I am a Football Fan. The word Fan is defined on Dictionary.com as an enthusiastic devotee, follower or admirer of a sport, pastime, celebrity. etc. The word's origin is an Americanism circa 1885-1890, short for fanatic. But since a fanatic is defined as a person with an extreme and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, I think I am more of a modern Fan rather than a full-blown fanatic.
I know that I am a Fan because I consider 2 of the saddest days of the year to be the day after the BCS Championship Game and the day after the Super Bowl. I know I am specifically a Georgia Bulldog fan because I am in a good mood when they win and a really lousy mood when they lose. I know that I am a fan of football in general because I watch 8 games at one time on Sundays, have 2 Fantasy Football teams, play in a weekly football pool, organize and run an annual College Football Bowl Pool and follow recruiting news, draft news and free agent signings during the off season.
Yes, I like Baseball, Basketball, Golf and other sports. I even casually follow those other sports but am not an enthusiastic devotee of any of them. (I use to be a fan of The Atlanta Braves, but they broke my heart one too many times!)
Ten years ago, my son, Brad, and I decided that the football season was over too soon, so we put together "Brad's Big Bowl Bonanza" (BBBB)...a college football bowl contest where one picked the winner of all 28 Bowl Games. We had 44 participants and a good time was had by all. A few years ago, I nearly quit running the contest because of the time it takes to set-up and monitor during the Bowl Season. But, then I decided that if I was going to continue the task, it had to have a purpose. That is when I decided to rename the contest Bella's Big Bowl Bonanza, raise the entry fee and donate a portion of the fee to Bella's Angels....a non-profit foundation that helps families with children that are stricken with CHARGE syndrome. My young friend, Bella Cavallo, and her family and friends founded Bella's Angels a few years ago as they were searching for a way to help with the mounting medical and travel expenses associated with diagnosing and treating Bella. At the age of 4 Bella was diagnosed with Charge Syndrome. The purpose of the Foundation is to assist families facing similar circumstances with medical and travel expenses not covered by insurance and to provide informational and emotional support. As each year passed, I continued to organize the contest and we peaked a couple of years ago with 86 participants. This year, each participant must pick the winner (against the point spread) of all 34 College Bowl Games. We are shooting for 100 participants.
So, some good has come of my being a football fan. I get to further indulge my appetite for football and help out my friends at Bella's Angels at the same time. If you have not yet gotten an entry form for this year's contest or if you know of others that might want to try their luck, please contact me and I will send you the entry form. Deadline is December 17th.
Hooray for Football! and GO DAWGS!!!
And The Journey Continues..........
