Super Bowl 49: A Non-Football Fan's Two Cents

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

For as long as I can remember, I never made an effort to watch the Super Bowl. Outside of pro wrestling, I have never been a fan of any sports, but I don't have anything against them. They're simply not my thing (I played baseball for several years as a kid for recreation, but fell out of it by high school when I realized it wasn't what I was passionate about it). Then again, most people who watch Super Bowl couldn't give a crap about the game or football in general; they're just watching for the commercials. Hasn't it been proven that most of the millions of viewers that the game gets aren't even fans? Anyway, I wasn't among those people because I never bothered to watch at all.

Whenever my friends and family went out to watch the game and invited me to tag along, I declined and opted to stay home. I know it sounds stupid, but why go to a viewing party if I'm not going to enjoy it? That never made any sense to me since I'd stay home and find something more productive to do (plus, I'd get the house all to myself; who doesn't love that?). Well, for the first time in many years, I watched the game last year, though I probably wouldn't have if my college roommate didn't. He wasn't a football fan, either, as he was watching only for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers (he was a huge fan) during the halftime show. I watched most of the game, enjoyed a few of the commercials and even found myself hoping the Broncos wouldn't score so we'd get the first total blowout in Super Bowl history. I wasn't blown away by my Super Bowl viewing experience that year, but it was enjoyable.

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I found myself in a similar situation this year. I once again had no intention of watching the Super Bowl this past Sunday, but my roommate (different dude) did. He planned on getting food, inviting people over and having a mini-party, so I figured I'd take part. Beside, I wasn't busy with anything else, and I was going to be in the same room anyway, so why not watch? As the game got started, I found myself getting more and more invested. I wasn't on the edge of my seat with every play, but I was intrigued by what was going on. For the record, I didn't have a clear favorite to win. The Patriots were a safe bet since I live in the New England area, and that the team I thought would win, so I sided with them.

I'm a sucker for statistics. Anyone who knows of my love for wrestling is well aware of this. Although I'm not a football fan in the slightest, I was looking up "fun facts" the entire time. For example, I was interested in finding out when the last time a team won the Super Bowl two years in a row, along with the last time the Patriots won the Super Bowl and who was undefeated in all of their appearances at the event. It was the small stuff like that that made the viewing experience more fun, in addition to the exchanging of comedic comments between the people I was watching the game with and myself.

The commercials during the Super Bowl were a big talking point this year, but for all the wrong reasons. I think I speak for many people when I say the commercials this year were... well, weird. Sure, they were disappointing, but to sum them up in a nutshell, they were just weird. Most of the commercials in the first half were flat out depressing; child deaths? Really? That was a real downer, and to air it during the Super Bowl of all places was mind boggling to me. There were far too many "serious" commercials for a festive event such as the Super Bowl, and I figured they'd cease in the second half. There weren't nearly as many in the second half, but not many commercials stuck out to me, either. The only ones I really enjoyed were the ones featuring the Brady Bunch (Snickers), Brian Cranston, Liam Neeson, and Ickey Woods, but that was about it.

The halftime show was also interesting, to say the least. I don't know if I'd consider myself a "fan" of Katy Perry, but I do think she's a tremendously talented artist. She performed well, though it's obvious how much her voice isn't altered or enhanced when she's performing live (did anyone else get flashbacks to 2008 when she sang "I Kissed a Girl"?). However, what everyone's been talking about in the days since has been the outfits worn by her and the sharks. Yes, the sharks! Of everything to talk about from that performance, the sharks stole the show. That was pretty fun. Hope whoever was in that costume got a nice payday from that!

The game itself was very competitive, more so than most football games/Super Bowls I've seen and that's what made it entertaining. The Patriots and the Seahawks were evenly matched throughout, and although it became clear toward the end the Patriots were going to emerge victorious, that didn't take away from the suspense of it at all. There was still enough time at the end of the game for the Seahawks to pull out a victory, and you had to know everyone watching where I was was hoping they wouldn't get that last touchdown. As the Seahawks inched closer and closer to the end zone, I became more entrenched with what was going on. It was an amazing narrative. Wrestling or football, that's what I love most: a good story, and that's exactly what this game was providing.

Excuse my ignorance for not knowing the name of the players or the plays, but that play from the Seahawks that saw the ball never touch the ground was incredible. Even my pro-Patriots roommate had to admit that was extremely impressive. It was at that moment when it appeared to be very, very possible that the Seahawks might just win it all for the second straight year. I had never seen so much suspense in a sports game before, and although I wasn't particularly rooting for anyone at the start, I knew it was going to make for a hell of a moment if the Patriots could somehow come out of it with their first Super Bowl win in ten years. And they did.

That interception from Michael Butler (see, I know the names of some players and plays!) was simply surreal. If you blinked, you missed it, and I might have missed it. I watched it unfold, but I had zero idea what was going on until it had already happened. The commentators were going crazy over the play and when I looked over to my roommate to ask him what I had just witnessed, his jaw was on the floor. It was an astonishing play that led to the Patriots scoring the Super Bowl win in what seemed like a storybook ending. That's the kind of stuff I love and live for, so to see it end in such fantastic fashion blew my mind. Again, this is coming from a non-football fan.

I mentioned to someone that I was watching the game with that it doesn't matter what the players do before the Super Bowl. Sure, they'll have their statistics and impressive seasons, but the casual viewers like myself don't know about that nor do they care. Butler, a player who hadn't done much of note for the entire season, solidified himself as a star that night with that one play. All it took was one play to make a name for himself, and there was no better place to do it than at the Super Bowl. He's the real MVP.

I can't even begin to explain the happiness of everyone in my dorm and on my campus when the Patriots. I don't think "happiness" does it justice. It was as if an earthquake was in session, but it wasn't an earthquake; it was everyone on campus going crazy. Walking out and taking in the collective buzz from all the satisfied Patriots fans was a feeling I'll never forget, along with the screams of joy that could be heard throughout the dorm when we were notified that we'd be getting a snow day the following day. People petition for getting the day after the Super Bowl off from work/school, and we got just that because of the snow. You couldn't script a better night if you tried.