This Week in Off-Topic: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Let's Keep It Wonderful)

The above can happen without mass murder erupting

The National Football League preseason has begun in earnest, which means football has finally come back home for the year. Football is about the only thing that I might prioritize watching over pro wrestling, so much to the point where I have dedicated this month in podcasting to previewing both the college and pro slates. Last week on the show, Billy Gomila and I went over tailgating and food, which I think are just as important to the enjoyment of the games as the games themselves.

The communal aspect of football, or any sport or sport-like form of entertainment like wrestling, is why I will always argue that the game has a place in society, no matter how out-of-control pro salaries get, no matter how much of a stranglehold the NCAA puts on its "student-athletes," no matter how many tax dollars owners extort from municipalities, and no matter how much bad press athletes or fans get.

For those reasons above, I get extra disheartened whenever I hear of incidents where fans clash, whether they be fans of the same team or of rival teams. Philly fans get the most scrutiny, and I've learned not to fight it. Why? Well, I don't think that saying "everyone else does it" is a valid answer anymore. No one should have to feel threatened if they wear New York Giants or Washington or even *sigh* Dallas Cowboys colors at Lincoln Financial Field. The same should go for Eagles fans in any other road venue.

Football games are spectacle moreso than any other sport because there are so few of them comparatively speaking. Yeah, tailgating for a baseball game can be fun, but most of those games happen on weeknights, and there are 81 home dates a year at the very least. Any pro football team only has eight home dates guaranteed. College teams, because of non-uniform scheduling, can have anywhere between four and nine home games a year. Either way, the number of days to really let loose are scarce. They also tend to happen on the weekends, which allows fans to really make an entire day out of celebrating the sport, whether at the stadium or at home.

Saturdays and Sundays become big communal parties in the fall and winter, and I see no reason to exclude based on team affiliation. Look, I'm not saying that you should drop your team biases. Hate the Cowboys all you want; Lord knows I do. But hating the team on the field is far different from hating fans of those teams. Ball-busting and friendly antagonism are fine. Instigating a fist fight or throwing bags of urine? Yeah, not so much.

Football can seem like serious business if one gets very invested in the outcome of the game, but at the same time, I think we'd all be a bit better off if we ramped down that investment and realized that sports are release. Everyone can have a good time, win or lose. It's not about about the result of the game, as much as it's about spending time with friends watching a game that lends itself to all-day investment. For fans like me, having football to supplement wrestling really makes the year that much more special, especially as the days get darker and the weather gets colder. Let's keep that atmosphere special for everyone by not wanting to strangle someone because of team affiliation, okay?