At a school where it seems like every student, teacher, and Salt Lake civilian – alumni or not – is dressed in red and ready for kick off, it can feel a bit odd to not find myself in Rice Eccles Stadium for a rootin’ tootin’ good time under the lights. I believe I have even received questioning looks from dogs that are bigger fans than me when they hear that I don’t go out to support the Utes. The thing is, I simply do not see the point in it. I grew up with a family that watched football more religiously than some people went to church and I never got into it. I was the type of kid to fill up a plate with snacks and retreat to another room to watch something else or read a book. During the Super Bowl, you could find me engrossed in what could be argued as the cutest display of athleticism ever – the Puppy Bowl. Don’t even get me started on the Kitty Half Time Show. That was on par with Christmas or Halloween for little me. Top notch stuff.

I have nothing against having school spirit. In fact, I know more about having school spirit than I wish I did. That does not dispute the fact that there are better things to spend my time on. For instance, I went to see the last show of the Twilight Concert Series instead of going to the season opening game against SUU. Does that mean I don’t like my school? No, it just means I prioritised music over athletics. This was not the first time and it will not be the last time either. I didn’t go to a single game during my freshman year and I don’t plan on going to any in the future. Blame it on my introverted tendencies if you will, but being in a crowd of screaming and rowdy fans, losing my voice from yelling, and losing sleep over something that doesn’t actually matter is not appealing to me.

Don’t let my humble opinion keep you from enjoying your sports. I am all for anyone and everyone that feels like going to the games doing so. I won’t even object to them having the best time ever while they do it! However, I (and many others of a similar outlook) would like to be left out of it and not judged for our preference. I have homework to do, movies to watch, fellow non-football watchers to hang out with, and sleep to sleep. I mean, I’ll hear enough people talking about the going-ons and results of the game that it will be pretty much the same thing as having been there. With that in mind, I’ll kindly stick to games of pick-up quidditch and occasional practices when I have the time. My book based source of physical activity is more than enough for my nerdy self, thank you very much.