The 2015 English Speaking Union’s Nunn-Russo Creative Writing Competition asks students…
In the United States, some of our customs are so much a part of our lives that we don’t even recognize them as unique. Is there one custom that you think exemplifies life in the US? How would you explain it to someone from another country — or planet?
First Prize: $300
Second Prize: $200
Third Prize: $100
And here is Sophomore Gaven Li chasing the dollars…
Football — Made in the USA
Although this is only my fifth month in the United States, I still want to talk about American football — one of the best sports in the world.
As a Chinese, I got confused every time when people in America call football “soccer” and use “football” to represent another sport, which seemed a rough and violent sport to me at that time. So when the football coach asked me if I wanted to play football on my second day at school, I considered how terrible football is and hesitated for a while. I knew nothing about football; I’m not strong, and I did not want to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair. I still remember the first day I watched the football practice. That was a hitting practice. I saw them run into and hit each other. I opened my mouth so big that I couldn’t even close it. “Oh my God.” was the only thing in my mind at that time. It scared me, but made me excited too. I told the coach: “Yes” then everything changed.
Football is not popular in China at all, but here, in the United States, most of the people are crazy about it. After I joined the football team, I started to understand why and quickly fell in love with this amazing sport. There’s no such sport like football, full of skills, power, teamwork, toughness, and passion. When I told my parents in China that I play football, they were so mad and worried about my safety. I think that’s the reaction of every parent if they know their children play American football. A lot of people might say football is dangerous, rough, it stops every ten seconds. There are too many commercials, but all these make football so exciting and special.
However, football is not only a sport but also part of American culture. People in other countries will never understand how much Americans love football: you can hear someone talking about the playoffs in the subway; you can feel the passion everywhere in the whole nation when the Super Bowl is coming. You think people only love professional football games? No! Pro games, college football or even high school football have millions of players and fans. Football is everywhere, not only on the field, also in people’s lives.
When you talk about soccer or basketball, they are everywhere. But football? Only in America. I believe this unique sport, which is made in the USA, played in the USA, will keep gaining its popularity all over the world.
Leave a Reply