit down and watch a game with me. I love watching a game with the guys, or my dad, or my brothers. But there was something special about watching the games with her; I guess it had something to do with finally sharing something that I had long been interested in and doing it together for the first time.

Thank God for Tivo though, because I don't know if I woulda had the patience to explain things without having a Pause Live TV feature!

I would say generally that if you had a 50 men and 50 women you'd have a greater overall knowledge of football from the men than the women. That's the thing about generalizations. They are often correct. BUT they are used/understood completely incorrectly. To say that men in general kow more about football than women is not earth shattering. To say that women CANNOT understand football is dumb. To say a particular woman DOES NOT know football simply because she is a woman is dumb. To say there are NO women who know football is dumb. The generalization about men knowing football better than women has nothing to do with a particular woman. It is pretty much a statistical issue.

Women don't know shit about anything, this doesn't just pertain to football.

Sincerely,

Your friendly neighborhood Joe Gibbs Moral Policeman

I think some men feel like women don't belong because it's a "man sport"... and some men feel intimidated by a woman knowing about/being interested in something that only men play. Weak men feel very intimidated by a woman being that close to something, and having knowledge of something, that has been considered "manly" for so long. All I have to say about that is - grow up!

to me it is sexy when a woman knows her football termanology

these women could fuck you up:

D.C. Divas - Pro-Women's Football in Washington, DC (http://www.dcdivas.com/)

hahahahahahaha