Hi, friends of Starry! Today I want to talk about one of my favorite sports. It's football!! But not BRITISH football:
I like AMERICAN football:
This sport is very popular in both Canada and America. It's different than soccer, because you can use your hands to throw the ball and catch it. You can also hold the ball and run with it. The shape of the ball is a little strange, though. It isn't round like a soccer ball. It's more like an oval, but with two pointy ends:
The white part is where you put your fingers when you want to throw the ball. American football is similar to rugby in certain ways. However, football is more dangerous because players throw the ball forward (not backward, as in rugby). Sometimes a player will run very fast and then catch the ball from someone who is far away. Due to these high speeds, there are often accidents. So players must always wear helmets:
Fall is usually called "football season" in North America. There are many football games every weekend during autumn. The NFL (National Football League) is probably the strongest professional league in the world. The teams in that league are all from the United States, but they sometimes visit other countries to play games. NFL teams have even played 14 games in Japan! In 1976, my favorite football team came to Japan and played a game in Tokyo. I was too young then, so I didn't know about football at that time. But here is the uniform of my favorite team:
They are called the "Chargers". Their symbol is a lightning bolt (稲妻, or 雷マーク). The team is very cool! Other teams have also visited Japan, and played in either Tokyo or Osaka. Some Japanese people like watching American football. When I lived in Canada, I had a Japanese friend named Masa who loved football. We watched several NFL games together on TV. How about you? Have you ever seen a football game?? The games are usually very exciting, so you should watch one sometime!
- Peter 
