This column is late, but it is still relevant. I watched the Super Bowl and enjoyed it more than the commercials or the halftime show – and I am a girl. Are any of you males surprised?

I like sports. I enjoy watching sports and playing them. Because of the roles society has placed on women, I didn’t learn anything about football until my last years in high school. Even then the information I received was limited.

I now have a boyfriend who is willing to explain the games to me and how everything works so I can understand it. Of course, I don’t have the insight about sports that men are born with, but I am learning.

Sporting events are fun to attend, and they are even better when you understand the plays and penalties. Let me take a second to thank “Mr. Valdez” for teaching me so much about sports and for taking me to my first Packers game and two Wild games. I enjoyed them both and knew what was happening on the field and ice.

I am not writing this from a feminist perspective to demand that men and women be equal in everything. I am writing to inform males and future fathers that girls enjoy sports, so you don’t have to exclude them. Guys, you can invite your girlfriends over to watch the big game and daddies, you can explain to your young daughters what you are constantly watching on television.

Now, if you are a female reading this, don’t expect to be let into the other side right away. Growing up, my dad and I started a Sunday ritual where we would watch football or NASCAR during their respectable seasons. I did not, however, get initiated into the sports clan until Super Bowl weekend.

I was invited to a party with my boyfriend’s friends where we drank beer all weekend. Sure, I couldn’t keep up with them, but they did include me in the game of tackle.

I don’t understand this game. One guy gets the football and everyone else dog piles him. My initiation came when the ball was thrown to me and I had about five guys tackle me.

It may not sound that exciting to have your arms and legs twisted and tangled in a pile of people, but it meant a lot to me that guys felt they could include me. Hopefully, that was their intention.

To end this, I should tell you that I would rather go shopping than watch ESPN all day, but I do enjoy the world of sports. Girls no longer want to be seen as pig-tailed beauties having tea parties all day. We are tough and want to play outside. We also enjoy sipping a cold beer and watching the big game.