So I watched my first game of Canadian Football today. Colby will probably have a more impassioned commentary, but to be brief: Edmonton lost. They went scoreless the entire first half, and then racked up a touchdown and a field goal in the second half to bring the score to 18-10. With less than a minute on the clock they scored a touchdown on last down, but they blew the two-point conversion, bringing the score to 18-16. At last ditch, they tried an onside kick, which was returned by the Alouettes for another touchdown. Final score, 25-16. Exciting game.
Canadian rules are weird, even to as football-illiterate of an American as I am. The field is wider; the field is longer (110 yards) and the end zones are longer too (35 yards each). I don't know why they don't go metric -- it would be less weird to hear that the ball was on the 50-meter line than on Edmonton's 52-yard line. There are only three downs before a turnover, which makes the play very predictable. 1st down -- run or pass. 2nd down -- always pass. 3rd down -- punt or sneak. Lather, rinse, repeat.
The strangest thing is the single. Kick the ball into or through the opponent's end zone and score one point. The comment from the other American at the Grey Cup party was, "Isn't that immoral?"
I "talked about stuff" with Jason tonight. That's the last part of his bedtime ritual, before his Animals Animals tape gets started. With me, sometimes he wants to talk about chemistry, but lately he's been satisfied to play with the calculator on my cell phone. He counts up to 100.
Today he was counting, "65 ... 66 ... 67 ... there's a really good number coming up ... 68 ... 69. 69! That's my favorite number."
So young, and yet so innocent.