Super Bowl -- Big Deal!
Mon., February 5, 08:49 AM
Super Bowl, big deal! I don't follow football these days, but all the talk of Super Bowl XLI (that is 41) recalled the day of Super Bowl I, in another life, before I met Husband. In the early years of our marriage, I learned the details so I could explain them to him and he could enjoy the game more.
The event was not the circus it is today -- no huge eating binges or blockbuster bad commercials. Nevertheless, I was aware that this first game was a fairly big thing, so I would watch. Besides, I had a coffee date that evening with a guy I had not met, and maybe this would make interesting conversation. I don't remember much about the game itself, other than that the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs. I do remember that Coach Hank Stram was gracious in defeat, much more so than the victorious Vince Lombardi. I thought that Lombardi made too much of the fact that the National Football League was -- of course -- so much better than the American Football League. (They were not yet conferences in the same league.)
Watching the game might have been fun, but it certainly was useless as far as that coffee date was concerned. The guy was a customer of my mother's, and he had absolutely no interest in sports of any kind. I don't know what my mother was thinking, since she knew that one of my major interests was baseball. The guy may have looked good -- he dressed well -- but he certainly didn't know how to talk to a girl. He sold antiques -- okay -- but he did not want to hear about some friends of mine who sold knickknacks and curios. He pronounced that stuff "junk" and dropped the subject. I was not charmed. After being shut down twice, I figured I should probably just keep my mouth shut.
The only thing we had in common, even a little, was that I had a nice dog and he said he liked dogs. If I had had any expectations for the evening, I would have termed it a disaster. But I was just being polite. I never did know what my mother saw in most guys, except of course my dad, who was far and above anyone she could possibly have found for me.
In later years I would watch the Jets beat the Colts. Eventually I would get to see Franco Harris and the Immaculate Reception. It's strange that SB-I remains this kind of memory. And I had no intention of watching this one! I think I was asleep before it ended; who won?
Coming soon, I hope, a few entries trying to figure our why I am so tired.
