Super Bowl, Super Game

It is 9:30am local time, which means 4:30am in Seattle, meaning most of my friends and family back home are probably still snoozing, perhaps with dreams of Seahawks bouncing around their noggins. After all, the big game is today...in a few hours...and from all the accounts I've been able to gather, the city is a little football crazy at the moment.

People who know me know that I'm usually crazy about football and the Seahawks year round anyway...regardless of whether or not they're in the Super Bowl. So it is perhaps ironic that I've been out of the country since January 16th, bopping around Chile and Paraguay and Uruguay and (now) back into Paraguay. A couple things folks might want to know (I'll probably elaborate on South America in later posts): it is damn hot here (summertime, thanks in part to the reversal of the seasons) and most folks don't give a rip about American football. I've got a few dozens/scores of channels in my hotel room

[quick side note: I am fucking sick to death of living out of hotels]

and at least six or seven of them are devoted to sports. And you know what they'r playing?

Soccer. Soccer. Tennis. Soccer. Soccer. Racing.

Yes, yes...I don't expect Latin America to care nearly as much about football as the U.S. (it's been Super Bowl media week the last few days and I'd expect a ton of coverage on the ESPN channels back home). But do they really care more about what's going on in Italy's local soccer league? Or who's currently leading in Formula Four? Come on!

No, they play the (playoff) games on the television here...I was able to watch Seattle's smack down of the Niners in the NFC championship game. But there's no other news coverage. I didn't even get to see the presentation of the NFC trophy, as they switched away to cover French premier league soccer. France?

But whatever...it is what it is, and American football is probably a tough sport to figure out if you haven't played it or watched it for years. It's a lot more complicated to get into then soccer where the goal is to stick the ball in the net of the other side...or racing, where the object is to be faster than the other guys. I didn't fully grasp the rules of the game till I was 10 or so and I grew up going to Seahawks games at the Kingdome with my folks from the age of 7 or 8. My son enjoys the games immensely, but he really only knows to yell loud on defense and that touchdowns are good. And he recognizes the 'Hawks by color and logo, of course.

For folks who do understand the rules and nuances, football is immensely satisfying and much more interesting to watch unfold on the field than other sports...even though there's lack of accessibility to the average person. Perhaps the sport of cricket is the same for the cricket fan; I've never been able to figure out that one myself (admittedly, I haven't tried terribly hard).

There's a parallel that can be drawn between this subject and gaming, by the way.

Unfortunately, that parallel is going to have to wait for a later post...right now, my family's up and I've got to help get them ready for church. I never bother praying for a Seahawks win, but I do like to ask no one (from any team) suffers injury. And world peace, of course...can't forget that!

Later folks...to my American readers: hope you all enjoy our semi-national holiday! Go Seahawks!