Football season is upon us. I once looked forward to the kick off of the NFL football seasons with the same excitement that I felt before Christmas as a child. With everything going on in 2020, I found it difficult to follow the NFL with any level of excitement. Now, it is a season of new beginnings, and I feel a bit of excitement as the season kicks off.
With two minutes left in the Texans season opener, and the sting of the Cowboys lost in their season opener still on my mind, I feel it is time to talk about the dos and don’ts of effective bantering. Before I launch into my bantering instruction guide, let me first provide transparency into my allegances.
My father loved the Dallas Cowboys. I loved my father. Win, lose, or tie; I am a Cowboys fan until I die. Over the years, there have been times when I debated whether my dad would still be a Cowboys fan if he were alive today, and I sometimes consider defecting from the Cowboys fanhood. Yet, here I am still a Cowboys fan.
I live in the city of Houston, and moving here has been one of the best decisions I have made in life. I love the city of Houston. My children are both native Houstonians, and they are Texans fans. Therefore, I always want to see the Texans win.
I love our sister state of Louisiana. I actually first became a fan of their beloved football team when Ricky Williams went to play for them. It is crazy to think that was more than two decades ago. The city of New Orleans is one of my favorite places on Earth, and I will forever join in a chant of “Who Dat!”
Lastly, my best friends are die hard Kansas City Chief fans. I love the story of how the Chiefs chose their moniker, and Mahomes is a class act. Needless to say, I am happy when the Chiefs win. Their Super Bowl victory was one of the most exciting Super Bowls of my lifetime.
I do not have a team that I hate. I once loathed Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. We all know they broke the rules to win. However, I can’t feel disdain for a man that is now winning with a never before successful team. I feel a great deal of respect for someone my age playing any professional support, not to mention one of the roughest sports of all.
So, there you have my allegiances. Now, onto the dos and don’ts of bantering.
- Do banter unexpectedly and in fun and creative ways. Some great recent examples:
- My friend Ian posted the song, “Momma, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys.” on my Facebook post about watching the Cowboys on Thursday. I found this to be clever and endearing, especially from Ian, who is not a big football fan.
- My older son, sent me a picture of a white board hanging on the door of the dorm room across the hall from him, with a poll for the “Worst Team in the NFL”. There were two columns, both labeled with “Dallas Cowboys”. One column sat empty, while the other had half a dozen tally marks. I found this to be hilarious as it is in the honors dorm in South Carolina, so the super brainy kids, and at that time the Cowboys technically had the worst record in all of the NFL.
- Every year, someone sends me the meme entitled, “A current Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader with Cheerleaders from their last winning season.” The picture shows two elderly women with a young Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. While the cheerleaders from Dallas’ last wining season are not really that old, I find this to be hilarious. It feels like it has been way too long since our last wining season.
- Do banter in intelligent facts. I don’t have any recent examples of this from Texan fans berating on the Cowboys. Hopefully, one day the Texans will have stats that stack up to the stats of the Cowboys.
- Do be overly enthusiastic for the team that you love. It makes it all fun.
- Don’t berate another group for your bantering. Calling the Cowboys, “Cowgirls”. Makes you seem unintelligent, and suggests you think that boys are better than girls. My guess, when I see this, is that you are not particularly intelligent, and that girls are not particularly attracted to you. The same rules apply to sexual orientation, the elderly, and people with special needs. If your insult is that someone’s team allegiance is likened to one of these groups, you need to rethink our bantering strategy.
- Don’t spew hate in your bantering, any sort of suggestions that people should die or face some dangerous fate is not appropriate, and it raises true concerns about your mental state.
- Don’t post your banter on local social media groups, if you are not following the dos and don’ts of effective bantering.
- Do make sure that your bantering on social media does not out your own lack of intelligence. Be sure that you spell words correctly, and use punctuation effectively. Don’t be this guy – “Why is everyone so quite. Oh that’s right the Cowgirls played.”
- Don’t show up at a public gathering, with dominant support for a particular team, and openly boo or root against that team. People go there for the comradery, not for your opinion. If it is a mixed crowd, then by all means give it your all.
There you have, my dos and don’ts for NFL football bantering. Many of these guidelines readily apply to college football as well. Now, it is time to watch the Saints roll the Packers!
Here’s to having fans back in the stands! Have a fun NFL football season all!
PS – I can hardly wait to read the comments on this post.