In a few hours the Super Bowl game will
begin, preceded by several other shows leading up to the big event. I saw online that there will even be a
pre-game interview of President Obama by Bill O’Reilly, a conservative
commentator. Every year this Super Bowl
thing rolls around and I start thinking about how a football game has evolved
into some quasi-holiday that includes all the trappings of our old fashioned
traditional days like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Great Pumpkin Day. There are Super Bowl sales, Super Bowl foods,
special Super Bowl television commercials and even Super Bowl cocktails. Someone told me that there are sneak previews
of those Super Bowl TV commercials. Now
that is a mind boggling development.
But now I have to confess
something. I won’t be watching the Super
Bowl. Nor will we have a Super Bowl meal
or snack fest. In fact until the NFL
play-off season started I hadn’t even paid much attention to the football
season. This year I think I watched one
quarter of one game and that was when I was visiting a relative. When the play-offs come around I check to see
who is participating and which teams advance to the finals. When the conversation in most any gathering
turns to football, as it inevitably will, I won’t be a complete dunce if I at
least know a few basic facts. If the
Buffalo Bills or the Washington team that we’re not supposed to call by name
was in the big game today I’d be much more interested and we might find a local
pub to have a meal and watch the proceedings.
But that didn’t happen and we’ll stay home.
You see we don’t watch cable or network
television in our house. It’s been at
least seven years since we disconnected cable service. You’re probably wondering how I can be so in
tune with pop culture and not have a TV.
Well, there is the internet. But
even there I’m very selective about the segments of today’s popular junk pile
that I delve into. For instance I can’t
tell you which movies or film stars have Oscar nominations. Likewise for the recording industry and the
Grammys or CMA awards. I did take note
of the Del McCoury Band winning a Grammy but that’s only because I follow
Bluegrass music. When it comes to all
those young actors from television and movies who are incessantly “hooking up”
or breaking up I’m at a complete loss. I
don’t know the current status of Oprah’s diet nor do I follow the arrest record
of Justin Bieber. (I have never ever
heard a performance by that young man, recorded or live, either) So how important is it to be culturally
connected in our modern world?
If a person is unaware (or only
marginally aware) of a giant sporting event like the Super Bowl is he or she
somehow deprived? If a person can’t
discuss popular films or TV shows at a family gathering is that person less
interesting than the other folks who have their finger on the pulse of Beyoncé’s
latest peccadillo? I think the answer to
both of those questions is no.
Self-serving answer isn’t it? I
will search out the pop-culturally disconnected because they are probably very
interesting in other ways. They may be
well read. They may have an interest in
music that doesn’t all sound exactly the same.
They may know about art. That is
not to say that some people who are connected to pop-culture are devoid of
other knowledge. Nope. There are people capable of discussing early
twentieth century poets and Peyton Manning’s passing statistics. Good for them. They’re probably more well-rounded than I am. So what’s my point here?
When I wonder about the importance of
the Super Bowl I always end up with conflicted opinions. It is, of course, economically
important. It’s a capitalist’s holiday,
maybe even more than Christmas, in fact.
And for people who are very interested in sports it is a source of
entertainment and even excitement. For
people who love loud and boisterous gatherings a Super Bowl party might be the
highlight of their year. Would I like to
see as much attention paid to the problems of government and society as is paid
to this game? Sure. Would I like to see good literature get about
two percent of the attention that professional sports garners? Yep.
But in the words of that wise philosopher Sly Stone – “Different strokes
for different folks.” And we’ll leave it
at that except for one more thing - Broncos by six.
Have a Super day.
