How to handle watching games in various situations

	Jenn Sterger and friends go to great lengths for their love of football. Jenn Sterger
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I recently started a serious relationship with a special girl. I'm not a football maniac, but I always watch my beloved Buffalo Bills. We're going to watch our first game together this weekend and I'm a little weirded out about it because I get so into the games. I yell about bad calls and jump up and down for great plays. When I'm around family they find it a little over the top. Should I try to keep my emotions intact, or just be myself?
-- Marc, Clarence, N.Y.

It's football, man! Frankly, if you didn't show some kind of emotion, I would begin to think you needed your pulse checked. Sports are about supporting a team through thick and thin. Cheering and screaming is what separates the die-hard fans from those who get dragged into watching games because they have nothing else to watch. Being passionate and loyal to a team regardless of whether they win or lose is a noble trait, and if I were her, I'd hope you'd be as faithful and adoring to me. So, go ahead, be loud, be proud and just be yourself. Just keep the language under control, because there is nothing romantic about a guy who trash talks like a sailor.

Do you watch football on Thanksgiving? Sometimes my family gets annoyed with the folks who spend most of the day glued to the games, but how can you NOT watch football on Thanksgiving? What do you think?
-- Tommy, St. Paul, Minn.

It's actually been a family tradition of mine to listen to the games on the radio, rather than watch them on television. This is usually because my family is outside helping and supervising my dad -- the neighborhood's answer to Clark Griswald -- while he adorns the house with the latest and greatest in holiday decorations available on the market. We don't usually get around to watching the games until later in the evening after dinner, and that is barring an unexpected trip to the emergency room for my dad's attempt at making himself part of the light display via electroshock therapy. So, no, there is nothing wrong with watching football all day as long as your assistance isn't needed around the house for the day's festivities. Aside from the parade, reruns of A Christmas Story, and some "Charlie Brown's Quest to Find the Crappiest Christmas Tree Available" movie, there isn't much else on worth watching. Frankly, I am jealous, because while you're taking in one of the best football days of the season, yours truly is listening to her father's latest scheme to make our house visible from outer space.

My boyfriend and I are both die-hard football fans, just not for the same team. Whenever my team (especially my QB) does something good, my boyfriend goes into a crazy rant about how much they stink. This is every time, not just when our teams play each other! But I can't even play around with him about his team; he just gets mad and starts sulking. How can we make watching football together a little more enjoyable?
-- Christine, Scranton, Pa.

Don't you know that's one of the cardinal rules of living in a house divided? Never mock a man's football team. It's almost like insulting his mother. Sure, in all reality your team really could stink, or it could just be that your boyfriend is extremely jealous of your quarterback's skills. Regardless, men will always find a reason to mock their girlfriend's choice of team simply because it's not their own. If it's a bitter rivalry such as, Florida-Florida State or Ohio State-Michigan, then this has probably been ingrained in him since birth, and reinforced by his family and friends. You can't fight nature and nurture! So let your man rant and rave all he wants, but remind him that all teams have off years. His is bound to have one sooner or later, and when they do make sure he gets a sampling of the crow.