Chiefs vs. Eagles. Again. Go team!
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| Everybody loves the Super Bowl. Right? |
I forget who I was rooting for then. When I lived in Philadelphia, of course I was a big Eagles fan. When I lived in Kansas City, it was Chiefs all the way. (In Jacksonville, I was a tepid fan of the Jaguars until it became kind of embarrassing.)
See, when you live in a city with an NFL team, the mood of the whole metro area waxes and wanes according to the score on any given Sunday. It’s always better when a city is happy. It’s better when even a city’s noted assholes essay a certain bonhomie.
Now that I live in a City Without a Team, I’ve been making less of an effort. NFL football, for me, has always been about pretending some knowledge of the teams to ingratiate myself with those who did care: checkout clerks and waiters and certain relatives who always wear their jerseys on game day.
You can’t really be loyal to the teams themselves, because they are made up of highly-paid individuals who would jump ship in an instant to become even more highly paid. They are all independent businessmen. As Jerry Seinfeld liked to observe, with NFL teams you’re really rooting for the logo and the laundry.
Still, we watched the AFC championship game. It wasn’t bad. We’ll have the TV on for the Super Bowl, too, because we always do. The clever ads are less of a draw these days, but it’s still a cultural event that Red and Blue states might still hold in common. It’s another excuse to hoover up toxic snacks and kvetch about the overlong half-time show.
Who will I root for? Probably whatever team happens to be trailing at the moment. I’m perverse that way. Yesterday I started off cheering the Chiefs, then switched to the Bills when it appeared they were getting shellacked. If I’m going to spend a few hours watching NFL football, I appreciate a little drama.
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