Since it's game day--meaning THE Super Bowl, as Hubby puts it (like there's any other)--I know what you're all expecting, but I simply could not find any pictures of hot football players to post. I looked, but when I searched, I ended up with bikini-clad chicks holding strategically placed soccer balls over parts of their surgically-enhanced anatomies. Gack. This tells me two things. 1) More guys search for sexy pix of football players than women do and 2) Every other country in the world uses the term "football" to describe "soccer" except the USA.

Because of this, I thought I would write about another sport instead, one filled with passion and romance, and one with which I am intimately familiar. So today I'm posting a little about competitive ballroom dance, one of the most beautiful and artistic sports known to humankind. Can you tell I'm biased? lol

Yes, ballroom dance is a sport. It's called DanceSport, and there are organizations that govern it and everything, just like other organized sports. The nice aspect of DanceSport is that even after a couple quits competing, they can dance socially for the rest of their lives if they want. That's what my husband and I have done.

We started out just interested in social dance, but because of the lack of dance opportunities in our local area at the time, we thought we'd try competing at the novice level, which is for beginners. It gave us the chance to travel to competitions and hear great music, and we did get to dance socially as well because there are sometimes intermissions where everyone is invited to get up and dance and enjoy themselves.

We competed for three years in some rhythm dances (swing, rumba, cha-cha, mambo), moving through the different levels as we learned more patterns, and we loved learning the intricacies of dance, meeting other dancers, and, really, just getting to be involved in a competitive sport. I think most people would love to try a competitive sport, win or lose, just once. We weren't as concerned about placing as we were just getting to participate and be a part of it all. There are some issues with the competitions sometimes, including the judging, and the expense can be overwhelming if you compete at the higher levels. However, if you just enjoy dancing and want to see it from a different perspective, DanceSport may be an option for you. There's quite a bit to learn about it, but overall I'd say it's one of the best experiences I've ever had, and I now have something that I can pass on to others, too. Occasionally, we talk about going back and competing in some smooth dances (foxtrot, waltz, tango, quickstep), but we've not decided yet.

By the way, real ballroom comps don't have much in common with Dancing with the Stars. For one, there are pro/am (professional/amateur) couples AND am/am couples (where the partners are both amateurs). Couples compete according to age and level, which means people of all ages can participate and compete with people in their age group. I've met and seen people in their 80s competing, which was really nice. Another difference is the judges are the only judges--the audience doesn't get to vote.

I'd get more into it, but right now I have some more snacks to fix for the Big Game. If you are interested in ballroom, feel free to drop me a line and ask me questions. If you just want to experience some dancing in your reading, may I suggest my erotica novella, Ride 'Em Girlfriend? Although it's not about dancing per se, it has a scene in it where hunky cowboy Randy Stide teaches Professor Rumani Gladstone how to rumba and tango...while naked. Gooooo team!