Are You Ready for Some Football?

Nothing says fall like some football! Every fall I know that I will loose any hopes of spending time with my boyfriend on a Sunday.  Sundays are for football.  All day long, loyal football fans will spend their entire sundays in front of their TVs rooting for their favorite teams.  If they are lucky, they may even attend a game at their favorite team's stadium.  For me, football reminds me of my uncle, who like my boyfriend, is a loyal New York Jets fan and spends his Sundays in front of his flat screen high definition TV cheering on the big green.  I, too, am a fan of the Jets and of the game in general.  While I do not spend my entire Sunday in front of a TV, I do enjoy watching the Jets and going to professional games.  I also like to cheer on the Deer Park Falcons at both the varsity and middle school level.  I was also a big fan of the Cortland Red Dragons, my alma mater.  My favorite player is Mark Sanchez of the Jets.  He is the quarterback.  The one who throws the football to the players, who then run to the end-zone to score touchdowns.  Have you ever seen a football game?  What's your favorite team?  Who's your favorite player?

Vocabulary
1) loyal: showing or giving support to someone or something
2) entire: whole thing
3) rooting: cheering on, being a fan of a time
4) varsity: high school level
5) alma mater: the college that a person attended
6) touchdown: when a player runs into the end-zone with the football, scores 6 points for the team.

Cloze Activity: Complete the following sentences by filling the blanks with a vocabulary word form above.


1) Julio plays ___________ football at Deer Park High School.
2) I am a ____________ fan of the New York Jets and the New York Yankees.
3) The ________ game lasted three hours.
4) After catching the ball, Andy ran and scored a ________________!
5) My _________________, Cortland State has a very good athletics program.
6) This Sunday, I will be ______________ for the New York Giants because I want them to beat the San Francisco 49ers.

Grammar Point
Homonyms are words that have more than one meaning and are spelled the same way.  For example, the word fan has two meanings.  It can mean a person who is fan or something, like a Jets fan or a Giants fan.  However, it can also mean the machine that is used to cool off a person or a room.  These words can be tricky when reading.  You will need to use context clues to figure out which meaning is needed for the reading to make sense.

Grammar Exercise
Read the following list of homonyms.  Can you write a second definition for each homonym?

1) play: to engage in activity for fun, or ________________________
2) watch: to look at something, or ________________________
3) train: to practice for something, or ________________________
4) can: to be able to do something, or _________________________
5) sweet: a sugary taste, or __________________________