I'm sitting in front of the TV, with cookies, orange juice, and mirli at the other end of the internet, waiting for my first super bowl to start
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I only recently started caring enough to learn the rules, and our crowd watching it included one other person who knew virtually non of the rules, as well. From what I gather, it wasn't a terrifically exciting game (at least, not in the first bits), but at least it was free of any massively questionable rules calls or the like.
As far as I'm concerned, part of the real appeal is watching it with other people who are really excited about the game and who really care. In that case, I wouldn't care if it was American Football, Everywhere-Else-In-The-World Football, competitive darts, or Calvinball: the group experience is the fun part.
After the game, I went out with a bunch of friends and ran around giddy in the streets, shouting at the top of our lungs, despite the sub-freezing snow and wind. There were streets full of other people doing the same and giddily cheering each other. It really is amazing how much this town loves its team.
I think I'll post about it in my own journal, but for now, a bit more sleep is required.
the group experience is the fun part. I totally agree. In this special case, though, watching it alone with just a computer and my best friend on ICQ was quite funny, too. Almost surreal, actually.
I recall one time when Turkey won a big football game (yeah, I'm talking Everywhere-Else-In-The-World-Football now), and the Gürtel, one of the biggest roads in Vienna, was full of honking cars, some of them trailing Turkish flags (yup, lots of Turkish immigrants here). It was absolutely amazing just to watch them celebrate. I can barely begin to imagine what post-bowl Pittsburgh must have been like.
Black lines: The eye make-up actually reduces glare from the lights or the sun. Bittersweet Symphony: No idea what they were thinking. Vince Lombardi: One of the most successful coaches in football history. Famous for quotes like, "Winning isn't everything - it's the only thing." The trophy was named after him in 1970. The Terrible Towel: An instrument of cheering destruction engineered by Myron Cope (a Steelers commentator) in 1975. He was asked to create a gimmick for a playoff game, and he asked all the fans to bring a yellow dish towel to the game and wave it to support the Steelers. It caught on immediately, and now now Steelers fan is without one. Players: Each team has 53 players. 11 players from each team are on the field at any given time. Notorious Coin Toss: About four or five years ago, a Steelers game went into overtime. They were tossing the coin to decide who got the ball first in overtime, and Jerome Bettis called "Heads". The referee thought he said "Tails", and the coin came up "heads". It was a debacle, and the
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Black Lines: I must admit to being genuinely surprised. I really did think it was just the Cool Thing To Do. Ah, women. No clue about sports. The Terrbible Towel: Must be perfect if you happen to be hitching a ride on one of the vessels of the yellow Vogon constructor fleet. Players: 53? FIFTY-THREE?!? ...this is worse than I thought it was. Quick, let's build a wall all around the playing field to keep the barbarians in! Coin toss: "...and the subsequent boos were how daddy lost hearing on his other ear as well, kids." I quite liked the idea of head-splitting Viking Coins, though. A bit like Ninja Shamrocks. Steelers vs. Stealers: That e-mailed question by one viewer tells you something about the quality of English classes at some Austrian schools. Nose Tackle: What do you mean, "like your nose is in the middle of your face"? Who told you it was? Commercials: Depends on the channel, really. On Austrian national TV, you only get commercials between programmes, not right in the middle. And if anyone thought of interrupting a football
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fizzbang mentioned you were having "fun" watching the Stuperbowl. For reference - my dad can't stand waiting for all the boring parts to get done with, so he fast-forwards past all of: 1. Time outs 2. Huddles 3. Commercials 4. Wandering around, scratching various body parts 5. Commentators
Basically he hits play when the ball is snapped, and hits fast foward again as soon as the play ends. He can get through an entire game in about an hour :) He thinks it's much more entertaining that way.
fizzbang mentioned you were having "fun" ...believe it or not, I was. Admittedly in a "WTF?" kind of way, but still.
I might watch the occasional live broadcast, especially soccer and winter sports (which together make up about 70% of the sports broadcasts over here anyway), but I'm really not much into sports. And though I very much doubt American Football could ever become a favourite with me, it was interesting/fun/strange to see what all the fuss was about.
Small world, and all that.raspberrysalmonFebruary 7 2006, 17:18:55 UTC
Oh?!? My brother's a student there... What does your dad do? I guess I've just found him. Two of my cousins study physics there. One of them is in biophysics, but I think his brother might actually be at your dad's institute. Funny.
Oh, und du warst auf der TU?? Bin grade völlig hin und weg. (Und außerdem am hadern mit mir, ob ich jetzt auf deutsch oder englisch schreiben soll) :)
Re: Small world, and all that.krotscheckFebruary 7 2006, 18:08:27 UTC
Ja, ein semester lang habe ich an der TU architektur studiert. Danach musste ich wieder zurück nach CMU- war zwar teurer, aber irgendwie gefällt es mir hier besser. Und du? Neuer pruefungs tag?
Um ehrlich zu sein ist mir deutsch lieber- ich habe seit '95 nicht mehr regelmässig deutsch gesprochen, und seit '88 kaum etwas geschrieben- falls ich irgendwelche komishen ausdrücke von mir gebe, ist das wahrscheinlich direkt übesetzte amerikanische umgangssprache ;).
Incidentally, I wandered through your journal as a result of Fizzbang referring your superbowl post.
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As far as I'm concerned, part of the real appeal is watching it with other people who are really excited about the game and who really care. In that case, I wouldn't care if it was American Football, Everywhere-Else-In-The-World Football, competitive darts, or Calvinball: the group experience is the fun part.
After the game, I went out with a bunch of friends and ran around giddy in the streets, shouting at the top of our lungs, despite the sub-freezing snow and wind. There were streets full of other people doing the same and giddily cheering each other. It really is amazing how much this town loves its team.
I think I'll post about it in my own journal, but for now, a bit more sleep is required.
Reply
I totally agree. In this special case, though, watching it alone with just a computer and my best friend on ICQ was quite funny, too. Almost surreal, actually.
I recall one time when Turkey won a big football game (yeah, I'm talking Everywhere-Else-In-The-World-Football now), and the Gürtel, one of the biggest roads in Vienna, was full of honking cars, some of them trailing Turkish flags (yup, lots of Turkish immigrants here). It was absolutely amazing just to watch them celebrate. I can barely begin to imagine what post-bowl Pittsburgh must have been like.
Reply
Bittersweet Symphony: No idea what they were thinking.
Vince Lombardi: One of the most successful coaches in football history. Famous for quotes like, "Winning isn't everything - it's the only thing." The trophy was named after him in 1970.
The Terrible Towel: An instrument of cheering destruction engineered by Myron Cope (a Steelers commentator) in 1975. He was asked to create a gimmick for a playoff game, and he asked all the fans to bring a yellow dish towel to the game and wave it to support the Steelers. It caught on immediately, and now now Steelers fan is without one.
Players: Each team has 53 players. 11 players from each team are on the field at any given time.
Notorious Coin Toss: About four or five years ago, a Steelers game went into overtime. They were tossing the coin to decide who got the ball first in overtime, and Jerome Bettis called "Heads". The referee thought he said "Tails", and the coin came up "heads". It was a debacle, and the ( ... )
Reply
The Terrbible Towel: Must be perfect if you happen to be hitching a ride on one of the vessels of the yellow Vogon constructor fleet.
Players: 53? FIFTY-THREE?!? ...this is worse than I thought it was. Quick, let's build a wall all around the playing field to keep the barbarians in!
Coin toss: "...and the subsequent boos were how daddy lost hearing on his other ear as well, kids." I quite liked the idea of head-splitting Viking Coins, though. A bit like Ninja Shamrocks.
Steelers vs. Stealers: That e-mailed question by one viewer tells you something about the quality of English classes at some Austrian schools.
Nose Tackle: What do you mean, "like your nose is in the middle of your face"? Who told you it was?
Commercials: Depends on the channel, really. On Austrian national TV, you only get commercials between programmes, not right in the middle. And if anyone thought of interrupting a football ( ... )
Reply
Still a damned sight better than the quality of German classes at most American schools, sadly.
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...that would be Chick tracts, I guess.
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1. Time outs
2. Huddles
3. Commercials
4. Wandering around, scratching various body parts
5. Commentators
Basically he hits play when the ball is snapped, and hits fast foward again as soon as the play ends. He can get through an entire game in about an hour :) He thinks it's much more entertaining that way.
Reply
...believe it or not, I was. Admittedly in a "WTF?" kind of way, but still.
I might watch the occasional live broadcast, especially soccer and winter sports (which together make up about 70% of the sports broadcasts over here anyway), but I'm really not much into sports. And though I very much doubt American Football could ever become a favourite with me, it was interesting/fun/strange to see what all the fuss was about.
Reply
Reply
What does your dad do? I guess I've just found him. Two of my cousins study physics there. One of them is in biophysics, but I think his brother might actually be at your dad's institute. Funny.
Oh, und du warst auf der TU?? Bin grade völlig hin und weg. (Und außerdem am hadern mit mir, ob ich jetzt auf deutsch oder englisch schreiben soll) :)
Reply
Um ehrlich zu sein ist mir deutsch lieber- ich habe seit '95 nicht mehr regelmässig deutsch gesprochen, und seit '88 kaum etwas geschrieben- falls ich irgendwelche komishen ausdrücke von mir gebe, ist das wahrscheinlich direkt übesetzte amerikanische umgangssprache ;).
Incidentally, I wandered through your journal as a result of Fizzbang referring your superbowl post.
Reply
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