Ode to Football

I should begin by making it abundantly clear that I am referring to American football, not soccer. I hate soccer; it is not entertaining. But before I continue to bash soccer, I want to make sure no one gets the wrong impression. Like any forward thinking, liberal twentysomething who has traveled a bit I recognize that in some ways Europe is now superior to the US, especially in light of the actions and attitudes of the current American administration. A perfect example would be the rising value of the Euro as compared to the rapidly declining value of the US dollar. Professional sports is not one of these cases. Soccer, futbol, football, whatever is a game with low scores and little variety. It is monotonous and dull. Soccer is only worthwhile as a game for children to play in which they can learn valuable lessons about teamwork and competition. [in the interest of disclosure and fairness, I have never seen a live soccer game, perhaps it is more exciting, but I doubt it]
However, football is incredibly entertaining. What plays will be chosen? Will they go for a field goal? A two point conversion? Its full of variety, strategy, and split-second decisions that can determine the fate of your team. The NFL's relatively short season makes each game more valuable and therefore more exciting. Of course having this attitude in Prague is difficult.

Saturday night my new friend Jared mentions that he wants to find a sports bar showing football on Sunday. I, of course, was thrilled. And so Sunday evening we set out in search of the NFL. Jared had already visited three pubs with no luck, we made our way to Friday's hoping that something as American as Friday's was bound to show American sports, but alas it was not to be. But then, the bartender told us that if we went to Jama we could find it. Jama has American football every Sunday. He gave us directions and we were off, it was quarter to 7, and we had 15 minutes until kickoff. (1 pm games are at 7pm here)

Jama was like a dream. It was full of true football fans, who were not only knowledgeable but more than willing to yell at the screen and argue with each other. It had been almost a month since I'd seen football and it was terrific, ideally they would have carried the Giants-Browns game, but I had to settle for watching McNabb and the Eagles crush Harrington and the Lions. Anyway I was able to see the box scores and highlights for the Giants and they won! We even stayed to watch some of the 10 o'clock game (4 pm) because c'mon it was Colts-Packers. That's Manning and Farve, who could walk away? Plus Jama has real Buffalo wings, great burgers (with cheddar - hard to find here) and nachos with a lot of beef. I love Prague, but it was great to have an American night.