Bonus Blog IV The Many Faces of Football

     The Sport of Football today has many faces. In many areas of the USA, high schooll football is quite popular on an autumn Friday evening. In many of those same places College Football becomes the King on Saturdays. Across much of the country, the world seems to stop on Sundays when the National Football League takes center stage. Most fans of the game can seem to find a game to watch on TV or attend between Thursday night and Monday night. Football even more faces than just that.

   Last weekend, we took a look at semi-pro football, those teams and their players operating outside of the mainstream, many vying for attention to find their way to center stage. That is just one of many other faces of the game. Many of these league operate in the spring away from having to compete with those on center stage. Another face goes indoors with arena or indoor football. These leagues play in the spring time in the hopes that one of their players can make like Kurt Warner and make the giant leap to the NFL and in Warners case, the Super Bowl. Indoor Football can make for a very interesting and high scoring afternoon or evening. In many of its games the winning team will frequently score into the 70s, sometimes even the 80s or on occansion the 90s.

    The indoor game has its counterpart on the ladies side in the Lingerie Football League. The league was born out of a Super Bowl half time show called the Lingerire Bowl. The game was first played in 2006. The league itself has just completed its second season. The 2010 season had 10 teams. Some critics will argue that the league is more entertainment then sport. I will not answer that question today as I am looking closer at the league in an attempt to find an unbaised answer. For those ladies who want to play the outdoor game there are several leagues offering a chance for women to play a full contact game outside on a 100 yard field. These leagues seldom find the attention they deserve.

   The game also has its counterpart north of the Canadian border in the Canadian Football League. There are just enough differences to make the game interesting. The Canadians have been playing their version just as long as we Americans have had our version. The version of the Super Bowl is called the Grey Cup. It is usually played at the end of November. One of biggest differences is the 110 yard field. An attempt in the 1990s to bring the game south lasted but 2-3 years before the league withdrew its American clubs.

   The game also has it touch and flag football versions however, those forms usually are not played at the professional levels. Studying the History of Football should never be restricted to the game in the mainstream but a good solid look at the many faces should be made. I hope you enjoyed this brief look. Have a great week!! The Super bowl is just a week away.