What makes the Beautiful Game so Beautiful

What is it that makes football so special? Being an ardent fan, I have pondered over this like a zillion times, but in vein. A bladder with air covered in animal skin. That’s all that is. But it has millions of followers all over, maybe even more than most of the religions. But what is it that makes football so special? Why are people so passionate, so fanatical about this game? What makes football the most popular game on Earth? I have no answer for this.

The pure ecstasy that fills you when you play the game can only be felt and not described. You have to live it to understand it. The feeling is nothing less than flying a jet, or having an orgasm. Every time, the game entices me in a way least expected. The feeling of absolute freedom, as if you have nothing to lose sets in as soon as you take to the field. But, if it’s a game that matters then the scene changes. Winning at any cost. Spill your blood, break your bones, I don’t care. Push your limits. No game challenges you so much, to push yourself. No other game makes you realize your limits and urges you to break them at the same time. No other game can make you feel wise and stupid at the same time. The pride you feel when you succeed, the sadness that engulfs you when you lose, the anger that encompasses the mind when things go bad, the guilt you feel for a mistake made, the disappointment you endure for letting your team down are all absolute. Nothing else lingers in these feelings.

The game grows in you like the taste of beer. But once you are ‘addicted’ to it, there is no getting out. No matter how hard you try. I tried hanging up my boots a year ago. But even after a relatively long gap of 8 months when I took to the field, I found myself playing with the same intensity and craziness as I used to. Nothing changes. Your body may grow old, your outlook might change, you may grow as a person, but whatever it might be, once you are on the field, you true self presents itself without any curtains.

Saying so much about the game has left me wanting to play the game. I am off to where I belong. Only if I could do this for every single day of life, until I die.