The Joys Of Watching Football

December 12, 2022

A black and white comic strip of Bryan shopping at the local grocery store. Drawn by artist Bryan Skinnell.

I don’t get football. I really don’t. Here it is, a cloudy and rainy Sunday night straight out of a Hitchcock film, and I’m sitting here with my dad in our living room watching a game on the boob tube just like millions of other Americans are doing right now. It’s an American custom and God only knows why. Hey…. for all I know God himself is probably kicking back and taking it easy up there in Heaven with a beer and enjoying the game too. Wonder who He might be rooting for?

There’s no denying that Sunday night football is the highlight of the week for a whole lot of people and yet I honestly can’t embrace it. Clearly I missed out on the football gene so I don’t get a thing out of it. My dad, and my brother too, are devoted football fans who appreciate the art and adrenaline of the game in ways I can only imagine, but prefer not to. For me, there just isn’t much to see. So far as I can tell, you have these two teams consisting of meatball jocks who are decked out in body armor and padding who fight and run around while carrying this odd looking ball that looks like it was designed by the military. Most Americans find entertainment in that. Me? I prefer watching the cheerleaders instead. Pity the sports broadcasters hardly ever show them.

Why hello there! My name is Bryan Skinnell and I am a middle-aged (50-ish) artist and neighborhood kook who is living the artistic and creative life out in the boonies of Bedford, Virginia. Bedford is one of the largest counties in the commonwealth of Virginia and, for the most part, it’s still a mostly rural one that bridges the gap between Roanoke and Lynchburg. You could say, in more ways than one, that Bedford is the heart of Virginia. I can’t argue with that although I usually think of Bedford more as Virginia’s belly button myself.

I grew up right here in Bedford and have lived and toiled most of my life on our infamous red clay. The sort of clay that makes the stickiest mud known to man after a rain and which clings like super glue from God to anything and everything it touches. If you are so foolish as to get it on yourself you’ll wind up tracking and leaving a trail of red goop everywhere you go for days afterwards to the delight of your family and friends. But I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else and Lord knows I tried as I’ve wandered from one end of the country to the other. But Bedford has my heart and that’s where I’ve chosen to live my life today. In my free time when I’m not stuck in my studio making art I do love being outside gardening or hiking or just pestering the neighbors.

Every day I try to write something that’s original, entertaining, and half-way thoughtful here on my blog while sharing my happy-go-lucky attitude and zest for life. Quite often I don’t have the foggiest notion of what I’ll end up saying in a post. But, whatever I end up writing about, I do hope you enjoy it!

I do keep a mailing list for interested readers and fans. If you would like to get in on the action and follow my musings and rabble-babble, that can be easily arranged. Just give me an email address that you would like for me to send my blog posts to and I’ll see that you get it.

Thanks for stopping by!
Bryan Skinnell