With the "big game" having taken place pretty
recently, I (and every red white and blue blooded American) am still buzzing on
the high of having my favorite team win- the Patriots. Though it may or may not
have come down to a terribad decision by a certain coach in the last crucial
moments, that's not what I want to focus on in this post. We all clearly know
the furor and zealotry that occur around this special American event, but that
raised the question in my mind- Why do we glorify this event so much?
After thinking about it for a while, I narrowed it down to a
couple causes. First and foremost is the fact that corporations benefit greatly
from having a high concentration of Americans watching a single program. For
advertising purposes, it's a gold mine for these companies just due to the
sheer reach of the ads. This is evident in how ingrained the famed Superbowl
ads have become in our culture. Hell, I know some people who don't even watch
it for the game, but rather just to see the best that these mega-corps have
come up with. Secondly, I think that the feeling of belonging that emerges from
team sports is something that many people feel very cozy with. Major football
team fan-hood is, essentially, a tribal structure where we wave colors and
shout names of the team that we (usually arbitrarily) support. This allows
people to easily identify those who are "in" and those who are
"out" of their respective groups. Now, while not all people take
football as seriously as others (myself included), the feeling is still there.
I cheer on the Patriots despite only knowing about 2 of their players names,
tops.
Overall, it's not really about the sport itself. It's much
more centered around the culture surrounding it and the corporations pumping
money into it.
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