The Superbowl. Who cares?

The Superbowl. Who cares?

by Liv | Published on February 5th, 2010, 12:38 pm | Sports

Seriously, I hear the Superbowl is this weekend. I couldn't care. In fact I have no clue even who is playing, nor do I really understand much of how the game is played. I use to think I was odd for not caring, but now that I'm older I really have to look at the Superbowl phenomenon and the people who watch it as the weird ones. I'm not talking your typical male roughneck who eats, breathes, and craps football- I'm talking everyone else. The ones whom all the rest of the year couldn't care? What turns the average American citizen into a face painted, jersey wearing sports fan for one day a year? Apparently the Superbowl does.

Of course even whispering anti-sport words in the state of N.C. is a felony. I remember going to Superbowl parties back during high school because it was socially expected. I'd hide the fact I knew nothing of the game, arbitrarily pick a team with the prettiest outfits to preempt any questions that may come from the social group. Luckily there was always a group of girls more interested in conversation of pop culture rather than that game playing on TV and we'd huddle in the corner to talk or play pool. Occasional on the way to a smörgåsbord of food in another room you'd passed some late arrival whom would ask 20 questions on the status of the game. Most are answered with "I think", "Not sure", when really... "I couldn't care".

I mean the only reason those of us who don't care, to go a long with the whole Superbowl national holiday thing anyhow is because there's free food and also because some of us are married to a male (or female) roughneck who eats, breaths, and craps football. For me, I'll probably watch a movie this year and thank God that the game isn't interfering with this season of Lost.

I'll be honest, I wouldn't mind understanding the appeal of 500lb grown men running into one another... perhaps if I could rationalize it then I'd enjoy watching it.... but what scares me is the notion that I'm right about football, and that it's as archaic, boring, and neanderthal like, and most of America is sitting on couches making caveman sounds in pure bliss while I simply cringe in the corner covering my eyes repeatedly saying very quietly "there's no place like home."

Meh. I do the same with the World Series. Can't stand the thought of watching the whole season. But the spectacle of the championship is pretty entertaining. You can at least reasonably hope for the best performances in the sport along the way, though in the case of the Stupor Bowl, that's a fairly rare occurrence. Been some pretty good ones, true. But not often enough, I think.

And of course, the ads command their own following. Undeservedly so in most cases. But the competition to become memorable and worthy of being discussed the following morning is motivation enough to get advertisers to do some remarkable things.

So yeah -- the narrative of the teams and the players is not a draw for me. They're all millionaires with nothing for me to relate to. But I watch because it's fun in its own way.

Liv i think the picture explains it all February 5th, 2010, 1:34 pm

Liv i think the picture explains it all

I follow college sports, but not pro games. Yeah, yeah once upon a time most of them were on the college fields, courts, ice, and so on, but ... eh... ... ... yeah. Super Bowl has usually meant a reason to throw a party, eat badly, y'know?

Serendipitous wrote:I follow college sports, but not pro games. Yeah, yeah once upon a time most of them were on the college fields, courts, ice, and so on, but ... eh... ... ... yeah. Super Bowl has usually meant a reason to throw a party, eat badly, y'know?

I'm with Dip on this one.

I'm guilty of this phenomenon. I usually watch the Superbowl, not even at a party, but at home, alone (I can't party on a Sunday! I have to work the next day! Man, I'm getting old!). Normally, though, I think football is the most boring sport. I hate Sundays, as my no-cable tv is dominated by this stupid game. But I'll tune in for the Superbowl (we don't even get the good commercials here in Canada). Don't ask me to explain it - I can't.

But this extends to the Olympics, as well. Sure, as a Canadian, hockey is my religion, and if God or Richard Dawkins can help Canada win gold, I'll pray to them!

However, when it comes to skiing, or bobsledding or any of those fringe sports, it would take a Clockwork Orange scenario for me to watch them outside of the Olympics. But come those three weeks every four years (or every two years, if you include both summer and winter olympics) I'm in. Glue me to my set, because I don't want to watch anything else.

Now as for Lost, don't get me started... Tuesdays are too far apart, if you ask me!

Not as much fun as it use to be. Too much hype these days and I believe most people enjoy the commercials more than the game itself. However it is a good excuse to get friends together and drink a few and eat some wings. It's better than pro basketball but not as good as baseball. Spring training soon........yea

deepshade wrote:Not as much fun as it use to be. Too much hype these days and I believe most people enjoy the commercials more than the game itself. However it is a good excuse to get friends together and drink a few and eat some wings. It's better than pro basketball but not as good as baseball. Spring training soon........yea

Definitely the commercials! Wings... beer... mmm....

I gotta say, the game last night was pretty entertaining. The commercials much less so, generally. The Snickers commercial with Betty White was cool. Some of the Bud Lite spots were funny. The rest were rather pathetic, generally.

Intel's commercials really REALLY sucked. :handgestures-thumbdown:

I was happy to see when flipping through the channels that they're letting women play now... she had nice long hair coming out of her helmet.