Columnist Erin Davoran suggests ways to enjoy sports events with sports fans, even when you aren’t one.
If, right now, I was offered all the money in the world to name the football teams playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday, I would still be poor. If I had a gun to my head and had to name just one team, I would be dead.
I am not a sports fan. I can and do, on occasion, enjoy sports. I love going to Cincinnati Reds baseball games in the summer and have attended a few St. Louis — now Los Angeles — Rams games, including the recent Bengals-Rams matchup in November (Full disclosure: This is mostly because my cousin is a Rams player). And, as a good Bobcat, I have gone to a few sporting events at OU.
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And when I watch sports, either in person or on TV, I get into it. Last year, I cheered along with the crowd at Pigskin when the Buckeyes won the National Football Championship. This year, smooshed in a very scary crowd at The CI, I felt the roller coaster of emotions that came from the Bengals vs. Steelers playoff game.
I can join the sports-obsessed crowd, I just don’t often do. Part of it is the popular sports aren’t my favorite. If there were watch parties for soccer games and tennis matches — and not just the World Cup or Wimbledon — I’d be there. Heck, I’d even be hosting.
But the mainstream, well-televised sports are baseball, basketball and football. And right now, football fever is running almost as high as my forehead (seriously, I should probably have gone to Campus Care like a week ago).
So, what am I to do? I have a lot of sports fanatic friends, and I’m very prone to FOMO (fear of missing out). Am I just going to stay home and watch Netflix? (Actually this is exactly what I did last year, highly recommend.) This year, no! I’m going to a Super Bowl watch party. And I will enjoy it just like I have in years’ past in a few key ways:
Wear the jersey, any jersey, conform to the status quo: Just blend in with the crowd and act like you belong. It makes it easier to do your own thing without calling attention to the fact that you do not care what is actually happening on screen.
Know a few fun facts or anecdotes about the sport, arena, players, etc. to throw out: Again, helps with the blending. And, sharing tidbits might actually help you learn something, too. Don’t be opposed to the sports world, just be wary of it.
Bring and eat food: Food is the saving grace of sports watch parties. Normally pot-luck style, there should be plenty of grub to enjoy. Make sure you contribute to be polite and to ensure that if, god forbid, everyone else brings plain potato chips, you at least can enjoy the Skyline Chili Dip you brought.
Drink (responsibly): Be cautious with this one because no one wants you passed out in the salsa bowl before the halftime show. But, sometimes, getting a bit buzzed can help the boredom.
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Enjoy the non-sports parts: Super Bowl commercials are some of the best the marketing and advertising world has to offer. Thinking about Budweiser’s “Lost Dog” commercial still breaks my heart. And even though most commercials are actually being released before Sunday’s telecast, they can still be entertaining during the timeouts. And speaking of entertainment, Lady Gaga is singing the national anthem (YASSS), and Coldplay and Beyonce are performing during the halftime show. Many other performers are expected to cameo. If Queen Bey can’t make you enjoy the Super Bowl, no one can. Remember her 2013 performance? The faces? The Destiny’s Child reunion? The black out?! It was simply epic.
Sports parties can still be fun if you remember the party part. Sometimes, you even get swept up in the insanity and find yourself rooting for an overly paid, (too) fully grown man running on fake grass holding a (hopefully fully inflated) egg-shaped ball across a line of chalk for the glory of a nation. It doesn’t make sense, but hey, that’s football.
Erin Davoran is a senior studying journalism. What're your plans for Super Bowl Sunday? Tweet her @erindavoran or email her at ed414911@ohio.edu.
