Football Wars Between the goalposts

    Old men plot wars in back rooms and give speeches.Young men hold rifles and die on the battlefield. Football is an American preoccupation and between the goalposts this evening plays out a game that has referees and it’s own set of rules. Halftime is minutes away and tuba players come down out of the stands, join fellow cadets on the sidelines, march out to entertain spectators that have sons and daughters enrolled at the school. On the sidelines, uniformed men watch the game from an end zone and visit with a hunched patriarch during a time out to move the chains. Coaches squeeze programs rolled up in their hands and look like they want to swat flies. In this game there are no players taking a knee. If they did they would be cleaning latrines for months. On the football field, dying is only symbolic, but the war is real.