European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 4, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Aviano Stoler is a ties by j. King Cruger Northern Italy Bureau Gie Toler does no to remember when she got hooked on pro football but she does know she got hooked Early in life. Quot everyone in my family was interested in pro football. My mom my Stepfather my two Sisters and my two Brothers. On thanksgiving Day my mom would Cook Early so that we could All watch the games a she recalls. Toler 28, is an air Force staff sergeant assigned to Aviano a Italy. She grew up in Chester pa., but her nil loyalty is directed to the Southwest. Quot everyone in my family is a Dallas cowboys fan. My Little brother would put on these cowboys pyjamas before every game. If the cowboys lost he would go in his room and cry a she says. Quot sometimes 1 11 Root for the Philadelphia eagles but not when they play against Dallas. The cowboys always had a solid team. Their style Drew me to them. That a Why hiked Toler works As a reports controller in Aviano a command Post. Her husband Ronald is a fan of the new York giants which does no to bother her. A Tony Dorsett and too tall Jones were my favorite players when they played for the cowboys but the players Aren t that important to me a she says. A the Guys can sit around and name players from All the teams i just like the game itself and done to really dislike any then again she a not crazy about her cowboys own quarterback Troy Aikman. A i done to think he can take a hit a she states. Toler says she gets the keenest enjoyment out of predicting the plays teams might use. She a looking Forward to being Able to see More nil action when she transfers in december to a new assignment at pop ,. A. A a. A Quot when i was Back in the states i would watch nil football As often As it came on but Over Here in Italy i wont get up at 3 . To watch it a says Toler. College football just does no to turn her on because of the a basketball scores rung up in Many collegiate contests. A a i was always interested in sports. I was a Tomboy and would play football with my Brothers. I played tackle football a once. I was quarterbacking and hit some Guy in the ear with a pass. He picked me up and body slammed me. My tackle Days were Over a Toler says with a chuckle. A girls play tackle football. There Are some things you leave alone. We Arentt equipped to take the women might find that their taking an Active in Crest in football could off Toler believes. A it football is a Good conversation topic. Foot bal is not just a Man thing a Toler says adding a at least you can look at menus Butts is amps j. King Cruger Angle Toler. A i just like the game this football hysteria deserves Bonnie Bartel-lat1n0 a Ith nil exhibition games having hit Barcelona and Berlin this summer we might As Well admit we re already 15 into pro football pass the idol mama lest i contract the dreaded pigskin fever that blitzes countless americans across Europe. A a so far in be been immune to the beguiling seductiveness of this sport incomprehensible to me is the allure of this fatuous game in which grossly overpaid supposedly grown men strut Down the Field patting each others fannies throwing High fives and performing electric slide jigs beneath goal posts a game in which a single minute can last As Long As a Cori Gressional filibuster. We live in one of the most historical exciting regions of the world yet for an entire half year Many sports Hulics schedule their lives around football., when total weekends Are consumed As my husband Tom watches these games i begin to empathize with county music a Bubba who shot the Jukebox that played a sad song and made him cry. I prefer doing something More constructive with my time. Watching Tom flick his Mammoth toenails across our bedroom As he grooms his feet before a Volks March is infinitely More exhilarating than watching nil games on to. Crikey even watching profile is More spine tingling. A v a a a a t a v a a amps Ken George whooping it up on super sunday �?T94. I realize there Are women who have been afflicted with fool Wallitis All their lives. Gals like my Sisters Friend who fought for custody of big red season tickets in her Nebraska divorce petition. From my Home state of Alabama a Bear Bryantville a there is tiny who had to choose a honeymoon location based strictly on to reception so her new husband miss a second of Bama Ball. Any woman who reveres end zones As much As i do erogenous zones is in dire need of serious Hor i Mone replacement therapy maybe football lust is genetic and i inherited Only the genes latter part. We Southern women Are notorious for our fakery but there is no Way i will fake ecstasy Over this game. Since i was 13,1 have had a warm spot in my shall Quot we say heart for football players and i married a former quarterback but i do not know a hash Mark from a Deutsch Mark and frankly my dear i done to give a Down a touch or first. Nor does my heart bleed because gone forever Are the Days when a helicopter was ordered in to dry off a wet Gridiron before a big air Force game at by Burg. Alright i know the army Pilot who fluttered Over the puddles on the Barons Field was in urgent need of hover practice. Which made the Man Euver legit enough for a onetime Good Deal but still. College football seems especially pointless in Europe where televised games Are delayed and aired in deepest darkest night. Yet there Are devotees who yell and scream at the set like demented goons and Goon tics even when the outcome is known pre. Game. A a watching games on the Box often transforms rational americans into sofa spuds. A Friend of mine who is an army specialist in Ansbach Germany tells a wicked Story about his parents Cathy and Kenny former football Queen and Captain Star player of their Hometown. Shortly after their wedding his glory Days dissolved the tight end metamorphosed into a classic Couch coma watching televised game after game and Nau Seum. Finally fed up Cathy scored her own touchdown by tossing a Forward pass right through the to screen a with Kenny a Bowling Ball. a finally a super Bow i can relate Tol extra Points to Cathy for Choice of weapons. Of Kenny is a Mere Piker compared to the football faithful who in order to watch their favorite teams big games rent base billeting rooms that have an to reception. And i am seriously worried about the sanity of the quixotic sports neurotics who paid big Bucks for a football tour to travel cooped up in a bus for 20 hours in route to Barcelona in the height of summer heat to see the raiders and Broncos play an exhibition. Obsession with football sometimes makes Cults of entire families. I once knew a English girl who married a . Airman at Raf Uxbridge. Sandra told of expectations for her initial trip to America where she would experience her first thanksgiving among her new in Laws. Afterwards she said she had never been so disappointed. A on the big Day All the women got up very Early indeed to Cook As the men began watching television and drinking pints Beer. The family wore jeans and to shirts to our Lovely luncheon which was served on dreadful trays in front of the Telly while everyone shouted rudely at the gladiators on the screen. The women Sprat the afternoon washing up in the Kitchen while the men continued to drink and scream at the television like imbeciles. Mind you that was it a thanksgiving in America dead id say she got it just about right. Bonnie Bartel latino lives near Kaiserslautern Germany september 4, 1994 sunday. Page 5
