I’ve watched the Super Bowl every year for as long as I can remember, and this year was no different. However, this year gave me a slightly different perspective. First, the Patriots were not playing and that was exciting; it’s nice to see an entirely different set of teams competing. Second, I had a conversation with my roommate the day prior that required to contextualize the Super Bowl and its cultural impact.
My roommate is from India, and is not very familiar with the American sports scene. He knows the names of the sports and very basic information about it, but does not know any details. As we went to get groceries, we were talking about our plans for the weekend and I mentioned my intention to watch the Super Bowl. He was aware it was happening, and had heard the term, but had no idea what it actually was.
It’s engaging to introduce and explain something that is accepted as a large event or piece of culture to someone who is unfamiliar. So much of what we find important is because that’s just how it is. The sports I love are those I grew up with; once I got older, I could make decisions on my own about which ones excited me the most, but the options were limited from the start. So it goes with particular events. How do you begin explaining the Super Bowl to someone who has none of the cultural background?
Luckily we found common ground. It’s easy to explain the playoff structure of the NFL, and that it culminates in a game between two teams from each “half” of the league. It was then easy to contrast it with the other major sports in America. Baseball, basketball, and hockey finish with a best-of-seven series, while football is the outlier that only plays a single game. It’s always on a Sunday in the beginning of February, a notoriously boring time of year for sports overall, and the middle of dreary winter for at least half the country. And for those who don’t care for sports, you can certainly find a group of people to just hang out with, watch some typically funny commercials, and a pretty famous musical artist provide a short concert. This creates an excellent day that is essentially a holiday; who can complain about that?
Of course, the Super Bowl is easier to explain than many other parts of American culture, but it made me rethink the meaning of the day. I am a football fan, so that was all it meant to me before; now it means just a little more.