Fieldnotes: Second Time Around

It was Sunday evening at 6:30.  I entered my garage to find my dad already in a recliner close to the candy machines and television controls.  The San Francisco and Tennessee game was on and I already knew it would be an easy win for the 49ers.  I reached over my dad, momentarily blocking his view of the projector screen, to get some gummy worms out of one of the turnstile machines.  I sat in my dad’s usual spot on one of the blue couches since it was the closest to a lamp and I needed to see what I was writing down.  It was just my dad and I up there since my uncle Ron couldn’t come over, and my brother was doing homework in the house. 

What surprised me?

As soon as I had gotten set up to take my notes, my dad started talking to me.  I was trying to write down everything going on around me—including what he was saying.  I had to keep taking notes on the side of the paper to remember all of the things my dad was saying for my final notes.  He doesn’t usually talk this much.  He makes conversation when needed, but doesn’t tend to start conversations, especially when I was barely giving him any response back.  Maybe he’s talking more because he is talking to himself, but I am there to hear it.  However, I was surprised by the amount he was saying.

What intrigued me?

Something that intrigued me while I was watching the games with my dad was how he talks to the players.  He doesn’t yell at the TV, unlike a couple of my uncles who get a little bit too into the game.   My dad says aloud what the players should have done instead of something he thought was a mistake of some sort. I don’t think I had ever really noticed that he tries to negotiate and work out all of the plays to see the best options.  It is as if he is there with them, a part of the team. My dad gets into the excitement of the game, but isn’t smothered by it.  He is enamored enough that he wants the players to do well and play the way he sees fit. 

What disturbed me?

My dad knew I was taking notes as a project for school during this time.  I hope he didn’t try to play up the chatter more than usual.  I don’t think that he did though.  I think I was just analyzing it more than I usually would.  Something that I found interesting was how little time the players spend in motion and, well, actually playing.  The game clock totals at sixty minutes, but not all of that time is spent playing the game.  A lot of it is used up by players walking on and off the field, taking time in between downs to set up, officials not stopping at exactly the right time play ended, etc.  In order to watch a full football game, it usually takes about three hours (commercials, timeouts, etc).  But, how long are they actually playing the game for? I don’t think it could be more than half an hour.  So, professional football fans, including myself, spend three hours of our precious time for about half an hour of action.

This set of fieldnotes was definitely more difficult because I had to write really fast in order to capture everything my dad was saying as well as what I was observing on the TV and what my own personal feelings toward my findings were.  I wish I had gotten a chance to take notes with more than just my dad present, and possibly during a Vikings game.  Maybe I will take some independent fieldnotes during one of those games later on.