Watching Sunday NFL Football

By Tom Morrone, CFP ®, CPA, Principal

There is something about a Sunday afternoon this time of year that is all about watching NFL football. Now when I say watch football, I do not want you to think I park my butt on the couch at 1:00 for the opening kickoff of the early game and stay on the couch until 7:00 or so until the final whistle of the later afternoon game. The teams playing, the quality of the game and how close the score is are all variables of how much butt parking actually happens. Let’s also be real and throw in that I may have things that need to be done around the house or other obligations that may infringe on my butt parking time in front of the TV. Also, I have been known to multi-task during my football watching antics. I usually like to have a bottle of wine open that provides some sipping opportunities throughout the afternoon. Also, Cathy may be cooking up a pot of sauce and I will tend to hang around the kitchen and watch the game from afar and listen for the roar of the crowd. Thanks to the DVR if I hear the roar of the crowd and miss the play I can always rewind the live TV and never miss any of the action.

Another variable is recording the game if we have to run errands and there is a game that I really want to watch. There is also the good and bad of doing this. The good is you can fly through a 3 hour game in about an hour or so and dramatically cut down on the butt parking time. This is a very time efficient way to watch a game because you can zip through the commercials, time outs and the half time highlights. The bad is that you have to stay away from media and not watch the scores of the games if you happen to be out and about and by chance have a glance of a TV somewhere. There is nothing more frustrating than recording a game and then seeing the final score before you have an opportunity to watch the game. Also, if a big game is on and you have friends watching the game, texts may fly around about the outcome. That could be another bummer.

One other difference is that years ago you had Sunday afternoon football, Monday night football and Thanksgiving Day football and that used to be it. Nowadays you also have Sunday night football to really extend the butt parking in front of the TV on Sundays. Also, throw in Thursday night football for another watching experience. Additionally, some games are played in London and because of the time difference you may be able to catch a game at the craziest of times. All these options provide too much football and too little time. I know some people that are just as drawn to college football and then that involves the entire Saturday afternoon and into Saturday evening as well. That is another scenario entirely and if you live in the south it is almost like a cult activity to watch college football.

So what does all this mean? It does not mean a darn thing except that if I have an opportunity to watch a game I certainly will but my life does not revolve around watching football. I guess that is because I am a NY Giants fan and recently it has been easier to zip through a game in an hour and not have the misery drag on for a full three hours. Go Giants!

Until The Next Tom’s Take…