NFL season kickoff can mean war between couples

September 4, 8:16 AMSports ExaminerPaula Duffy

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No matter how much you love each other, the commencement of the football season can bring discord to the most solid of couples.

College games dominate Saturdays and the NFL owns Sunday; both of them are the days most often spent in family/couple time together and therein lies the problem.

If you can't watch football together or deal with having separate activities for a negotiated period of time (one day game and one night game for example) then it might be time for the football fan to see if the problem lies in the other partner's inability to understand the game or its importance in the fan's life.

In many households it is the woman who can't wrap her arms around the fact that watching football is a sacred ritual and one that can be the most fun a fan can have outside the bedroom.

Many women weren't raised in a household that gave them the option to learn the game from the men in their lives for a variety of reasons: they didn't want to include her or she didn't get it instantly which frustrated the heck out of her father/brothers/uncles.

I have taught women the basics of the game and how to watch on TV. I can tell you unequivocally that most women don't understand how simple the basics are and how much fun it is to use the Internet as the equivalent of US or People magazine for the gossip related to the players and their lives.

Of course not all disgruntled non-fans want to learn and even worse is the case in which the fan doesn't want to include the other half of the couple into the football world he/she inhabits. I watch many a game at a cigar lounge in which the audience at any one time can be 100% men other than me. It is used as a refuge from home and a bonding experience among others who share the love of the game and have done so for years.

There is help out there if you want to end your autumn and winter of discontent and I can tell you that many women really want to learn. If you attempt to take on this task, be sure to emphasize the rules of when to speak and when not to. You and I both know we don't want to explain anything while announcers are speaking or replays are happening. Good luck to all.

And for general relationship adivce of any sort, flip over to Kristen Houghton right here at examiner.com