I have always been aware of American football. Football for me has always been soccer, but for a couple of years the living rooms of the UK were transformed by the exotic Americana of this strange new phenomenon of gridiron. Walter 'The Refrigerator' Perry did something I can't remember and the Chicago Bears won the first Superbowl I can remember. For a couple of year I tuned in on a Sunday evening after my bath and basked in my complete ignorance of the rules, regulations and commentary. It's an extremely technical sport to watch for the uninitiated, but it filled a couple of hours before having to go to bed and think about going back to school. Much simpler days!
Australia has been hit with Superbowl fever. Former AFL forward (think aerial ping-pong on an oval pitch where the aim is to kick between two posts wearing skin tight vests and the shortest of shorts) Ben Graham turned out as punter for the Arizona Cardinals. To add spice to the story, the Cardinals got past Philadelphia Eagles who have Sav Rocca, another Aussie Rules kicking machine. The big game kicked off on Monday morning our time, so I managed to catch a few minutes here and there between meetings.
I watched the highlights on Fox Sports News and it did seem a thrilling climax, but our sports casters were more concerned with the half time show and advertising. It's a much different to Australia's main sporting finales, the NRL (rugby league) grand final or the AFL Grand Final which are the climax of week long celebrations with media breakfasts, parades of former players and believe it or not, lots and lots of utes (Aussie working men's flat bed trucks with V8 engines, usually made by Holden).
Growing up, the sporting final to beat all others was the English FA Cup final. Coverage started very early the morning of the match with TV cameras following the players having breakfast, interspersed with random interviews with even more random C-list celebrities. The cameras then follow the team coach, sometimes on the coach while the squads play cards and do painful impressions and tell lame jokes. It is essential viewing. There will normally be a celebrity match and highlights of how the teams reached the final. Interviews with both coaches and star players. The match, especially in recent years, has become a damp squib with so much money at stake.
Sport seems to have succumbed to advertising with more people concerned with PETA's racy advertising and Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction than the plucky underdog coming from behind to steal the glory in an epic encounter, probably sponsored by a multinational insurance company.
