Sign's of Life

If you take an individual from the backwoods of Russia, who has never watched TV, listened to the radio, or seen pictures of a football field and show him a picture of the uprights at the very end of the field, what will he think?  What would that sign mean to him visually before any explanation of the game of football?  Will he think that the tall, yellow polls spaced 18.5 feet apart are an ornament for the field, or will he think that you have to throw, kick, do something to a ball through the posts in order to win?  I highly doubt he will choose the ladder, but as Americans we know and understand that in football if you kick a football through the uprights, depending on the situation, you either get one or three points; in some rare cases, you get two.  This is the denotative meaning, you make it through and you get points.  The denotative meaning to uprights on a football field has given people an avenue to many other meanings.  Some fans look at uprights and think, "Man, only if the kicker would have made the field goal we could have won," or, "Well if it comes down to a field goal tonight, we sure aren't winning, our kicker sucks."  

For me personally, field goal posts have several connotative meanings.  Seeing field goal posts often gives me confidence in myself because in my past, I have made field goals to help my teams to victory.  I see them and I remember the times when I was the only one out on the field working at my skill, trying to get better.  I see them and there is a calm pressure that sets in and says to me, "If you don't make this, your team might lose, you cannot fail."  I see them and I remember the times I have missed key kicks in big situations.  I see them and think, it's 120 yards between the two posts I wonder if i could ever kick a ball from one end to the other.  All of these meanings bring to focus two main feelings I have for the game of football, confidence and love.  I feel confident when I see them because I know that through hard work I can progress and be a better athlete.  I feel love for the game because kicking a football is what I love to do, plus I love to score points.

Across other semiotic domains, field goal posts have similar denotative meanings in the sport of Rugby.  You score points when you kick the Rugby ball through tall posts, similarly placed on opposite ends of the field.