So, the newspaper tells me that the football season begins today. I guess I knew it was coming, and soon, but I wasn’t sure when. For reasons that I have tried to understand over the years, I have almost no interest in sports at all, and I have struggled to understand why people become so emotionally wrapped up in a local team, especially since those teams don’t care about them and will leave at moment’s notice if they are offered a better deal by another city (I still remember the furtive middle of the night relocation of the Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis on March 29, 1984.)

I also struggle to understand why people here in the DC area are so fervent in their loyalty to the name of the local team. A team whose name is considered a racial slur by Native Americans. Most don’t seem to understand the racial slur; I wish I had a dollar for everyone who thought it invoked visions of brave warriors. When I have taken prevention of sexual harassment training, one of the basic principals we are taught is that how the other person perceives what you say is more important than your intent when you say it. I would think that a similar principal would apply here, and people would care about the Native American perception of this name, but, in that, I have always been wrong.

Anyway, I do try to keep up with football scores and news so that I can understand what my friends are talking about, but, unfortunately, my lack of context sometimes leaves me a bit confused; so I just smile and listen, and perhaps sneak a glance at the sports section to try to understand and fill in the details.

Anyway, now that the season is here, I wish the best of luck to the teams my friends support, and, if I need to cheer for a team, I will probably cheer for the Baltimore Ravens, or, support my wife and cheer for the Patriots.  As for the DC team, all I can say is “Nevermore!”