My hometown football team looks like garbage this year. In their last game, the Philadelphia Eagles had more yards taken away from them in penalties then they had in yards gained. It looks like this could be a long winter for Philly fans. I Cringe everytime they take the field.
Everyday I visit a new elementary school. 29 in all here in Miyakonojo. Its different everyday, but so much of it is exactly the same. All the kids run up to me, touch my hair, pull on my shirt, and ask me how tall I am. Then they start touching my arm amazed how long my arm hair is.
Before each class, I give a 15 minute schpiel that explains me: My name, my hometown, the food and the sports I like. First I tell them that I like baseball. The Japanese know baseball. Over the last 30 years, baseball has become as much of a national pasttime as Sumo. After I make a connection with the boys in the class and they see that we have a common interest, I flash a picture of Donavan McNabb at them.
"What sport is this?" I ask.
"Rugby!" Then I pretend to get mad and they laugh at me as I shake my head saying, "No, no no!"
Then some kid from the back rown blurts out "Ame Futo!"
This is a short for American Football. From here I go on to explain that Americans like myself don't say Ame Futo for 2 reasons:
1. We dont know what an 'Ame' or a 'Futo' is.
2. We also don't need to say 'American' before 'Football' because it's our sport. We know we invented it.
Then we run through the pronunciation of football which usually dosen't work out so well. But they try and their psyched to learn a new word that's not a day of the week or a kind of animal.
After that I ask if anyones ever seen Football on TV. They shake their heads 'no.' Then I ask if anyone's ever played Football. Of course, they say no. Then I reach in my bag and pull out the highlight of the day.
"Wahhhhh!" They scream almost in unison.
I tell everyone to stand and were going to practice throwing the Football. They can't believe it. Throwing a real live American Football. In the classroom, none the less.
I typically stagger the line going boy/girl so the boys don't monopolize the time. Also this ensures that the girls don't skip out. Otherwise, they'd be huddling in the back of the room giggling as the boys wing the ball back at me.
For kids that have never seen a game much less handled a football before, some of kids could acutally throw. Some by just wathching me throw the ball a few times figured out the hand and body positioning to make a pretty decent throw. Some actually spiral and hit me in the chest.
Then theres the others.
'The Underhanders:' Typically girls who just lob the ball to me underhand. The upside to this is that the ball gets to me and leaves the window behind me intact. No broken windows or noses yet. Knock on wood.
'The Double Underhanders:' Usually influenced by the way one throws a rugby ball. They're always subject to scolding and to remember that this is NOT Rugby.
'The Wrist Flickers:' These guys see me throw a spiral. My spiral is not tight, nor is it accurate, but I can throw one damn near everytime. Attempting to recreate the phenenomon thats my spiral, they seem to think that flicking ones wrist in an inward motion while throwing their arm forward, will make the ball spin on its side in a spiral. Whats left is a ball spinning, but in the wrong direction. Its never a good throw and usually lands somewhere not in my vicinity.
Today, one class was particuarlly inthused about Football, so I brought the ball out to recess. The girls asked me to play catch with them first so I was obliged. Perhaps the longest 20 minutes of my life. I've never seen such fear over a thrown ball before. Everytime I threw from 5 yards out they scattered and ran in the opposite direction of the ball.
On the dot, the boys jumped in to fetch me after 20 minutes. Quickly the disaster of throwing practice with the girls turned to an astonishing display of poise and ability by the boys.
I know girls probably everywhere in the world would react the same way to football, so there's nothing new here. But the boys rocked it. Id go as far to say they did better than what Ive seen from American Kids their age. They were throwing spirals within minutes simply by watching me. One kid, who stood about 2 feet shorter than me but about 10 pounds less, had seen a football game with his father before and insisted we do 'lineman practice.' We stood shoulder to shoulder and I let him push for a good 45 seconds til he gave up, lying on the ground exhausted.
Between the Good, Bad and Downright Ugly, these kids weren't bad. Overall, I was impressed. Maybe I should start scouting overseas so the Eagles can actually win a game.
