[TSS] The Best of What’s Around

A little while ago I wrote a post asking which musician you would pick to write a novel.Well, I’m taking a page from my own guidebook and subsisting on mini-literature (also known as music) for the moment (thank you, Dave Matthews) but I have found another fix.

At the moment, I have three books banging around in my bag but not a one appears to be headed toward an end at any sort of efficient rate. I blame moving, work and that beautiful disaster that is college (and sometimes professional) football.

Speaking of football, in addition to being the reason for my TBR pile overflowing, it is also my tie back to reading. That’s right. The passion, the plot twist, the anger, the sadness, the love, the glory. Football has it. I tell you, folks, it’s better than the best romance novel, more shocking than any mystery, more beautiful and lyrical than Neruda.

Ok, or I might be a crazy person.

My mother is not a big fan of football and has expressed on more than one occasion that if my sister and I had been boys she would have done anything in her power to persuade us not to play ball. Many of my allegedly peace-loving, crunchy granola friends have shouted, outraged, that competitive sports only create rivalries and harsh words, often actions as well.

I say no.

I say that the energy and passion, alive and well in college ball (again, sometimes, in small doses, found in professional football), are the things great novels are made of. I’m not advocating more renditions of  Blind Side, or anything. A painter can be inspired by a beautiful woman or an untouchable sunset but not ultimately paint said subject. I think it has more to do with capturing the feeling, the momentum, the drive and romance of a play clock, balls flying through flashing lights, hand to hand, people bonding, stadiums roaring.

Whether you’re watching from the safety of your own living room or sharing a literally pulsating stadium with thousands of your closest friends (and worst enemies), football is alive. Love, passion, defeat, the highest highs and the lowest lows. Thrown remotes, thrown championships, won titles and won hearts, it’s my conclusion that if you’re having a bit of writers’ block, you need to get yourself  to, a game. Stat. Let’s say, just for detail’s sake, try the upcoming Orange Bowl.