 by Jami Keller
Football Season is here. I am so excited to see how our hometown BSU Broncos will do this season. They are ranked 19 in the coaches poll to start and the first game, as usual, is a giant: Washington State has a much larger school and football budget. So, here we are, beginning as the underdogs. Football season brings with it an amazing amount of information. There are Pop Warner leagues, Jr. High, High school, and of course college and professional leagues; there are fantasy leagues, Monday night game parties. Of course if you have the NFL LEAGUE PASS, pretty much 72 hours of football every weekend. And now you can watch this season on your phone. It could easily take half of your waking hours just to digest the highlights. With our already busy lives, unless you make your money from being involved in this sport, can take up a considerable amount of time and energy. So how does that impact the other areas of your life? So let’s face it, your partner is going to be impacted. The following is an excerpt from the NFL’s (National Football League) Values statement. I have found that they ALL can also apply to creating New Found Love between you and your partner…. INTEGRITY -We safeguard the integrity of the game. -We are ethical in all of our dealings with fans, clubs, business partners, and each other. -We follow through on our words with action. We are honest and direct. -We create an environment that inspires trust and confidence. PERFORMANCE AND TEAMWORK -We expect from everyone in our organization the highest level of performance and commitment to our mission and values. -We set the highest standards and challenge ourselves to keep improving. -We are accountable for our results and consistently measure our progress. -We make smart and informed business decisions. -We work together, sharing knowledge, information and other resources to attain the best results. -We focus on organizational objectives, not individual agendas. There is so much to learn from these basic principals. Yeah, it’s football, but I don’t think your partner would disagree that “{working} together, sharing knowledge, information and other resources to attain the best results” is a bad idea. My first football coach when I was nine years old, Tony Grimes, was big on character. As it turns out, all the best coaches are. Applying those values later on in my football career, I was able to feel the excitement of winning a 4A CIF championship game in the Los Angeles Coliseum. If you want to win, you do it with a character of integrity, humility and strength. This is true in football, and in relationships. When I sit down to watch this intriguing game with my family, because I have applied these values in each of the relationships around me, we have way more fun. We are connected, and in flow. There is a values hierarchy. You have a hierarchy whether you have thought about it or not. We recommend leadership master John Maxwell’s: God (or your Higher Power), Spouse, Children, Work, then other Family. If we approach life in this order, we believe it maximizes the happiness in your life and allows for everything to be in a healthy order. I would add football after other family, depending on your family. The key here is that when you put these things in order you take care of yourself in the very best way. Spoken or not you have made commitments to those you love. “We work together, sharing knowledge, information and other resources to attain the best results.” Whether you love the World Champion Ravens, or want to see if Kaepernick can Take the 49ers back to the Super Bowl this year, your values need to be balanced. What small things can you do with your other priorities before sitting on the couch with your favorite beverage? Show your partner some of the core principals I shared with you earlier. Do this not only by awkwardly saying “Look, honey, football is GREAT! I told you”, do this by actually applying those key values to how you conduct your life. Not only will this likely bring more intimacy into your relationship, but it could also mean that you won’t get “that look” after 4 hours of binge-football. At Passion Provokers it turns out that our values are much the same as the NFL; would’t you like deeper connection and communication during football season? It turns out that even better than winning a championship is being a champion in your family. There is nothing wrong with changing the meaning of NFL in your house.
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 by Marla Keller
Molly (Played by Goldie Hawn): * sings * “…. It’s the sport of kings, it’s better than diamond rings, it’s better than anything…..football!" ~From the 1986 Movie Wildcats I grew up l o v i n g football! Especially when the 49’ers were playing. (Take a step back, haters. We can agree to disagree. ;) ) It was a great way to connect with my dad who, for lack of a better way to put it, was completely addicted to sports. So, to relate with him I watched a lot of football. I asked a lot of questions. I’d like to say that I’m pretty well-versed in the sport. And, for those of you ladies out there who feel like widows (and for some of you guys, widowers) during the long, seemingly interminable, 6 months of football season, here are some “Cliff Notes” that may just help you feel like you have become a card-carrying member of a secret society for football lovers:
I could go on and on, but to spare you more boring details I will call a TIME OUT from this silliness. If you want to study up some more, check THIS out. Here’s to connecting with your partner during a time of year that in the past may have been a not-so-great season. Joining your partner in something they love can be both enjoyable and empowering. Stop whining about it, grab a "wine" (or coke or whatever beverage floats your fancy remembering that BEER is really the more appropriate thirst-quencher for the activity) and start celebrating the fun stuff! I promise, it can be a great time. What ideas would you like to share about football season? Any fun traditions to add even more connection and fun to the season? How to Survive and Thrive Football Season (as a female who barely knows what the 4th down means)9/1/2013  by Ariel Minter
My husband is an athlete. He played three sports in High School (equally talented in Football, Baseball, and Track). He works at a landscaping company Monday through Friday for at least 8 hours a day. When he gets home, he explains how he worked out by dead-lifting 75 pounds of grass with one arm. Basically, he is incredibly fit and I admire the heck out of his bangin’ bod. I was the editor-in-chief of my High School yearbook. I played basketball in junior high, and have maintained an active lifestyle. I like to keep a frequent work-out schedule. But I would certainly not claim to be the best, fastest, strongest, etc. It takes me 8 minutes and 40 seconds to run a mile. I also know nothing about football. I would attend games in High School just so I could dress up in our schools colors and then go out afterwards with all my friends. My parents love football, and are even a bit crazy about the BSU Broncos, but I just was never that interested. Football means Superbowl Sunday, good beer, and time spent with some of my favorite people. One of the qualities I love most about my husband is that he loves me, and fell in love with me, knowing that I knew absolutely nothing about his favorite sport. In fact, I am not expected by his basketball/track coach brother, his amazingly athletic father, or his active mother to know diddly-squat about football. Because of this, it has sparked my interest. Since I don’t feel the pressure to know what is going on simply so I can fit in, it gives me room to ask questions (“What does ‘4th down’ mean?”) that seem idiotic to someone who loves the game. But my husband and father-in-law are not only teaching me about the game, but giving me “permission” to ask silly questions. I get to know everything from a perspective of teaching and love. I feel cared for in how they are gently edging me towards caring about the game. So. I am determined to love the game. Even if I don’t end up “loving the game”, I get to share the experience of learning from two of the people that mean the very most to me. And it all started with them explaining very basic aspects of the game to me. It was like a foreign language turned into English and to translate I just had to ask. And it was an invitation to learn, not feel judged or stupid because I never cared before. If you are anything like me, all you have to do is be honest with your feelings, or lack thereof. Give yourself permission to not understand. You can THRIVE (instead of just survive) the entire football season! P.S. Go BSU Broncos! |
Marla and JamiCofounders of JamiAndMarla.LOVE (fka Passion Provokers and Keller Coaching) Jami and Marla are proud to bring a new level of success to coupleships worldwide with their unique coaching, mentoring, and consulting process. Their blogs are not only informative for coupleships they are personal. For over 25 years they have been helping people create emotionally and physically intimate coupleships. 
Ariel MinterAriel is a freelance blogger, web designer, and SEO consultant. She is 23 years young, married to her soulmate, and a proud “mother” to boxer Bruce and Yorkie Dexter. She focuses on writing content that is raw and relatable. (Info relevant at the time of writing, circa 2013-2015) Archives
October 2021
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