Saturday, January 13, 2007

The Post-Season

Should I ever deny I was addicted to NFL football, the following evidence will ultimately confound me.

I am in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, where the hotel's internet clicks along at a snail's pace. It is shortly after six in the morning local time - many hours before dawn, but I've been up for hours already listening to an internet radio broadcast of the NFL's divisional play-off games. My heart is racing as my New Orleans Saints trail the Philadelphia Eagles 21-13 at the half.

My knees are bouncing, my fists are clenched, I have a small seizure with every play small or large. What does this game have that keeps my heart on a leash?

My alarm sounded at 4:45 A.M, but I didn't feel tired at all. My mouth was watering, my adrenaline pumping. There was no chance I'd keep sleeping.

I had to ask myself... Why don't have this kind of passion for other things?!

I wish I could wake up for work with this sort of enabling energy - or find a hobby to shock me out of bed in the morning the way that this NFL play-off match-up does. I am afraid the reality might be that this habit has monopolized all of the nerves in the pleasure-sensing dopamine-circuit of my brain. I am hooked on football like a fish on a line.

Go Saints!