Monthly Archive for August, 2008

1. “Touchdowns, as many as possible. Even if we are playing a fairly easy team there is always an enjoyment in a high scoring win. “
2. “Outrageously bad refereeing decisions: I prefer Chantilly to be the victim, rather than the recipient, of those, as long as they don’t cost us the match. Indignation is a crucial ingredient of the perfect footballing experience.”
3. “A Noisy crowd (never a problem at Chantilly): In my experience, crowds are at their best when their team is losing but playing well, which is one of the reasons coming back late in the game is also one of my favorite games.
4. “Rain, a greasy surface, etc: Football in the fall, on a perfect grassy, is aesthetically more appealing, although I do like a bit of slithery chaos on the field. Too much mud and the teams can’t play at all, but you can’t beat the sight of players sliding 5-10 yards after a tackle or an attempt to dive in for a score. There’s something intensifying about peering through driving rain too.”
5. “Some kind of ‘disgraceful incident’ (aka ‘silliness’, aka ‘nonsense’ , aka ‘unpleasantness’): We are entering a doubtful moral territory here – obviously players have a responsibility not to provoke a highly flammable crowd. Last year when Oakton started warming up on our end after halftime would fit for this requirement. From this the side-effects are invariably beneficent – the players and the crowd become more committed and the plot thickens.”

These 5 simple requirements are what make up the “perfect high school football game.” Last year the Oakton game may be the closest to fulfilling my fan experience desires (Which of course doesn’t even come close to the Regional final in ’06 but I’m speaking about last year). Now I have to say these words aren’t mine, the reason for the quotations because all of these 5 requirements come from the book Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby (edited for Chantilly to fit in). Although the book is about soccer Nick Hornby is the definition of a true fan and his description of the perfect game fits perfectly for almost any sport including American Football.