Petit a P'tit

Age old news: Football grows every day in America.  With that in mind, there's quite a bit of discourse over the most pulsing question among newcomers to the game, "Who should I support?"

Honestly, there should be pamphlets.

People from here don't come from there, if you catch my meaning. They may not have a hometown team to whom they automatically pledge their support. The brilliant Pitch Invasion had a piece along these tribal lines not long ago. Still, even if there was a hometown team at the ready for you to pick up and play with like it was your own shiny new toy that should exist perfectly within the confines of your own expectations, how do you know it's the right one for you? After all, you're an individual, aren't you?

Some want to fit in. Some want an organic connection to a team. Some look for their personality. Some look for a match. Some want to belong to something. Some identify with a feeling. Some identify with a nationality. Some are masochistic. Some just want to win.  Some are yahoos who just "pick" a team, buy a scarf, a shirt and pledge their never-ending loyalty, fierce support and ferocious hatred of 'the other'.

Interestingly, the universal (and by universal I mean "American" as that's what confronts me in this matter) impulse that follows a fledgling interest in the sport seems all too often to pivot immediately to the mission of picking a team. "Well, I need a team."

I do believe that from today, I'll simply suggest these people who ask these questions, thumbing through the cue cards of team listings as they seem to be, watch the game. I'll politely remind them not to be a dick. And I'll ask them to spend a little time with Anna here ...