Super Bowl: Making the Most of the Most Football-less Game

          I . . . don’t completely enjoy the Super Bowl. And this is coming from a guy who reads sports blogs everyday, organizes NFL draft parties, and even wrote of my NFL addiction a year ago. Granted, part of it is that I cheer for an NFL team that’s lost four Super Bowls and hasn’t been to one in decades.
          I love watching football. Unlike other professional sports, it has just the right level of captivating intensity. The playoff rounds are in singular games (not series) that occur on weekends, so there’s a low commitment level. I think those reasons alone are why the NFL (at least in the regular season) is the most profitable professional sport.
  And then there’s the Super Bowl. To me, the Super Bowl is the grand finale of the dramatic storyline of the season. But it more seems, at this point, like a circus of glitz and pop culture kitsch. If the Super Bowl was a NASCAR automobile, the glare of the plastered ads would blind people from seeing the car doing any racing.
          Just last night, as my wife and I were enjoying Hulu.com and one of the ads was its voting event on the best upcoming Super Bowl ad, with the opening tagline (slightly paraphrased): “You won’t remember the game, but you will remember [the ads].” The ads have become more sophomoric and raunchy. I remember many more Facebook posts on Christina Aguilera’s botch of the national anthem or the Black Eyed Peas‘ disappointing half-time show than anything football-related. (Also, my musical side has never enjoyed the halftime show, save for U2’s tribute to 9-11 victims and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s brief swing revival). Yet, all these caricatures (and even social/political platforms) jump on the bandwagon to attract more viewership of a 60-minute game further expanded beyond three hours.
          I really just want to watch the game.
  Also, the amount of money that gets poured into this Bowl is extreme. There is no contest between what people spend (in money and viewership) on the Super Bowl and what people spend on the NBA Finals, World Series and Stanley Cup combined. Its nearest competitor is NCAA Football, and at least a portion of the profits go to the school’s underfunded programs. There’s been economic analyses after this past Super Bowl that don’t paint the NFL quite as charitable.
  Nonetheless, it is the clash between two very talented football teams, and I won’t want to miss it. I will, however, want to miss everything else. And I’ll strive to have a streak of biblical stewardship in my celebration of the big game.