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Fawn is a former music writer, lawyer, and a classically trained dancer and musician.

This is the 2nd post from Fawn. Read Fawn’s bio here. Read Fawn’s first post here. 

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Okay, so we’re heading into week five of the NFL season, and I’m beginning to feel a little more confident about my knowledge of the game. I’ve watched the last few games with the boyfriend, which has been helpful and informative, but not much fun, I must say. Here’s what I’ve learned thus far…

Those fiftylevenhundred men on the field, that I complained about previously, are all there for a reason; a very strategic reason. Apparently without those linemen and linebackers (look at me, fancy with the titles, lol), the high-profile positions/players wouldn’t thrive. I get it. I still won’t pay them any attention, but I get it.

That said, I understand that the quarterback is the highest profile position, but I feel like there’s too much pressure on them. Quarterback throws the ball, wide receiver misses the catch,everyone is hammering the quarterback. The way I see it, everyone else has one job. In the wide receiver’s case, his job is to catch the ball. Your entire career is based on your ability to do one thing- catch the ball. The quarterback, however, has multiple jobs he must execute under the most pressure; yet, everyone is angry at him when things go wrong. That’s baffling to me. I’ve also learned that you can’t miss a minute of a NFL game, because in a minute the ball can be fumbled or intercepted and everything can change drastically. This has forced me to rearrange my Sundays so that the quesadillas and wings are done before kick-off. A woman’s work is never done.

 Now let’s talk about why, despite my newfound understanding of the game, I haven’t been able to really enjoy a complete NFL game yet. First off, my team is 0-4. When I decided to become a New York Giants fan, at the behest of my boyfriend, I didn’t know that they weren’t going to win any games. This is embarrassing, and has made for a very tense gaming experience on Sundays. I can’t get my questions answered because the boyfriend is so pissed about the game that he doesn’t want to talk. Also, as I’m learning about the game, when I come to an understanding of something I get excited. For instance, once I learn the rules of fumbling on a fourth down, it doesn’t matter what team it is, i’m anxious for the fumbler to recover the ball…even if it’s the opposing team. Naturally, that pisses my die-hard Giants fan off. So maybe watching with him isn’t such a good idea after all; at least until I become genuinely invested in the Giants.

Until next time… Go Giants (I guess)!

Okay…is Kap really dating Sanaa Lathan or is she getting pub for her new movie??? I’m suspicious! Either way she’s gorgeous and I want to see Best Man Holiday.

Women aren’t the only one writing San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick letters. Reporters are doing it too. An SF Gate reporter has penned an open letter to Kap saying that he’s a jerk to the media and that his coach Jim Harbaugh seems to be encouraging it.

It begins:

Dear Colin,

Stop acting like a jerk.

Your press conferences are an embarrassment. If you’re uncomfortable or shy, that’s one thing. That’s not how you come across. You sound dismissive, combative, and rude. There’s no excuse for rude.

The reporter than compares Kaepernick’s behavior to that of a 12 year old and goes on to say:

It’s your job: The NFL is a multi-billion-dollar business. Players are required to appear in public. Those press conferences aren’t going away just because you don’t like doing them. The league and the 49ers are selling tickets, jerseys and, frankly, you. This is how your salary is paid. You will have media availability after every single game. You’ll probably have one, and likely more than one, press conference during the week. Those are facts. Deal with it.

I think you get the picture.

I was a little surprised at this open letter just because thus far I hadn’t seen anyone complain about Kaepernick’s attitude. Usually, there’s at least some indication that there’s an issue before people head to the compose box and publish something this scathing. Like last year, with Cam Newton, there were grumbles first and then reporters really let him have it. But last I heard about Kaepernick and media is that they were all fawning over how thoughtful he was for ordering them pizzas on media day. Things sure do change fast. 

They’re changing fast for RG3 too who was recently bashed in ESPN magazine for being “inauthentic” and succumbing to over branding. The headline, as trolley as can be, accused RG3 of being “more commercial than competitor.” DC sports bog rightfully pointed out that ESPN is the main outlet that brought us the over sell of RG3 in the first place. As you can see, managing an image is a tough thing to do in a 24 hour media environment. One minute you’re chosen, next minute you’re told to have a seat.

But back to Kap, I think he’s a bit…full of himself and it often comes across douchey. But it doesn’t bother me at all. Of course, I don’t cover his team either.  Besides that, I think that the NFL has an OBSCENE amount of mandatory press conferences and interviews and some of the questions reporters ask are downright foolish. Quite frankly, even as a blogger who contributes to this problem, I have to admit there’s more writers and commentators than there is news. And that can make for a prickly relationship between media and players cause everyone has to publish SOMETHING even when there is NOTHING left to say.

It’s not that I mind the reporter addressing Kap’s behavior, but I thought his piece should have contained some examples of him 1. trying to correct the issue with the 49ers organization prior to writing about it and 2. being a victim of Kap’s jerky behavior. It’s hard to take a reporter’s side when they don’t lay out any kind of case. It’s not like Kap has hit any reporters with the Russell Westbrook “no more questions for you, bro.” That was embarrassing!

Also, the piece mentions Kaepernick and the whole “favoriting negative tweets” thing which to me took away from the reporter’s point. Kap was interviewed by NFL network after the 49ers beat the Rams and after gently handling 3 questions from the guys about the twitter thing he finally said he didn’t get why people were asking him and he thought it was silly. Maybe that came off rude to some people but sometimes you have to draw a line in the sand when it comes to the stupid stuff.  

One of the goals I had when I started this blog that I don’t think I achieved very well (and other people have echoed this sentiment) is being beginner-friendly. I’ve had quite a few folks tell me that they’ve tried to read the blog and they feel like it’s above their head. And I think they’re right-for the most part, I write from the perspective of someone who’s already up to date on the latest headlines that I then give my opinion about.

So I reached out on twitter to find two women who are watching the NFL for the first time this season. I asked for anyone new, but I knew that women would be a great start 1. Because we’re not ashamed to learn or to say we don’t know something unlike men who are happy to pretend they know everything about sports already 2. Because there are a lot of women who support my blog because I’m a woman and not because they love sports. So why shouldn’t they hear from someone like them?

When I talked to Fawn and Winniek I told them I’d like to get 5 or 6 blogs from them from now until Superbowl. I’m leaving it up to them as far as how to approach what they write about. At the end of their posts I will post a short response to what they write. I hope you all will too. I’m hoping it will be a fun experiment and something I can do next season as well.

A little big about the beautiful ladies:

Winniek is 23 years old and from Georgia. She recently moved to Maryland and says she knows more about basketball than football. I’ve been following her on twitter for a while and she’s very sweet and smart. So I was happy when she volunteered to be a guest blogger.

Fawn is a Jill of many trades. She’s a former music writer, a classically trained dancer and musician, and a general lover of  artistic excellence. She’s been a regular contributor to some of the most popular urban music outlets like Vibe, XXL Magazine and AllHipHop.com. Somehow she also managed to get a law degree in between. Fawn is pretty dynamic and I think you will like her posts. 

with that said…

Click here for Winniek’s first post. “Winniek Tries to Figure out NFL Terms Like NFC.”

Click here for Fawn’s first post. “Fawn Chooses to Root for the New York Giants.”

Winniek is 23 years old and recently moved from Maryland from her home state of Georgia. She is a Falcons fan (like me!!)

It’s not that I don’t like football its just that I truly don’t understand it.  It intimidates me, especially when people start talking about numbers and using abbreviations like NFC, AFC, SEC, CIA, FBI, and the whole time I’m sitting there thinking, “What in world are you all talking about? “I thought you guys were talking about football.” Are we talking about math or government agencies?”   Another reason why I have never been really got into football is that every time I try to learn or comment I always have some man making misogynic comments and that makes me very uncomfortable.

However I figured this year I would actually learn football because if this what everybody going to be talking about for the next 5 months then I might as well learn.  If anything what I do know about football has nothing to actually do with the game it self.  I know more of the pop culture side of football. I didn’t even know who Reggie Bush  was until I found out Kim Kardashian dated him.

As a football newbie the only thing I know about is that a touch down is good and that occasionally instead of making a touch down the team will kick a field goal, which for the longest time I called a free throw.  Also, I just recently found out that those blue and yellow lines aren’t actually on the field those are computer generated.  Which is a relief for me because the first time I actually went to a professional football game I thought I was crazy because I couldn’t see those lines anywhere on the field.

I hope to learn more about football as the season continues. My goal for me is to understand what everybody is talking about and hopefully have the ability to talk a good game so the next time somebody talks about the Falcons I will able so say more than “Well at least our colors match.” 

Fawn is a former music writer, lawyer, and a classically trained dancer and musician.

Oh great! Another NFL season is upon us. That means ceaseless trash talk by my friends on all social networks, Sunday dinner at the bar with his brothers, and one irritable baby deer that could care less about any of it.  But not this year. This year, I have succumb to the old adage, “If you can’t beat them, join them;” which means I’ll be tuning in this season, with hopes of learning the game enough to understand what the hell everyone is so excited about. And maybe, just maybe, I can come out of the proverbial “kitchen” that these chauvinist send women like me to during sporting events, and join the fun.

I thought about starting with college football, for my introduction to the sport, since I tend to enjoy the competitiveness of collegiate sports a bit more than professional sports. However, more NFL fans surround me than college football fans (ironically), and since I could use all the clarification I can get, I decided the NFL was the way to go.  Because it seems absurd to gain an in-depth understanding of the game from studying some 32 teams (yes I Googled that number), I decided to pick a team to study, and root for. Without a good frame of reference, by default I picked my boyfriend’s favorite team. So without further ado, please welcome your newest New York Giants fan. Yes! Send all your hate mail; just wait until the end of the season. I should understand what you’re talking about by then.

My first game of the season was the New York Giants vs. the Dallas Cowboys.  I watched alone, since my boyfriend hasn’t accepted my newfound NFL fan status. Whatever. More wings for me.  I went in with limited knowledge about the object of the game- get the ball to the other end of the field, via running or passes, for the touchdown. Each team has four tries to do this, before the other team gets their shot. How’d I do? All the other details of the game sound like pig Latin to me.

Anyway, the game came to an end. A very depressing end as my Giants lost. However, this left me with many unanswered questions. Why are there so many players on the field? What’s all the hype over these Manning brothers? Who is Dez Bryant and why did I hear more about him before the game than I heard about him during the actual game? How does a running back fumble the ball and still be allowed to play? Isn’t it his job to hold onto the ball, whilst running? But back to my original question- why are there so many players on the field. If I’m only paying attention to the person with the ball, and there are fiftylevenhundred other players on the field, who ARE they and why should I be paying attention to them?

Despite my confusion, I must admit that I enjoyed my first game as an NFL fan. I love the suspense. I respect the skill of the key players. I have decided, however, not to make a habit of watching anymore games alone.  That’s a lonely life. A lonely, confusing life. Anyway, can’t wait to update you guys on my next NFL game experience. In the meantime, let’s go New York football Giants!