I Like the Super Bowl

On January 28th, 1990, I was an impressionable 6-year-old boy, with a growing love for the game of American Football.  My father was a big Green Bay Packer fan, and like any good son, so was I.  But on that day, I witnessed greatness.  That was the day that Super Bowl XXIV, or 24 if you don't know your Roman Numerals. In that game, I witnessed Joe Montana throw touchdown pass after touchdown pass against the Denver Broncos, and from that day forward, I was a fan of the San Fransisco 49ers.  Joe Montana was my hero, and I still have my posters that I had gotten from the era rolled up in a closet in our apartment.

I have had a long-running off and on relationship with the Green Bay Packers.  I started to detest the team when they kept beating my beloved 49ers in playoff game after playoff game.  It was their dominance over my team that caused me to strongly dislike the team.  After a while, I grew out of that phase, because it didn't really matter.  Now I'm a casual observer of the team from northern Wisconsin.  And today, as a good son once again, I will root for the Green Bay Packers in tonight's Super Bowl XLV.  Because the Packers winning a championship means so much to the fans, and I have a lot of friends that are fans of the team.  I understand what it feels like to watch your team win it all, even though it's been since 1994 that my team last accomplished the feat.  In fact, the Packers have won a title more recently than my team has (1996).  But still, whenever you get the chance to win the championship, you must relish it.

I mention the date above, the day I became a fan of the 49ers, because I always wonder what kid, somewhere in the world will be watching a game, and discover their hero.  Their sports hero that they will keep a poster in their closet until they have outgrown the days of putting sports posters up in their bedrooms.  Somewhere, a kid will see either Aaron Rodgers or perhaps Ben Rothlesberger or any another player tonight, and witness one of these men do something great, and forever be affected.  Some kid somewhere will remember tonight for the rest of their lives, the same way I remember Joe Montana carving up the Broncos on that fateful night in New Orleans.  You don't have to be a fan of the most local team around.  You can idolize anyone you want.

Tonight, the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers will do battle for the Lombardi Trophy in Dallas, TX.  The Super Bowl always holds a special place in my heart, mainly because I haven't missed one since that game in 1990.  I've watched every second of every Super Bowl, and I remember where I was for every one of them, as well.  I watched most of these Super Bowls with my father, and that's something I regret not being able to do here in Tennessee.  But weather I'm on my couch with my wife and my unborn child and my good friend Sean, or if I was at my dads, it does not matter.  I will have a good time watching the Super Bowl, and as history would indicate, I will never forget where I was to watch Super Bowl XLV.  But no matter the outcome, I will never forget that night where I fell in love with Joe Montana.

Wrong Address

We have this on-going situation here at my wonderful apartment in Nashville. For those of you that are aren't familiar with the National Football League or what teams play where, we have a team here in Nashville called the Tennessee Titans. On that team are real people, who have real residencies and mailing addresses and livelihoods. Sometimes, pro athletes have a hard time knowing how to change their address, apparently because we keep getting mail and deliveries for a certain NFL player named Jacob Ford. Mr. Ford is a defensive linemen and wears number 78 on the Titans. He plays occasionally, and I've watched him play on TV while sitting on my couch in his old apartment. Pretty neat, if you ask me.

I know he used to live here because the mailman told me so on the day we were moving in. He said, "You know, one of the Titans used to live there." I was all like, "Really? Cool." A day or two later, I decided to check the mailbox to see if we had gotten any mail at the new apartment yet. There was not, but instead of any or our mail, it was stuffed up with a bunch of mail for one Jacob Ford. That's when I had to Google him, and that's when I learned who he was. Slowly, but surely, his mail began to stop coming, but every once in a while, we get his mail. We got his NFL retirement package paperwork once. We got a Christmas card, sent from the family of the Defensive Coordinator, Chuck Cecil. We got his Eastbay catalog. Things of that nature.

This had stopped almost entirely until today, when I got a package from FedEx, addressed to Mr. Ford. Now what? You can't just write "wrong address" on the envelope and stick it back in the mailbox. No, there is no mailbox for FedEx. So I called FedEx and they're coming to pick it up. It's just another reminder that someone who made it to the NFL used to sit right where I'm currently sitting, but I got his FedEx'd shit. At one time I wanted to keep a pile of his mail, and when he did a public appearance, I was gonna show up and ask him to autograph it. But I chickened out. Plus I think that's sort of illegal, but I don't know. Would have been pretty funny though.

so anyway, next time you're watching a Titans game and you see #78 out there, Jacob Ford, know that at the same time, I am writing "wrong address" on an envelope somewhere.

Wanna Buy Em'? Real Cheap.

Right this second, I'm supposed to be grocery shopping, but I had to run home to take a dump. Whilst shitting, I got really inspired. Well, to be honest, I got inspired yesterday, but I was watching the NFL all day, so I didn't want to take my eyes off the screen for 10 minutes to write anything.

With the start of the NFL season, I will now spend the Sundays between now and sometime in early February with my eyes glued to the television for approximately 10 hours straight. It's amazing to me, because when someone asks me what my favorite sport is, I usually respond with "baseball." This is true, baseball is my favorite sport, but there is no ritual to watching baseball like there is for watching football. Ever since I was a young lad, it has been ingrained to my brain that you spend your Sundays watching football all day. I learned this from my Dad, and it has carried on to me, and I hope it will carry on to my children someday as well. But football isn't even my favorite sport. I watch more football than any other sport, and I'm pretty sure this is true for all of America as well. No, not pretty sure...this is a fact. The NFL is a monster because millions of people just like me spend their entire Sundays camped out on the couch with snacks, beer, and other assorted health hazards and watch grown men chase inflated, misshapen, funny-bouncin' balls around all day. So how does the NFL cash in? By selling massive amounts of advertising. Yes, it gets very irritating seeing the same companies advertising the same shit for 10 straight hours, but we just kind of live with it, and hope that there are two different games going on at the same time, so we can flip the channel when it's commercial time. Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Budweiser, Miller, Coors, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint. Cellphones, trucks, and beer. That's what I gathered from watching the NFL yesterday. Also, the Titans need to shape up their offense in a hurry.

It's probably sad that I know that out of those companies listed above, of which there are three of each category, I know which ones are the "official sponsors." Coors, Ford, and Sprint. How do I know that? Repetition. Does it make me want to buy any of those products any more than the others? No. These companies are huge, huge companies. And what got my brain churning was asking myself why on earth they need to spend millions and millions and millions of dollars reminding us that they exist. That's the reason for advertising, isn't it? To remind us all that they exist, and when we are making a purchasing decision, to keep them in mind? I'm pretty sure that the majority of Americans are touched, one way or another, by each of these nine companies. I drive a Ford, and I have AT&T phone service. Do they spend the millions and millions so no one else can enter as competition, expect the established ones as listed above? For some reason, Anheuser-Busch needs to fucking remind you every four to 13 minutes that they sell Bud Light and it gets the party started when you drink it. It obviously works, because they do it. They are a business, and they make decisions to make them more money, and it must be by throwing a ridiculous amount of money at the NFL to have the privilege to do so. That's the only problem I have with Sundays in front of the TV. Too much bullshit advertisements.

I hope someone got the Goonies reference in the post's title. Please say you did, and don't lie.

Football is Back!

So this morning, I'm streaming the season opener of the Barclays English Premier League which features a match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. I'm able to stream it via ESPN3.com. It's a very nice site to watch sports from, depending on what they carry, which is usually something like Soccer or Tennis or Little League World Series or Darts or Aussie Football...So basically your non-traditional sports. It's sweet cuz it's free. Anyhow, I'm trying to enjoy soccer, and it's hard, folks. Number one, I have no vested interest in any particular club, so I just have to watch everyone and kinda pay attention. The only team I claim to root for at any level of soccer is Arsenal, only because I used to work with an Englishman and that was his club. So I root for them, even though I don't even really know why, or anything about them. I just know that soccer creates a buzz 'round the world, and I want to be a part of it.

I got caught up in the whole thing this past summer during the World Cup, as I do every 4 years. I usually say I want to keep up with the sport, but never do. I want this year to be different, and I have ESPN3 to help with that. I'll be able to easily watch games when they're played, so that should help. The only problem is I just don't know what the fuck is going on most of the time. As I tweeted before while watching Rugby or Aussie rules football, I don't remember which one it was, when watching one of these "non-traditional" "non-American" sports, I now know what women feel like when watching regular American sports. I see people running, and trying to score, but I don't understand strategy. So I like the enthusiasm, but I couldn't tell you why they are doing what they are doing. It helps me understand what they are thinking while watching. I want to understand soccer, I like it. I like how excited the fans are at the games. I just don't understand it at this point.

So I'm trying to be a soccer fan, and I hope I do really stick with the sport, because of it's global significance. I just think it's alright by me. Go Arsenal, for what it's worth, I guess.