Sportsball: An Appreciation

In celebration of conference championship week, below are some my favorite things about football:

1. Intellectual Stimulation:  Stoppage of play and eleven-man teams allow for far richer strategies and coordination than any other sport.  Anyone who has ever played the game can happily rewatch a well-executed play six or seven times, looking at different players and parts of the field each time.  Consider some questions for a simple run.  How did the defense line up?  Was it consistent with prior formations?  Did they show blitz?  (Did the offensive line and quarterback read it?  Was an audible warranted?)  How did the offensive line set up?  (Did the defense read it?  A two-point stance may be a tell that a tackle is preparing for a pass rush, or it may be that he is pulling, or it may be that he is on the weak side of a stretch run and too tired to go all the way down.)  Does each member of the offensive line understand their responsibilities (and have faith the rest of the line does too) if any defensive players twist, stunt, or blitz?  Now think about all the other dimensions of the game and the way teams must mask and randomize strategy, and re-evaluate the above.
2. Openness to Boys of All Builds:  Almost any body type is suitable for some position on the football field at the high school level.  Yes, speed and size will give you an advantage and open up more positions.  But most coaches will give a short and stocky kid a chance at nose tackle, or a big and plodding one a shot on the O-line.
3. Big, diverse teams:  Football (for now) has the largest fan base in the country and attracts players of all backgrounds.  Bigger teams inherently allow for more representation and more diverse interaction.  (Baseball similarly benefits from more representative interest and bigger teams.)  Perhaps they are unfair, but other popular high school sports like basketball and lacrosse are saddled with stereotypes for having a certain type of player, a problem that does not affect football as much.