QotD: Super Bowl 2008

Are you watching the Super Bowl today?  Who are you watching it with, and which team do you want to win?

I'm taking advantage of my stay-at-home-dad status to catch parts of it with the boy today.  As to the result, head says Patriots but the heart wants a Giants win.

American football doesn't hold much interest for Australians, and this will be the first game I've watched in years.  I'm part of a minority of Australians who have actually played the game.  In early 1995 I rocked up to training for the Logan City Bengals, just on my own and without any prompting, having gained an interest in the sport through catching it on SBS.  I liked the strategic aspects of the game, and the fact that everyone on the team needs to fulfill their role for each play in order for it to work effectively.  By that time I'd finished all my piano exams and so I was ready to take the risk of breaking fingers (though I subsequently managed to that - twice - by playing basketball).  I wanted to play tight-end as it struck me as an enjoyable all-round position, but as I'm not the smallest bloke I was thrown straight into the line to play offensive tackle and defensive end, and sure enough I loved it.   

The general view of gridiron here is that it's not as "hard" as our preferred versions of football, Australian Rules, rugby league and rugby union.  And to some extent that's true.  But my experience was that all of the angry young men wearing padding were more likely to feel well-nigh invincible and accordingly more inclined to go that much harder into tackles.  My own damage tally for the season was a few cracked ribs and a knee injury that now occasionally forewarns me of pending rain, but I saw a good friend of mine smash his elbow and upper arm to pieces and even knew guys who had serious spinal injuries as a result of playing. 

A few years ago a guy I worked with tried to get me involved in the local league here and yeah, I was sorely tempted.  But when K and I went to see a game it seemed a bit too "try-hardish" with cheerleaders and blaring hip-hop - basically all the bullshit instead of a focus on the actual skills and play - and so it was easy enough to decide against it.  Not a game I'll be recommending for my boy, would much prefer he takes up soccer instead.  Maybe AFL as he's likely to be tall and make a good ruckman, but we'll see. 

[update] ...and so the Giants win it in a remarkable final two minutes thanks to Eli Manning and a Patriots defensive error.  Good game.