I am probably gonna get heavily criticized and sworn at (even by my colleagues) for this post but hey, we all have our opinions. So here is mine.
Yesterday, after so much hype in the media, I decided to watch my first Super Bowl with anticipation of a great and exciting sporting event. And of course, I watched to see whether the Patriots would pull it off. For the record, I am not a football fan but I am a very keen follower of various sports, and especially when history is about to happen.
So firstly, as far as I think, the whole Super Bowl wasn’t a great sporting event at all as the first two quarters were heavily dominated by commercials. The flow of the live coverage was broken many times and I had a tough time to really feel a part of this important game. I think that the celebration of this sport (which I think the Super Bowl should be) got totally lost in business interests of the whole NFL organization.
And secondly, the game wasn’t “an exciting sporting event” at all. To some degree it has to do with the above business reasons but mostly, I guess, it’s how the game of (American) football is played in general.
The Super Bowl, perhaps, might be an exciting event but not an exciting sporting event. The play is stopped so often that they talk more than play. The quarterback seems to be the only brain on the field and is protected by a couple of, literally, fat guys after the scrimmage takes place. I know they are important but still they can have the same weight while being more athletic (just exchange muscle for fat).
All in all, I probably appear to you as any other non-football fan but you have to agree that the Super Bowl has nothing to do with the game of football, or a sporting event. It’s a big business, and the only reason why there is so much pre-game hype around it is because those running the business need to make sure that everyone feels like that the event must be important if there is so much talk about it.
The NFL also makes sure they stress enough times that the Super Bowl winning team are the World Champions that even an outsider must really think they are. But ask this:
Who plays football around the world? Just North Americans.
Are there any serious international competitions? No.
Who wants you to think you are watching the best sport and athletes ever? NFL.
So are they really world champs? No.
Essentially, it is Coca-Cola way of marketing – put up as many ads as you can, and eventually, people will start to believe it is the best thing on earth.
Now it’s time to run as all you football fans are most likely after me :))
Stanoo Calista
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