THE LOVE AFFAIR.

Life must be filled up, and the man who is not capable of intellectual pleasures must content himself with such as his senses can afford.
- Samuel Johnson




"I was with her but I really wanted to leave. She was getting in the mood but I wanted to do everything possible to avoid another encounter. I had to play my cards well because if I made any wrong move, I would blow my cover and the chance of being free from her clutches. It was like she knew how to be overly annoying only on my special days. I began to wonder if she had some supernatural powers to know the times I did not want to be bothered. I wished that I could just vanish into thin air then again, I wished the "vanishing act" upon her but upon second thought, I was not going to have anyone keeping me company if she vanished. I was missing in on the action,emotions and passion. I just wanted to leave because the football match had started fifteen minutes ago"- what goes through the mind of a guy whose girlfriend visits on the wrong day and time. Ladies, you cannot fault us because football or soccer is another thing that gives us uncontrollable passion. If a guy who is an ardent football fan can stay home with you and watch you play zuma on a big match day, please marry him because he is the right one. The passion guys derive from football has no historical roots, it is an ingrained tendency. Even baby boys know what to do with any round football-looking object. Some guys are so passionate about what we have come to know as the "Beautiful game". I knew a guy who would be seated in front of the TV set close to 3 hours before his favourite team played. We used to tease him by saying that he loved his team more than he did God. Way back in university, the stench from armpits, mouths, worn out jerseys and even the heat which was capable of boiling potatoes could not stop us from enjoying the game. The vulgarity, bragging rights, shambolic statistics, lies and unnecessary debates involved even made the beautiful game even more "beautifuller" and intense. We see the footballers like gladiators because at one point in time, they are together fighting in solidarity for one nation and at another point, even brothers had to face off against each other for honour and there is no telling the harm they can do to each other just to come out as the "champion" over the other after ninety minutes and possibly another thirty more minutes depending on the gravity. In the end, they put their differences aside and go back to being brothers. There has even been a time that blood brothers had to play for different countries. I can beat my chest and say that no telenovela in the world can give you so much passion, suspense and thrill all at once. Your heart starts pounding at unusual rates right from the get go through to the final whistle and I can assure you that the adrenaline involved is amazing. The suspense is even heightened when you have placed a bet on your team and they are just one-nil up and have also been shown a red card. You might even forget your school ID number. In such situations and the only thing you can do is to pray but even if you lost, you would be glad that at least you enjoyed a thrilling game. Many guys have a funny belief that watching a football game was far better than having a girlfriend. I always laughed when I heard this but I gave it deep thought some time back and I tend to partially agree with them. Picture this, twenty-two men chasing one round object, they fight each other tooth and nail but in the end, they hug each other and even exchange jerseys and sometimes you get a transfer to the other team. Now let me ask this, can even three boys chase one girl? The result would be disastrous. I rest my case. Secondly they argued that football could bring even quarrelling brothers together and I am a living testimony to such a feat. I have these twin friends who are more like brothers to me; Rudolph and Raphael. The former had cheated the latter in some money deal so there was sort of heavy tension among them. This was when Ghana was playing the USA in South Africa 2010. When Asamoah Gyan scored that injury time screamer, they shocked the entire room when they danced together in formation, hugging each other in the process and had quickly forgotten the bad blood that existed. I do not know of any show yet that can bring two girls who are at loggerheads together. Sometimes we daydream of living the fabulous lifestyle of these footballers where we work for at most three hours in a week and earn millions of dollars unlike doing our current jobs the whole week and earning a decent wage. Ladies, know this now, when your man wants to watch football with his buddies, please serve them popcorn or something and please do not get in the way. We love you but football loves us more. My name is Edwin Oko Lamptey and this is a "diehard" R.A.T (RANDOM AFRICAN THOUGHT) More at randomafricanthoughts.blogspot.com