Reverend Conehead
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Bern is the capital city in Switzerland. I was there recently while I went to Switzerland for a family reunion. I was checking out the Capitol Building there, which overlooks a cliff and has an amazing view of the city. I was wearing my white Roger Staubach Cowboys jersey. When I was there, I was approached by a gentleman who asked me in American English if I spoke English. I said, “yes” and got into a conversation with him. He was about my age (50 something) and was a Commander fan who worked as a corrections officer in a prison somewhere near DC. I had to respect him because that's a really tough line of work. He said he was surprised to see a Staubach jersey since Staubach hasn't been the Cowboys QB for quite some time now. We got into a conversation about the Cowboys/Commanders rivalry of the 70s and how intense it was. We both agreed that the Cowboys/Commanders was the game we looked most forward to and the other team was the one we most wanted to beat. He was a great guy. I was happy to meet him. It's easy to forget that, although the Commanders are a team I can't stand, there are some fine people who root for them. We also talked about how hard it is to explain our passion for American football to Swiss people. It's nothing against the Swiss. Their country is one of my favorite countries on earth, and is where my grandparents immigrated from. I've just never found a way to communicate to them how madly passionate Americans are about our brand of football, despite speaking two of their languages fluently, German and French.
It made me wonder what life would be like if I decided to live in Switzerland. I have hundreds of relatives there. It's an amazing and a beautiful country. I would still stay up on Dallas Cowboys football, but if I invited a friend or a relative over to watch a game, they would not understand it. For one thing, the announcers speaking in American English quickly would be hard for them to understand. To boot, NFL rules are quite complex. I would spend the whole game explaining what was happening. Every country does not follow our most beloved sport, but that's okay. I've never gotten into European soccer, though I'm sure it's a great sport.
American football is pretty much an American thing, though I believe there are some Canadians who understand it. My conversation with that Commanders fan made me miss the rivalry of the 70s with his team. There's still a rivalry today, but it's not like it was back then. Today I get more passionate about playing the Eagles than the Skins. There's nothing more American than passionately cheering for your fav NFL team.
It made me wonder what life would be like if I decided to live in Switzerland. I have hundreds of relatives there. It's an amazing and a beautiful country. I would still stay up on Dallas Cowboys football, but if I invited a friend or a relative over to watch a game, they would not understand it. For one thing, the announcers speaking in American English quickly would be hard for them to understand. To boot, NFL rules are quite complex. I would spend the whole game explaining what was happening. Every country does not follow our most beloved sport, but that's okay. I've never gotten into European soccer, though I'm sure it's a great sport.
American football is pretty much an American thing, though I believe there are some Canadians who understand it. My conversation with that Commanders fan made me miss the rivalry of the 70s with his team. There's still a rivalry today, but it's not like it was back then. Today I get more passionate about playing the Eagles than the Skins. There's nothing more American than passionately cheering for your fav NFL team.
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