Hook Em' Horns

I was lucky enough to finish my morning classes in time to see one of the better college football games I've seen in recent years. I don't know if it compares to the Miami v. Ohio State championship game from a few years ago, but it sure was exciting. I had the front desk teacher, or receptionist to you and me, order me a pizza to arrive immediately after I completed my essay writing class. Mr. Pizza was on time. Side note - why does a place named Mr. Pizza have a slogan on every box that says, "Pizza made for women?"- Anyway, I sat myself in front of the TV in the break room and gorged an entire cheese pizza and 8 ounce Coke. I managed to catch the entire second half of a classic game. The Texas Longhorns' Vince Young is unbelievable, and while I'm still riding this emotional high from the game, I'm willing to say he's the best football player I've ever seen (that's a compound-complex sentence for all of you English buffs). What a performance! He ran through a USC defense that looked a bunch of Pee-Wee players trying to tackle a giant. I don't necessarily like Texas or anything that comes from Texas, but I'm now a huge fan of Vince Young.

While I enjoyed the comfort of the break room at school, some of the bus drivers joined me for the game and provided wonderful background noise. I've never heard snoring that loud. It sounded like a sick rhino stuck under an elephant's ass. I don't really know what that sounds like, but I'm sure it's loud. Some of the drivers stayed awake, but I couldn't help but wonder what they thought of the game. Koreans, and most other people outside of the USA, don't understand American football. Keeping that in mind, it does seem like a ridiculously silly game when you look at it from their perspective. There are so many rules, breaks in play, and different positions that it must confuse anyone out of the “know.” I even know plenty of Americans who don't fully understand the game. I could list countless times that I've been in a room where someone was trying to explain the rule for a completed pass or legal forward pass, so what is the real appeal to the sport? The rest of the world lives and dies by soccer, yet we prefer a much more ridiculous and confusing sport on which to waste all of our money. Why can't we just get on board and start appreciating what everyone else rightly calls football? I don't know, but I do know that I'll probably spend the rest of my life watching teams other than mine win championships while I stew in the mediocrity of the KC Chiefs.

I brought my Chiefs jersey to Korea with hopes of being able to wear it for playoff games and, quite possibly, the Super Bowl. Yet again, I have watched a full season come and go with plenty of individual team success overshadowed by the failure within the league. Since before I can remember, I have been an optimistic Chiefs fan and supporter, but my optimism and hopes are slowly fading with each passing season. Whether they were dominating the defensive stats in the 90's or setting new records on offense in the past five years, they have not been able to find a balance and effort to push them over the hump from a decent squad to a real contender. I am starting to face the fact that they may never get over that hump and I may never wear that jersey again; at least until next season when Larry Johnson tears through the NFL...