The Super Bowl
Today is Super Bowl XLIX, which is apparently Latin for "Super Bowl 49". It'll be the most watched TV program of the year, according to the International Business Times (article), which estimates 115 million will watch. I will not be one of them. I'm surprised I'm actually in the majority. (The U.S. population is approximately 319 million.) Oh, but the NY Times writes that one hundred and umpteen million is likely an undercount (article). It estimates 160 million tune in, which is slightly more than half the U.S. population. So maybe I'm in the minority on this one.
Why don't I care to watch? Well, first, I don't really care about football anymore. I used to, years ago. The obscene amounts of money washing through the league turned me off, as have the nearly unchecked misbehavior of certain owners (shaking down cities to buy them new stadiums at taxpayer expense every 15-20 years) and players (drugs, guns, assault, murder).
Second, even when I did watch football, I was a root, root, root for the home team kind of fan. (Am I allowed to do that? Quote a baseball anthem while writing about the Super Bowl?) I knew the home team players, their stories, the things they could do well, and the things they could not do well but insisted on doing anyway. That made the game interesting to me. If my team wasn't in the game, the game wasn't as interesting.
Third, there's the fact that so many people seem to be slavering idiots for the Super Bowl. Not all fans, but enough to matter. It reminds me of Nietzsche's line, "At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid." (Am I allowed to do that? Quote Nietzsche while writing about football?) Except here it's opposing a cause because its fans do not cease to be insipid. The indelible memory I have of an insipid fan was the rowmate on an airplane flight years ago who was talking his wife's ear off with Super Bowl factoids long after she'd stopped even feigning interest in it. "Would you believe this?" he asked, rapping his fingers against an entire newspaper section that had been given over to Super Bowl rubbish. "The two head coaches' fathers have the same first name!"
So instead of tethering myself to a TV or internet stream this afternoon I will enjoy some time in the great outdoors. Merhawk and I are heading to Big Basin Redwoods State Park for a waterfalls hike. I look forward to today's big game reducing the traffic on the roads and the crowds at the park!
Why don't I care to watch? Well, first, I don't really care about football anymore. I used to, years ago. The obscene amounts of money washing through the league turned me off, as have the nearly unchecked misbehavior of certain owners (shaking down cities to buy them new stadiums at taxpayer expense every 15-20 years) and players (drugs, guns, assault, murder).
Second, even when I did watch football, I was a root, root, root for the home team kind of fan. (Am I allowed to do that? Quote a baseball anthem while writing about the Super Bowl?) I knew the home team players, their stories, the things they could do well, and the things they could not do well but insisted on doing anyway. That made the game interesting to me. If my team wasn't in the game, the game wasn't as interesting.
Third, there's the fact that so many people seem to be slavering idiots for the Super Bowl. Not all fans, but enough to matter. It reminds me of Nietzsche's line, "At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid." (Am I allowed to do that? Quote Nietzsche while writing about football?) Except here it's opposing a cause because its fans do not cease to be insipid. The indelible memory I have of an insipid fan was the rowmate on an airplane flight years ago who was talking his wife's ear off with Super Bowl factoids long after she'd stopped even feigning interest in it. "Would you believe this?" he asked, rapping his fingers against an entire newspaper section that had been given over to Super Bowl rubbish. "The two head coaches' fathers have the same first name!"
So instead of tethering myself to a TV or internet stream this afternoon I will enjoy some time in the great outdoors. Merhawk and I are heading to Big Basin Redwoods State Park for a waterfalls hike. I look forward to today's big game reducing the traffic on the roads and the crowds at the park!