American Football Every weekend from September through January．football seems to De the most important event in the lives of millions of Americans．Thousands of people go to stadiums all over the country to watch football games; even _______ (1). American football is different from the game that is known as football in most of the rest of the worlD．International football is called soccer in the United States．where it is a comparatively new game. It is beginning to become popular．but it doesn't attract crowds nearly as big as _______ (2) . Soccer games are shown on Television only _______ (3)．usually_______ (4). American football games are played by both amateurs．who don't get paid．and by professional．who do. Almost every high school and university in the country has an amateur football team. In addition．there are professional teams in most of the larger cities. Besides football．the most popular games in the United States are baseball and basket- ball. All of these games are spectator sports--that is only a few people actually take part in them while many more (into the millions．in fact) only watch them. Participant sports are not usually as organized as spectator sports; they include such activities as swimming．tennis and golf, Spectator sports give average people the _______ (5) who seem a little larger than life. Foot- ball players in the United States and soccer players in other countries have become popular heroes. Football also gives people the opportunity to become a part of a community--to cheer for New York over Chicago．or for San Paulo over Rio de Janeiro.