Football season brings many things: a renewed interest in processed cheese, overt excitement over grown men concussing themselves, and drinking on Monday nights. But have you asked yourself what it means for the ladies? One experiment in basic data journalism has determined the mind-blowing answer, and it will surprise you!

For reasons that I cannot begin to understand, Dick's Sporting Goods has spent what seems like a small fortune to build out a website that reveals what football jerseys women buy state by state, adding that this shows that "ladies love football!" No need to mention that the rate at which women buy jerseys is not indicative of, well, anything.

The site, officially titled the Jersey Report, will update daily with female football jersey purchases from the 500+ Dick's Sporting Goods stores across America and fans of women (?) or football (?) or jerseys (?) are encouraged to check in to see which player's jersey is topping the race. So far, Peyton Manning has the most frequently purchased jersey, while women in Alaska are apparently huge fans of Tony Romo. As the Jersey Report explains,

"America's favorite sport has never been more popular among women. Here's the top selling female jersey for each state, according to the Jersey Report."

But once again, not super clear on what the purpose of this thought experiment is.

If you were curious to learn what jerseys men are purchasing, that's TOO BAD. Because men are naturally predisposed to love football, they could wear a plastic bag to watch the game and that would be proof enough that they love it. The only clear motive for this marketing maneuver would be to inform idiots what to buy their football-loving gals for Christmas.

Check in weekly for the winning jersey, or do something else that is better and more worthy of your time.

[Image via Dick's Sporting Goods]