Super Bowl Monday

On this sunny Monday morning at ~10AM, I walked into the local pub.

Don’t worry, I’m doing quite alright.

In fact, I decided not to have a beer, despite a very kind Aussie making a very kind offer to purchase one for me.

So, if not indulging in a cheeky mid-morning pint, then what was I doing there?

Well, on this sunny Monday morning, I walked into the local pub to catch the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl. Because here in Southwest Australia, in this town of 17K people, the only place to catch American football’s biggest game was in the local watering hole.

What follows are a few observations after catching a sliver of the spectacle Down Undah…

• This pub had ~25 people inside. After exchanging some “G’day’s” and “How ya going’s?” with the fellow patrons, I realized that only ~6 of us were American. The remainder of the crowd appeared to be Aussies. Aussies who were rocking football jerseys and screaming at the TVs (none more so than the “very kind Aussie” who sat next to me).

• Regardless of which team they were rooting for, all of the Aussies were big fans of the Seahawks punter, Michael Dickson. Because he was, of course, Australian. Turns out, national pride is not uniquely American.

• Many of the Australian patrons appeared to pick “their team” based on:

  • 1) Some loose family connection: “My cousin became a punter when he moved to the US for a bit. Then, he became friends with a guy who became a kicker on the Seahawks. So now I’m a Seahawks fan.”

  • 2) A trip taken to the US in the past: “I went to Cleveland for a vacation back in 2011, so I’ve been rocking with the Browns ever since.” (Just kidding, nobody actually said this)

  • 3) The team’s colors: “The Packers’ colors are green & gold, just like Australia. So, I support them.”

  • This was a nice reminder that there’s no “right way” to choose a sports team allegiance. Becoming a fan doesn’t require a multi-generational, nor location-based justification.

• I listened to the very kind Aussie next to me, who identified as a Seahawks fan, whoop with frustration or excitement after every play. Meanwhile, the other Americans — who hailed from Seattle — just watched quietly. They exchanged some high-fives after the Pick 6 and the win, but, otherwise, were quite polite. Not to say that one version of fandom is better or worse, I just realized that a fan can become a fanatic by simply choosing to ramp up the wattage of energy they transmit to their team relationship. After all, everyone practices fandom differently. Just because the very kind Aussie sitting next to me had the loudest voice in the pub, doesn’t mean he was a bigger fan or a better 12th Man. In fact, I realized that sometimes excess expressions of fandom can be a desire to reinforce a still-insecure affiliation.

• There were only 25 people in the pub, which, from what I could tell, was the only place to watch in town. 25 people out of 17,000… only 0.1% of the population!!! Meanwhile, Super Bowl Sunday is effectively a national holiday in the US. To watch the game might as well be considered an expectation. On Kickoff-Every-Zoom-Call-With-What’d-You-Think-About-The-Super-Bowl Monday, it would be blasphemy to inform an inquiring co-worker that you “didn’t catch the game”. Blasphemy! Punishable by social exile and a head shake of disappointment delivered by said co-worker, as they slowly back away from you, you un-American heretic. Hand up, I missed the first 3 quarters, including the halftime show. I know. I know!!! And yet, I feel completely Whole. In fact, I had quite a fulfilling morning. I went for a flowy run, went for a matcha walk by the beach with my LOML, then FaceTime’d my family. I had plans to watch the game. But, as the morning unfolded, I prioritized some other activities during the first 3 quarters. And here, on the other side of the world, nobody seemed to care. In fact, most people here were going about their Monday morning doing something similar. Surfing, swimming, walking, enjoying. Some of the people here were even working. Aside from the other 24 patrons in the pub, most people didn’t even seem to notice that there was an All-American, effectively-official holiday happening. To them, it was just another sunny Monday morning.

• The Australian broadcast only played local Australian commercials. The multi-million dollar marketing investments by American companies didn’t reach the other side of the world. In a way, I felt sorry for them. The companies, I mean. Paying all that money for a spot that didn’t achieve full global reach. In a way, I also felt sorry for America. The people, I mean. The fact that these multi-million dollar marketing investments might actually be economically-justifiable for these companies. Why? Because these commercials are quite effective at convincing us that we need to buy more sh*t in order to be happy. The companies also know that they’ll get our attention on this day in particular. Why? Because on this Sunday in early February, it’s an expectation that we be glued to our TVs. We’re expected to be sat on the couch for Super Bowl Sunday, preparing to consume the All-American buffet: all 4 quarters of the game, the half-hour halftime show, and the full slate of commercials. If we pass on any portion of this indulgence, then we risk being labeled a commie or something.

I’m proud to be an American. All my life, I’ve been a big fan of the team. I have the multi-generational and location-based justification for this fandom. But, more than anything, I’m a supporter of America because of the All-American value of Freedom.

I’m a big fan of Freedom.

All of my Freedoms.

Especially the Foundational ones.

I don’t take these Freedoms for granted.

It’s hard to comprehend life without them.

And yet, as I experienced the Super Bowl abroad, I pondered whether our America today still holds true to its All-American value.

Do we support each others’ Freedom to choose allegiances, whether they be NFL teams, religious beliefs, or political identities? Of course, we all say we support them in principle, but do we actually support them in practice?

How do we treat those of a different faith or party? Do we meet them with the same nonchalance that we do a fan of a different sports team? Or do we assume that their affiliation also means they support the devil?

How do we treat those who root for the same team but express their fandom differently? Do we let them support the team how they want to? Or, if they don’t scream like us, do we scold them for doing it incorrectly?

How do we approach those who didn’t watch the Super Bowl? Do we respect, even admire, this exercising of Freedom? Or do we ostracize them in order to achieve some semblance of validation for how we spend our own time?

Do we still exercise our Freedom to choose how to spend our money? Or did we already give it away to companies?

Do we still exercise our Freedom to choose how to allocate our attention? Or did we already give it away to companies?

I started wondering whether we actually value Freedom or whether we just like to yell about it.

Amidst all this yelling, who are we trying to prove it to?

Why don’t we just exercise our Freedom of how to spend a Sunday in early February?

Are you exercising your Freedom to choose how to spend a sunny morning on this Monday?

P.S. — one last observation: Aussies call it “footy”, which is a fun word to say and ought to be adopted more broadly