Since all of the all of the Animalians who had participated in Project Dinotopia and Cenozoic had been human before their conversion, and most of them had been part of Project Phoenix, there was a greater knowledge on football's rules as a sport for many of its members. Though that didn't necessarily mean that all of these members of Animalia were entirely interested in the sport. Many, like Jeremy, had had more interest in the commercials than the actual game, and for Jeremy and Heather, there was some specific interest in the commercials because they were in one.
"I can't wait to see the one you were it!" Tyra said excitedly as she bounced up and down at one point with her eyes on the scree, "What got you into it?"
"Well... Horizon wanted me as part of a commercial for them," Jeremy said slowly, "I think to advertise Project Dinotopia... or at least to keep people interested in it for when the project is officially open to the public and Animalia/Lyre's new steak house seemed like a great idea for cooperation..."
"Since all of the other carnivores have liked it as well," Heather added with a shrug and then nuzzled her muzzle to Jeremy's, "they kinda grabbed us..."
Jeremy nodded as Rex, who was standing on the other side of Tyra pointed to the screen. Both Jeremy and Tyra soon noticed and turned over to see that the screen had gone to commercial after one of the teams had scored and the game was paused for the commercials. And the commercial that came on first was the one that Jeremy and Heather had been in. It opened with a shot of Jeremy at his desk in the lab and with it looking like he was overworked with something. It panned out to see Heather come in and ask Jeremy on how he was. Jeremy answered that there was a lot to do and that he really didn't feel like cooking or wrestling with a supermarket that didn't have enough steak portions large enough for them. It then proceeded into Heather talking about a new restaurant she saw on the way in called "Soaring Steaks" and a sign that read "feed the beast." It ultimately ended with both of them at a large table that had nearly a bit of everything, from beef to chicken to pork to fish, and crab and lobster, and with Heather and Jeremy sharing fine meal and toasting each other.
"That looked good," Tyra commented, a small bit of drool running from her lips.
"It wasn't that good..." Heather spoke, "Neither of us were great actors."
"I was talking about all that meat," Tyra answered.
Heather only shook her head, though she also noticed that some of the attention that did turn back to her was not as passive/aggressive as it had been in the past. She might still have her hiccups with regard to her temper and defending Jeremy, but there had been plenty of things that she saw as personal progress at making up for letting her instincts get the better of her. Less judgmental behavior was a sign of that.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In another section of the Great Hall, Wanda found herself with Sherry as they watched the game. The two of them had been enjoying the game so far with some degree of interest, though for the most part they were enjoying some of the time off from their training with the Rhino Guard. For Wanda it hadn't quite been what she expected, but Sherry had been quite helpful with the rules and procedures that the police were expected to follow. But after a week of reading through manuals and getting lectures from both Sherry and Sudan, Wanda was ready for something a little more relaxing. And while the game wasn't quite what she figured would be the thing for it, it wasn't too bad and for the most part things were fairly close.
"Why don't they advertise a veggie bar or something?" Wanda grumbled with a snort and then an irritated flick of her ears, "just because we're not carnivores doesn't mean we don't need food."
"They do have a couple of them," Sherry answered, "as for advertising... that I don't know... Maybe they'll come up with something if we charge them."
Wanda squeezed her eyes shut at that. She was grateful to Sherry for helping her get through the crash course and just barely pass the police exam on the second go around, but there was some of the optimistic humor that came with Sherry being younger that Wanda didn't regain, even though both of them were double dosed Animalians. Sherry was a Triceratops Dinotopian. Wanda was a Wooly Rhinoceros Animalian.
"And in the meantime we're here enjoy the game and meet new people," Sherry commented, "Since we'll start the REAL training tomorrow... all the running and Rhino Guard policies and procedures that would go in addition to standard police procedures."
Wanda nodded and took a bite from a plate of lettuce she'd picked up from one of the buffet tables. After chewing down on it, she glanced to Sherry who stood beside her with a small smile.
"It'll be fun," Sherry stated with a smile, "and we'll get in on duty in time to be there just in case something big happens."
Wanda did nod to that. She'd followed enough on the news to know that Animalia really didn't have much in the way of criminal activity, that in most cases would lead to them maintaining a very small police force out of the figured need that it wouldn't be needed. But yet, when something big did come up, be it drug runners from outside the Lyre/Animalia area thinking they could smuggle stuff in there or the actions of Heather Wilcox when she first arrived in Lyre with her predatory instincts and anger combining for a rather unstable position back then, or Mary Piper's desperation, it had seemed like Animalia had seemed to take all the precautions needed to be ready for when those sorts of things came up. It was interesting and in a way, Wanda had wanted to be a part of that.
"And I'll thank you for that," Wanda said to Sherry, "I don't think I would have passed that test on the second go around without your help and coaching..."
"It's no problem," Sherry answered, "and since I'd just gotten through the Police Academy where I lived before coming here when inoperable bone cancer ended my career... there was a lot that was still fresh in my mind. I was happy to help. I had so wanted to be a cop then... and that cancer made it seem like the end for me. I think I could see that same desire in you... I didn't want you to feel denied."
"Again, thank you," Wanda said to her training partner.
And with that, they returned to the game just as the teams came back from their commercial break.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"I do not see much in the way of athleticism in this," Mario commented to Courtney as they watched the Eagles and Patriots line up on the field, "about all their plays are... is to pause and then hit each other."
"That is part of it," Courtney answered as she took a drink of her orange drink, "but their is athleticism when plays get into the open and toughness on avoiding being hit."
"It's still leaving head as nothing more than a battering ram," Mario commented, "and from the news I've seen... even their helmets do not work to prevent that."
"That's why they've changed the rules to try and limit head to head blows," Courtney assured him.
Mario shrugged and looked back to the screen and shrugged, "I'd still prefer what you call soccer... and root for Italia in the World Cup."
They watched as the Eagles made a big play that got them a first down and moved the ball which got a few small cheers here and there, and from what the two Pachycephalosaurus Animalians could hear that most of those cheers came from some of the various Animalians who were birds of prey, particularly the Bald and Golden Eagles. Courtney guessed they picked up on the team because their familiarity with the term "Eagle," but Courtney was only interested in seeing a good game. Though the big thing was to get Mario interested.
"The NFL will pay more," Courtney teased him a little bit, "and here in America... more people will notice you in the NFL."
Mario only raised an eye ridge and looked to his bond-mate, as the Animalians called it. He knew that she liked football and sports, and in a way that was why he loved her so much. They could train together and do all sorts of things together that most women he'd met before didn't have interest in. However, there was something that almost seemed like a fixation on the NFL that Courtney had.
"You do know they aren't going to hire an Animalian to play," Mario told her.
"Not right now... but that's only because no one's tried out yet," Courtney answered, "when more try out and every team has one... or more... they'll change that. The owners and coaches want their teams to win. WE can help them do that."
Mario only shook his head and looked back to the screen.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Diego and Manfred, meanwhile found themselves seated together at one of the smaller tables that had been set up to let people sit down and eat. Both were comfortable with standing, as many Animalians were, but between a late winter blizzard that hit as things went through, both were a bit tired from digging out. Manfred in the sense of helping with the sidewalks and driveways in Animalia and Diego in keeping some of the winter sports areas clear and level enough to use. They'd come in and preferred to sit down to rest after dealing with all that snow, and found that the table they were at was the only one open.
"So... extreme sports..." Manfred said slowly, "I take it football isn't your cup of tea then?"
"I'm okay with football," Diego commented, "but things like ski jumping... or jumping something on a bike or some other vehicle... that's more fun to me. It's why I've favored the practices for speed skating... skiing and so on. More adrenaline rush than just running up and down a field."
The paused to watch the Patriots be held to a field goal try. Diego slipped a lone buffalo wing into his mouth and quickly crunched through it as they watched the play. He could also hear Manfred's large flat teeth grinding something down as well, though Diego knew that as a Mammoth, Manfred had a very different diet from him.
"Though... at present, I don't think either of us really have the teeth for football," Diego commented, "Your tusks wouldn't fit under a helmet and my sabers would potentially be long enough to STILL be a risk of either accidently stabbing myself on them or worse someone else."
Manfred slowly nodded. Football was a very contact heavy sport and one that required a lot of protective gear that wouldn't work with many Animalians, particularly those with unique dental structures. Like the other Elephant Animalians, Manfred had his tusks, and while they weren't presently as large as some of the Wooly Mammoth tusks found in the fossil record, they weren't small enough that they would fit inside a football helmet. Playing would essentially mean doing what was often done with "domesticated" Elephants in that their tusks would be ground down to lessen the number of weapons the Elephant in question had. Of course, given how large mundane Elephants were, Manfred almost found it funny that people felt that taking the tusks from a multi-ton animal would render it safe.
And Diego was in a similar boat with his sabers, as they protruded from his upper jaw and curved downward and were obvious. And unlike a mundane Smilodon that was longer than it was tall and a quadruped, Diego with a more erect posture and a primarily bipedal stance was in a position that if he were to lower his head to look down, he'd risk goring himself on his own canines. That couldn't be something anyone could want.
"So... good thing we're here, eh?" Manfred asked with a small smile, "with our teeth safe."
"Just so long as you don't make friends with a converted Ground Sloth named Sid," Diego commented, "we're already putting off too much of an "Ice Age" vibe already."
"I think Deputy Mayor Robbie's father in law is named Sidney," Manfred commented, "and he did become a Giant Ground Sloth with his wife."
"RRRRRRRRRRRRR," was the low frustrated rumble from Diego.
"But I think they went back to their home after their conversion and aren't living in Animalia or Lyre," Manfred assured him, "though, I'll also tell you that from what little I got when I met him... he and his wife are both smarter than the movie character."
"Well... THAT'S good," Diego sighed.
"The one thing I would prefer," Manfred spoke slowly, "Is no talk of ancestors or wisdom or anything like that... All Animalia's Elephants treat me as though I am their grandparent... The modern African Elephant probably evolved around the same time in Africa as the Wooly Mammoth did in North America, northern Europe, and Asia. So there is no way I could be an Ancestor to modern Elephants..."
"What about the Asian Elephant?" Diego wondered.
"Wooly Mammoths and Asian Elephants are more closely related," Manfred admitted, "but they still didn't evolve from Wooly Mammoths.. So... while we're all types of elephant, they didn't evolve from me. So no talk of ancestors, OKAY?"
Diego slowly nodded and they turned to see to a commercial advertising Mieni Atoll with its history and science museums, beaches, the lagoon, and the ocean around it. It showed Mieni's main residents and all enjoying life in various swimsuits that covered considerably less of their bodies than what those in Animalia and Lyre were enduring with winter still technically holding on in their part of Nevada.
"So... you glad we're here and not there?" Diego asked off hand.
"Yeah," Manfred answered, "with all our fur... we'd melt there."
The two laughed at that, and returned to watching the commercials and the game.