BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) EXCUSE FOR GLUTTONY
The standard fare for the Super Bowl is to get friends together, get a whole bunch of junk food and stuff that’s not good for you, booze it up, and sit on your butt all day and night watching the Super Bowl, pregame, post game, and even a little of the actual game. There is a reason pizza places, fast food companies, television sellers, and other businesses of that nature spend good money on promoting their products around this time. And this isn’t JUST a Super Bowl thing anymore. People use football games all year long now to get together with friends, get a whole bunch of junk food and stuff that’s not good for you, booze it up, and sit on your butts all day and night. If doctors really want to figure out why America is so fat then they should start with the tailgaters and football party folk.
(THREE) THE PERSONAS
The players in the NFL still have that larger than life mystique to them that all major pro athletes used to have. The whole “Old Man Farve” situation reminds me of that movie “Necessary Roughness”. I have been raised and trained to hate the man, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’ve kept close tabs on if he’s going to REALLY come back or not. There’s T.O. relocating again and playing with his buddy. That’s going to be an on-going athletic soap opera that the people at WWE should be taking notes on. There’s the hot shot rookie QB in Tim Tebow. He’s getting tons of attention and love and hasn’t taken one pro game snap yet. I don’t follow college football (the gluttony is even worse!), but I know who this dude is. And those are just three. There’s the easy to love to hate Tom Brady being a poster boy for awesomeness, The Colts being overrated, the Michael Vick drama, and so on and so on. The characters in the National Football League are more charismatic and entertaining these days than what you’d see on “Monday Night RAW”. And for these people, these personas, to develop and have their own little character arcs is amazing for a sport where the two best teams barely play 20 games the entire pre, post, and regular season.
(TWO) BETTER THAN BASEBALL
The season is almost over, dude hit his 600th Home Run and it’s hard to have any interest at all in the sport of bases. The Play Offs and just about the World Series are already decided. A-Rod hit his 600th Home Run. That’s a HUGE deal, or at least it would have been if Major League Baseball hadn’t ruined it’s status with all the steroid stuff. It doesn’t help that the games are long and boring, the free agency and ego of the majority of players makes it hard to follow players on your local team, and did I mention baseball is boring? Yeah, it is. On the other hand, the kings of the gridiron return! The smash mouth wars between two teams is fun. The games only happen about once a week for each time so it’s not an everyday bore like baseball. The NFL plays 16 regular season games and in most situations each of these games are eventful and something to look forward to. MLB has over ten times as many games and I don’t know or care who’s playing who until it gets cold out. More action, cheerleaders, better announcers, better uniforms, better athletes, and just better better better. NFL wins, hands down.
(ONE) GAMBLING
This covers “Fantasy Football” and office pools just as much as taking points and betting in Vegas or through a bookie. There is something about the National Football League that brings out the gamblers in this country. Most bars and businesses have their own pools. Bigger the business, bigger the pot. Most places I know only charge a buck or a fiver, but the stakes go up once the tax brackets go up. The bars, pubs, and taverns have their “boards” where multiple people throw down on a certain game and win based on the points they drew. Each is different, but I’ve heard of some local “boards” having pots as high as TEN GRAND. And yes, I’m in little ol’ Indiana so I’d imagine that’s chump change in the bigger markets. In most cases this kind of gambling is illegal, but the authorities put a blind eye to it. Then there is the “Fantasy Football” stuff. I’ve played a few years, won once, came in second once, and have had a lot of fun with it. The reason I don’t play anymore? This free game of stats and fantasy became too expensive to play. Across the country there are people having their drafts, getting drunk, and laying down $25 to as I’ve heard at least up to $100 to play. This money goes into a pot and at the end the winnings is divided up between the winner(s). The explosion of Fantasy Football over the past decade has done A LOT for the sport. People are paying the games, players, and outside market teams WAY more attention than ever before. It’s all in fun for the most part, but there are always dicks who take it too personally or too seriously. I’m sure the NFL doesn’t care either way, there is plenty of money to be made by everyone.
|
