If you're a football fan
like me then you likely watched the Super Bowl last night, unless work or some serious emergency kept you busy.
Highlights are streaming,
the news is still talking, and I'm sure Patriot fans are Monday
Morning Quarterbacking.
Since everyone else is
discussing the game today, I don't have to, nor will I (much).
Instead, I want to talk about other people who talked
about the game.
I didn't want to watch the
Super Bowl. I admit I was disgruntled that Baltimore lost, and my
favorite NFL player—Ricky Williams—missed perhaps his last
opportunity to go to the biggest game of his career.
Why did I? Because it seemed
everyone else was. My Facebook page blew up with posts about the NFL,
and it's hallmark game, Super Bowl XLVI, or in layman's terms Super
Bowl 46, or Super Bowl 2012.
Records were broken
last night. Apparently during the final 3 minutes of the game there
were an average of 10,000 tweets a second. A lot of very excited
people.
Yet not all posts were
football friendly. Some of what I saw was negative. Some people were
annoyed that their Facebook pages were being taken over by fanatics.
I feel for them. I did my best not to post anything football related
last night, and did a good job except for a few quotes I heard on TV.
These were obviously not
football fans. And it is very
interesting to me that there can be so much love and enjoyment for a
certain thing, and yet so much distaste.
It's amazing to see just how
many varied opinions there were last night.
Why does something like this
matter? I think what I saw last night is echoed in many other areas
of life. In writing, for instance, or in life in general. We can
never expect every last person to like us, or like the stories we
write, or like the music we play, or enjoy our paintings or religion
or politics.
Yet we shouldn't expect no
one to like us or our work, either, if we are genuine and passionate
about what we do. I mean, there are still neo-Nazis running around
and people actually watch and “enjoy” the NBA, so you can get at
least one person to like just about anything.
When people get together to
discuss something, not everyone will agree. Some of the best comments
I read last night weren't in favor of the Super Bowl, but were in
favor of everyone shutting up about it. These contrary opinions (a
few anyway) were well thought out.
They of course got me
thinking. We live in a world where Twilight was a best seller, and
yet seems to be one of the most made fun of creations in years. How
can so many people like and hate something at once? How can something
like a book, a story, meant to offend no one and really containing no
morally offensive material at all, be so polarizing?
Is it successful because
it's polarizing?
Maybe...I watched last
night's game to see the Patriots lose. I'm sure others watched to
see the Giants win, or to lose, or the Patriots to win. Some watched for
the commercials, and some watched for the half time show, and some
watched just because it was football. Others watched not at all, but
had something to say about the game anyway.
Everyone involved had an
opinion, either a yes or no, an up or down. Is that what we want?
It's like the saying “Any publicity is good publicity.” If you
tell a person not to do something, they'll do it just to find out if
you were right, or to prove you wrong.
It's an interesting world we
live in. We communicate with each other in strange ways, and bond
together in even strangers ways. I have no doubt that today there are
a few more Patriot and Giants fans in the world. I'm sure many
friendships were kindled online or in a bar over beers. Perhaps even a few friendships were lost, as were more than a few bets.
And every one of us has an
opinion. Every one of us has a point of view. There are more ways to look at the world than there are ways for Eli Manning to win a Super Bowl. That's two, if you haven't been counting at home.
And in my opinion, both were exciting.
Posts
We aren't big sports fans so skipped watching the game but I know many people that religiously watch it annually. It seems a great reason to congregate and share some good times.
ReplyDeleteOn my fb feed I heard more opinions about the half time show than the game itself!
Some great thoughts in this post. :)
Thanks, Jess! I saw a lot about the Madonna, too.
DeleteFootball has certainly risen to the top of our social events.
I thought you made some interesting points and didn't realize how good you write. I am impressed. Keep up the work and will be waiting to read more. By the way I was a disgruntled fan since my bears weren't playing and really hoped both teams would lose. Obviously that can't happen but nonetheless watched just out of curiousity to see what all the hype on commercials and halftime was. Wasn't impressed with any of it.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Kim! There will definitely be more ;)
DeleteThe game, ah, well, it was really slow and boring until the very end if you ask me!
Now that Fiat commercial, that was action packed...
I hate football J.R. but enjoyed your article. I was annoyed last night, not because people were blowing up my facebook page, but because no one I PvP with came online because of the game. :)
ReplyDeleteLOL!
DeleteI dug the halftime show. *grins* But I didn't post about it. Heh.
ReplyDeleteNo, nor did the kicker win the MVP :(
DeleteI think you might be onto something, that something polarizing makes it that much more popular among the fans who do love it.
ReplyDeleteControversy actually helps things to get out there and it definitely sells!!
DeleteThe world would be most boring and dull if we all agreed with each other all of the time. However, there are so many moments when I wish people would simply agree to disagree and get on with the more important aspect of living life to the fullest.
ReplyDeleteWe watched, and continued to do so, because the game was a well-matched contest - otherwise, off the tv would have gone . . .
So love how you have brought this topic to the forefront and written about it with understanding for both sides. Kudos!
On the one hand I really don't care about football (although it was a good game), but I watched the Superbowl anyway because of the commercials and I live in NJ. Yay Giants! I really enjoyed the halftime show with Madonna. I think it's great marketing that even someone who hates sports has a reason to watch the Superbowl. If only all dualities in life were that simple!;p
ReplyDeleteGreat point on marketing! That's stellar!
DeleteJ.R. I watched the SB and enjoyed it up until the last 2 minutes when my team lost. I'm still very proud of them though and I look forward to next season.
ReplyDeleteYou made some really valid points on difference of opinion. I think it's really important to be yourself and stick with what you believe in because in the end the only person you need to answer to is yourself.
Great post!
I feel for you, Leah. I know how that goes to be in a big game and come out worse for the wear :(
DeleteI dislike watching sports in anyway, live, on the tele, on instant replay, in bar, on the back of bus, in a plane, in a boat. I'd rather watch paint dry. As for Twilight.. yes, it has taken the world by storm. It's right for the time. Is it a classic ..not for me to answer. As a writer, I am happy for the author.
ReplyDeleteJR,
ReplyDeleteInteresting post! Amazing how many people can hate and love something at that same time! Thanks for your insight!