Football 101

My mom enjoys telling a story about when I was a 7th grade cheerleader and I was cheering at a football game when I started yelling "defense, defense!" I then proceeded to turn to the other cheerleaders in a "know-it-all" kind of way and say to them, "that means the other team has the ball." Maybe I could have approached informing them about offense and defense in a more kind way, but I often found myself getting quite embarrassed when they were yelling defense instead of offense and vice versa. I used to proclaim, "it's not that hard of a game to figure out, why don't you pay attention." Needless to say, we had lots of talks at home about "polite communication."

As I got older, I realized it was not a pre-requisite to complete Football 101 before becoming a cheerleader (even though I think it should be) and not everyone was lucky enough to have a dad that taught them about the game. The basic football fundamentals were foreign to many of the girls I cheered with over the years and I was lucky to have a grasp of the basics of the game before becoming a cheerleader. This story came up recently in conversation and it got me thinking: what concepts would be covered in Football 101 and why would it be important? If I were in charge of the class, I think Football 101 would cover:

Offense vs. defense
Down and distance
Scoring, and
Football Terminology

Once those concepts are covered, any person, including a 7th grade cheerleader, would better understand the game. I share that story to use as a foundation for this: next week my other role as professor begins when I start teaching the Fundamentals of Human Communication, or Communication 101, at Tarrant County College. I am always shocked by the (lack of) communication skills college students, as well as, the general population possess. How can you play the game if you don't learn the basics first? The number one skill sought by organizations is "effective communication skills." So why do so many people skip Communications 101? My theory is that if a person understands and practices the most basic communication skills, the he or she can and will be more effective in most areas of their life. They don't need to become a communications expert, but just understanding the game will give them an advantage. Communications 101 should include the following:

Communication is inescapable; you cannot not communicate.
Communication is complicated
Context vs. content
Adapting communication to meet YOUR needs

So as I approach preparing for my classes, my focus is in wanting my students to walk away at the end of the semester and be able to stand on the sidelines and understand the game. Because once they have the basic understanding of the communications game, they will no longer find themselves being yelled at by a "know it all" cheerleader (or boss, or partner, or friend, etc.)