The Ultimate Super Bowl Post

We are just hours away from the biggest day in American sports. Make no mistake about it, the Super Bowl is huge -- even here. At the 5Cs, where professional sports rarely seem to make their way into "the bubble" and are replaced instead by more important things and news, the Super Bowl seems to interest an surprisingly large number of people at the colleges. On a daily basis, the wide world of sports is even less than an afterthought for the average student, but for whatever reason, people converge around the tube on the first Sunday in February.

Perhaps it is just the advertisements. There is nothing quite like sharing a bag of Doritos while an ad for the pre-dipped tortilla chip fills the small campus-lounge screen. I was satisfied, especially since this ad was my personal favorite last year (be sure to check it out in HD!):

You can check out more ads with this sweet feature from Hulu:

Yet I am torn over the diversity of Super Bowl watching parties. Don't get me wrong, I still engage in them and plan to host my own this Sunday, but there is something sacred, ritualistic, and uniquely satisfying about yelling at my TV alone every Saturday and Sunday in the fall and early winter that is only completed by the stark contrast of my roommate's watching "So You Think You Can Dance" and listening to atrocious 80's R&B. Super Bowl Sunday brings an entirely different atmosphere, and I am not quite sure I like it.

This odd day in sports got me thinking: everyone loves the Super Bowl, but is that a good thing for hardcore sports fan like myself? Should I like that I get to watch the game with a big, excited audience, even if that audience might not understand or care about the game? Do I have the right to enjoy the most important day of the sports year without the casual and less than casual fans defiling my holy day? I don't expect Super Bowl XLIV to be much of a game, so as Peyton Manning and the Colts steamroll the new "America's Team," the New Orleans Saints, I urge you to ponder whether this American tradition is a good thing (feel free to add yours below!). Here are some of my thoughts on the issue:

Pros

• That special someone of yours might actually listen to your rant on whether both feet were inbounds or whether the NFL should change to the college rules. This is probably the only time, so embrace it.

• There's nothing like a room full of people, split on the team they are cheering for, jeering each other about a topic they know little to nothing about. It's like your very own US Congress.

• Super Bowl watching parties are like potlucks, and the less the people care about football, the more likely they are to have actually made their contribution. Homemade cookies go a very long way to making anything bearable.

• The illusion of interest. I love thinking, even if it is just for a day, that people around here actually care about sports.

Cons

• The boisterous audience during play which hushes only on a break to commercials. Really? I mean I understand that the commercials are funny, but at least during the GoDaddy.com ad, let me talk about what just happened during the game -- we all know no one is trying to listen to that ad anyway.

• With such a big crowd, the networks feel obligated to have some absurd, usually bad, and sometimes raunchy half time show instead of actually breaking down the game. Must they always pander to the lowest common denominator? They should reward the true fan for a dedicated season of watching and have a full halftime of analysis.

• Snack free-riders

• "No. The tight pants are not to show off their muscular legs."

• It's all a lie. Next September I will be watching my Florida Gators and Dallas Cowboys alone.

But even after weighing the pros and cons, there's still glory to be had by at least one person after the game is over.

Editor's Note: This sports column is a regular feature from "The Nightcap" crew, a group of 5Cers who air a weekly radio talk-show on KSPC. You can listen in online at KSPC.org (click “Hear us Online via Live365”) every Monday from 8-10 PM.