Super Bowl Sunday – an American institution?
So how did Super Bowl Sunday get to be such an institution? Are you planning your day around TV football pre-game shows, prepping in the kitchen with traditional family finger foods and a passel of neighbors stopping by for the evening?
Are you out at your favorite sports bar with friends for the night? Will you be watching the most expensive prime time television commercials with interest or indifference, including the controversial Tim Tebow anti-abortion spot?
Sports writer Mike Celizic contends that the Super Bowl is the greatest one-day event in the history of the world (or MSNBC has very able hedline writers), and perhaps he has it right. The Super Bowl is not the greatest sporting event – but it is a monumental event American-style, complete with big name half-time entertainment, hot-hottie-hot cheerleaders, and an excuse to party in the dead of winter.
Cultural traditions
I’ve always thought of football as a gang of gladiators on each side, powerful and determined, gutting it out in a war of gore and grit on slippery fields in the worst possible seasons. Mud, snow, bitter cold. To be frank, it isn’t my sport. I attended the requisite Thanksgiving football game in high school, shut my eyes in horror as young men would slam into each other or finish in a traffic pile up just shy of the goal line. But I confess I’m grateful that my testosterone household has always been relatively football free. That doesn’t mean sports free, but we watched tennis, soccer, Olympic sports. I also admit I was an NBA basketball junkie in my thirties, and I am a woman who loves baseball… movies.
Super Bowl parties
There’s no question that Super Bowl Sunday is about much more than a championship. It’s a rowdy gathering at the local sports bar, or a family evening built around visiting and viewing, a day with tailgate parties even if they’re cooked up inside (given that it’s February!), and it’s all about tradition. In my mind, it’s associated with Labor Day picnics, Fourth of July fireworks, and shares the quintessentially American, larger than life aura of celebration. Even in a non-football household.
Man Teens
It’s Sunday morning. There is at least one extra man-teen sleeping in the house (yes, another impromptu teenage party, and I believe teenagers should have parties in spite of their parents). My sons have never been especially interested in football (one cycles, the other plays tennis), but they have enjoyed rooting for their high school soccer and football teams. They’ve attended games, to support their school and socialize. And there’s no question that any sport – participating or spectating – teaches lessons about discipline, perseverance, teamwork, and competition. And let’s face it – football is always an excuse to party!
Man Cave Land and Big Game Recipes
So I’m searching recipe sites for finger foods to enjoy this evening, just in case. 
Buffalo wings (and blue cheese dipping sauce) may be traditional, but honeyed chicken wings are my preference, with stuffed potato skins. As for dessert, I may consider coconut oatmeal bars, or scrounge in my baking drawer and concoct something of my own.
Meanwhile, I’m sure my friend’s husband (with the Man Cave) will be in all his glory this evening, enjoying his football-friendly space where his Louisiana colors surely mean a gathering around the big screen TV.
Just another day? For me, more or less. But if this evening brings another gathering of teenagers, I’ll try my hand at a few recipes, and then retreat to my bedroom. I won’t watch the game in entirety, but I may peek at the goings-on. As much for the commercials as the action, and because even in a non-football household, it isn’t quite “just another day.”
© D A Wolf
Are you familiar with the George Carlin routine in which he calls football the perfect American sport? You know, charging forward, trying to gain territory. Fight and might. (I don’t recall what he had to say about the super-tight pants or the otherworldly ticket prices, but there are metaphors for those too, I’m sure.)
As you know, I am a big sports fan – football included. While I am not necessarily fond of the violence of it, I am fascinated by the way in which football has its own complex language and legal system. Almost like a civilization all its own.
Perfect! A civilization of its own. Quite right.
Hot-hottie-hot cheerleaders and an excuse to eat Nachos is exactly the reasons I’ll be watching. Oh, and the fact that my kid is the only person even remotely interested in football has a little something to do with it!
I like going to games, but I really could care less watching them on TV. However, husband is a mega sports fan, so I know more than I ever thought I would about the sport.
I’m just in it for the food.
Also the Tim Tebow thing got me to thinking about things usually far too serious for a Sunday.
The Tim Tebow thing. Do you really want that mixed with your wings and dip? (Just curious.)
The Superbowl is on today? Shows you how much I care 🙂 But man you just made me hungry!
You’re a guy. A swimmer. A runner. (You probably just got back from 15 miles.) Aren’t you supposed to know these things?? (I know – FAKE OUT.)
Oh, yeah, that’s today, isn’t it? I’m not one for buffalo chicken wings and at least in basketball, you get to see the whole man 🙂
We usually have a party but hubs is on call, so we scratched it this year. It’s snowing outside and I am SO grateful that I don’t have people in my house besides my own tribe.
Wine and nachos for everyone!
I think the commercials were all written by adolescent males. And the halftime show was a scam. The Who must be a pretty cheap hire by now. Or am I just that out of touch?
Good game, though.
The game was fantastic! Nothing like a team playing poorly in the first half and taking over in the second half. I wrote, though not nearly as eloquently, about Super Bowl food yesterday also.
I managed to get to the party I was invited to an hour late as I ran a race and needed to get back home and shower before joining civilization. The ads were lackluster at best. All of the men at the party were complaining there were too many ads with “naked” men in them. Seems the only ad they liked was the GoDaddy one with Danica Patrick getting a massage.