Football and ‘Her Client Trilogy’
It is playoff weekend as the teams begin their hunt to the Super Bowl. Most of the teams are sitting on the sidelines watching and waiting for the big finale. This ritual got me thinking how this relates to Richard Verry’s, ‘Her Client Trilogy’.
The words that come to mind are: dominance, hunt, aggressor, tied, victim, surprise, tension, fumble, pass, fan, tackle, mind game, injured, winner, loser, touchdown, coach, snap, chilling, receive, tight end, shotgun, touchdown, first down, chill in the air, cold, hard, chains, knee, time-out, panic, suck, ball, screen pass, run, interception, squeeze play, clock winding down, fourth down, fourth and long, two-minute warning, goal, first and goal, broken play, sack, interference, holding, illegal contact, roughing, offense, defense, pocket, opportunity, fantasy, handed off, time out, bowls, bowl game, hall of fame, rout, blown opportunity, huddle, dropped, down and out, route, champ, mascot, and shit!
I am sure you can add more yet the point is all this is acceptable in the game of football. Culturally, it has become the norm to read, watch and/or participate in this activity.
How is this different from what the author is conveying in his books and novellas? To me, the answer is simple. The majority of our culture has not accepted this as the norm. Will it ever? I don’t know. I hope not.
Overall, we have grown as a society yet there are still issues that we can’t accept or are willing to accept. Still, we hunt, torture and inflict brutal violence against one another. It is a game for some and a lifestyle for others. Yet for Jolene and I, we will fight to the bitter end. We will not lay down and give up.
We may have fourth and long to go, time is running out and we are out of time outs and yet we will keep our wits and fight to the bitter end. We will not be the victim to be hunted and tackled to the ground. We may be injured and on the verge of being routed. Yet, while there are still seconds on the clock, we will not take a knee. We’ll run the screen pass and make a play for the end zone and a win.
See if you agree with my thoughts. Write me a comment and let me know, one way or the other.