Perhaps my experience with sports, such as football is different than most. I consider myself to be on the side lines, a cheerleader, and in charge of a rowdy crowd. I paint my face with black lines, put on my broncos jersey and walk into work ready to cheer for a sport, I myself, don't enjoy. I am the bartender. The whole idea of men getting paid to play a childs sport while running around in tight pants exposing every masculine curve of their bodies seems tacky. Ive always felt like that, i find myself appalled by die hard sports fans, Im sorry if this offends you. (To each their own).
"Staci, who do you hope wins" a common question asked of me last night.
let me be 100% with all of you, i didn't even know who was playing until i asked my boss that day. Second my jersey that i was sporting were something i found stuffed in my sons closet (my usual sports wardrobe was dependent of my son). Last, i couldn't care less about who won. The only thought i have is that my numbers hit on the football squares and i leave with an envelope of money.
Gambling. Isn't this what sports are all about? Maybe that makes me a band wagon fan, but who doesn't enjoy winning a little cash?
The televisions are turned up, all six of them and every bar stool filled with rowdy, annoying, sports fans. Grown men cheering for other grown men, sounds tacky right?
Ill stop bashing sports fan with regards to any of you who might be. My apologies.
Beers and shots are being passed out, the chatter remains steady. Most conversations relating to gambling. Foot ball squares, fantasy leagues etc. People praying for certain scores to be the end result, really truly praying. Betting thousands of dollars on a silly game. Who has that much money to lose? I felt sick spending $1 on a square. None the less lets continue. Football is life to some of these people, and so many came out of the wood works to come and enjoy the game of the year. The only football lingo I'm up on is "half time". My girl beyonce was there, My man Bruno Mars.
It occurs to me that Football, the Super Bowl the NFL is a gold mine. Not just for the franchises but for us. Those of us placing illegal bets. Counting on these games to win a few extra dollars. An opportunity to go get smashed at the bar yell at a TV and argue with other die hard fans. Predominantly men.
This brings me to my next point: Out of the 50 people at the bar exclusively to watch the super bowl, 4 of them were women. Crazy right? Sounds almost unbelievable. This were a mans game, a mans hobby, and a mens league. The NFL was for man.
Gambling, yelling, beer drinking, MEN!!!!
Staci A. Marsden
I agree with your comment that football consumes peoples lives. Especially the final game. It is crazy to me how people "throw" away money to something they may not even get in return. I like your blog because your words are so vivid. I can picture that bar scene right now in my head. Men go CRAZY for it-they live for this day with all the money they have put forward. I also agree with you how it is an all men sport. It is always mostly men gambling and going insane for the super bowl. I wonder why that is. I hate to categorize things and sports but i wish i had an answer for why it is mostly men. I guess men and violence go together? But that can also be contradicting. hmmm, crazy world we live in!
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ReplyDeleteI really connected to the beginning of your blog post, so much so that it made me laugh a little bit. I am not a football watcher and I couldn't have cared less who won the game. It doesn't change my life in any way. My step-father also gambles on all sporting events. I never saw the point in that either. To comment on the end, this game really was created for men so much so now that when a woman likes football she is "so cool" or turns into "a bro", maybe she's seen as "chill" or she "can hang with the big dogs". All real comments I've heard about females watching sports. As for when a female tells me she likes sports, they have always started with, "I know I might not look like it, but..." or "You'd probably never guess, but..." and my question to all of that is: what does a female have to look like to enjoy watching sports? Why is it such a shock when one does?
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