Game Day

The Superbowl is today! 

Meh.

I don't know about you all, but I'm not much for the pomp and circumstance that is the Superbowl.  Oh, I take that back - in '97 and '98 it was fun.  I'm from Green Bay, so when the Pack headed to the the Big Dance those two years one couldn't help but get caught up in the excitement.  In '97, the year they won, we partied downtown all night.  There was a genuine feeling of camraderie that evening; not a single cop car was overturned, nor did anyone start any fires, as happens quite a bit in the bigger cities after a huge win.  No, this was a lot of high-fiving and goodwill.  It was a really fun night.

But take today's game - the Colts and the Saints?  I have no emotional investment in either team.  I've visited both cities, but that's about the extent of my connection.  Brian isn't a big sports guy (one of the million reasons I love him!), so he doesn't have to have 'the guys' over for brewskis and meat snacks.  No, I have a feeling that we'll be watching one of our DVDs tonight instead.  Seems like a good night for "Inglourious Basterds"!  :D

But why do you suppose people rally around a team?  Is it because they root for the underdog?  Do you suppose they just love the game of football so much that it doesn't matter WHO'S playing, just as long as a game is on?  Is it for the commercials (We'll be watching those on Hulu.  That's the only reason I ever watched the game before.)?

A couple of days ago, The Onion posted a fantastic article about The Game.  It's a very sarcastic (natch) story about how people all over the country are questioning "the tenuous and ephemeral concept of victory".  Oh, if only that were the case.  I have seen this match reduce normally level-headed men into grunting Neanderthals.  I've heard the Superbowl being compared to the Gladiator events more than once, and the stereotypical commercial of the "bros" in their face paint defacing their wife's good furniture with nacho cheese has been done to death.  I could go on and on about the sustained adolescence of a certain breed of "guy" but that dead horse has been beaten as well.

So, guys (and ladies) who would rather watch old episodes of Lost for new clues, take heart.  You are not alone.   We'll just have the restaurants to ourselves tonight.