Fantasy Football post, except it morphs into something quite different

Well, after a long summer of 'he said, she said' and legal mumbo-jumbo, back-and-forth, football season is nigh upon us. And so I am starting the preparations for Fantasy Football: Season 3.

I'm feeling ambiguously torn.

Make no mistake- I do enjoy Fantasy Football...well, at least I enjoy the aftermath. I am somewhat of a numbers junkie, which means that Fantasy Football is somewhat of an opiate to me. I also have a weird fetish about picking up the pieces of my ridiculous obsession and parading them around on my blog. It soothes the masochist in my soul, I guess.

But the actual 17 week process is often painful. It's painful because of how much of myself I pour into it. And it's a ridiculous amount, compared to how much I should actually care. I'm not a player. Or a coach. Or an owner. Or a spouse of one of those people. I'm not even really a fan- at least, in the fat-guy-wearing-no-shirt-in-Green-Bay-in-December definition of fan.

Which can be considered either healthy or unhealthy, I guess

Competition is something that is written on the pages of my Y chromosome- but it's not actually me competing. It's me pretending to compete. I sit there on Sundays, watching other dudes compete, checking box scores and submitting myself to crappy football because I happened to spend a 12th round draft choice on Seattle's kicker and I'm losing by 6 points.

I'm probably a couple years away from looking like this guy (warning- it's not a pretty picture).

Haven't I been over this before (answer- yes)? Isn't the definition of insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results? So why do I keep coming back? Why keep playing?

It's because I'm American.

I don't know if Kurt Cobain was prophet or pusher when he (allegedly) uttered the immortal phrase 'Here we are now, entertain us'. I say allegedly because, if you listen to 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', you're not really sure he's saying anything at all. It's just too bad he overdosed before he learned how to speak Human.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately...how much time I spend doing stuff just to entertain myself. I read books. I play video games. I listen to music. I play games. I check my smart phone. I watch movies. I check my smart phone again. There is so much frivolity in my actions, in my thoughts. But I don't really do anything about it- because I'm American. And I don't have to. There are entire sectors of our economy that do nothing but cater to my childish indulgences. And other parts of the economy that are dedicated to filling my brain with subliminal messages about more childish indulgences.

I actually wanted the lock-out to drag on into the season. I was really hoping that there would be no NFL this season. I wanted one less thing to have to worry about occupying my entertainment palette. Obviously this is a selfish thought- I know that there are people's livelihoods that depend on football (and no, I'm not talking about the athletes or the owners- I'm talking about the guys that work for minimum/near-minimum wage doing the dirty work), but it was a thought there was there.

And the worst part of all is, I'm a perpetuator of the system! I give it power, I cause it to be, I am the reason for its existence (me and people like me).

I wanted football to be dead because our country has a problem. And that problem is that we live in a society that exists on fluff. Think back to early civilizations- or even a few hundred years ago. There was no Netflix to peruse. There wasn't time for repeating Angry Birds levels just to get a higher score. They didn't have the energy to spend most of their time on luxury. They were too busy getting chased by dinosaurs.

Based on actual events

I just wonder if human beings were meant to have this much downtime. Aren't we better suited to hunt and gather? Are our brains supposed to have access to this much entertainment and comfort? In pursuit of our own assuagement, do we misuse brain cells that could be used for more important things?

Technology has afforded us many amazing advances. Having witnessed two childbirths, I can honestly say I am glad that I didn't have to put on my Michael Landon hat and be 'all hands on deck' for that whole process.

Actually, you can include the pants and shirt in that statement as well

I was perfectly content to run down to the snack bar and grab an ice cream cone and chocolate milk. And Lord knows how much more difficult it would be for me to include all these snazzy pictures and hyperlinks in my blog if I had to transmit it by telegraph.

So even though I rail against technology, I am not at a point where I am ready to completely give it up. After I post this blog, I'll still have a PS3. I'll still have a smart phone. I'll still mindlessly surf the internet, and I'll still play Fantasy Football. Not all technology is bad, and even video games, blogs, and smart phones have their place.

The truth is- I'm just complaining. Because that's the American way.

Pics:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOOVoPVXy9rAaQFwuhP9aYyr2TftxoP0Wxi4QPqjSFzddjUm9KZFU3XpiOFIOgNfqR51IgPPL-3dQar9VlSA4CqU8a253zFYZz4gd4rpQfTb90yE5K0XFr-DpE2OyCyxuhmUg6nid37aA/s1600/pg2_a_packersfan_slobbo.jpg
http://www.movieprop.com/tvandmovie/reviews/caveman.jpg
http://images.allmoviephoto.com/1974_Little_House_on_the_Prairie_%28TV_series%29/1974_little_house_on_the_prairie_003.jpg