The Super Bowl Will Not Impact My Life

I don’t live in Chicago. I don’t live in Indianapolis. I enjoy football and I’ll be watching the game at home in high definition. I hope it’s a competitive game and fun to watch. But I don’t much care about the outcome. One team will hoist this trophy and it matters not which one.

I don’t work in sports, much less professional football. I’m not a player, coach, scout or agent. I have no vested interest in this or any other football game. If I did, I could see how the game might impact my life.

I live in north Texas - Dallas Cowboys country. If the Cowboys were in the Super Bowl my life would still be somewhat unaffected, except for the radio talk I’d be subjected to for weeks. And I’m already subjected to that because the owner, Jerry Jones, continues to search for a coach. I agree with a local sports reporter who somewhat tongue-in-cheek suggested Jerry pick up the whistle and coach the team himself.

No, my life will be negligibly affected by this game.

All week I’ve listened to my favorite radio station - KTCK “The Ticket” - broadcast live from Miami. I’ve managed to watch in on their webcam a little bit, too. It’s been an entertaining week. Super Bowl hype is grander than most. It’s full throttle in every way.

But - it just won’t impact my life that much. If you don’t work in sports - particularly football - why would it? I’m reminded of a scene in the movie “Coach Carter” staring Samuel L. Jackson as coach Ken Carter. The wise coach is attempting to teach his urban basketball players that education is the key to their future success. They want to win the championship. He asks them, “Who won last year?” None of them know. They just know they want to win.

It proves the point - we don’t long remember champions of athletic competition - or who won the Super Bowl. It just doesn’t matter to most of us because it has no long lasting affect on our life. Yes, the teams are impacted. Yes, the host city - this year, it’s Miami - is impacted. Media is impacted because they can sell more advertising and garner higher ratings/circulation. Advertising salespeople can earn higher commissions. I know events of this magnitude affect some lives more than others, but over time - even that impact is diminished.

On Monday morning I’ll report to work as usual. Nothing will have changed. My health won’t be improved by watching the athletic prowess of men half my age. My wallet won’t be any fatter because I don’t gamble. My wallet won’t be any thinner because I don’t gamble. My wife won’t love me any more, or less. My children won’t either.

By Tuesday morning only the two cities - Chicago and Indianapolis - will care. And within a few weeks they’ll stop caring.

But for these few weeks leading up to the event - the world focuses enormous attention on a single game. A football game. Millions of dollars are being spent, invested and wagered. It’s America’s finest hours of entertainment. It will be watched by more people than any single event of 2007.

But it won’t feed one starving child.
It won’t save one lost soul.
It won’t recover one wayward addict.
It won’t stop a single mad bomber in Iraq from following his hatred of America.
It won’t help one child learn to read.
It won’t launch one child into higher education.
It won’t save one dying person.

It’s a powerful waste of resources, but I’ll be watching. And I still don’t care who wins - but I’ll think of all the people who lose. This is, after all, America and people can spend their money as they like. Foolishness can rule the day (or week, or weekend). We allow foolishness in America. I’m thankful for that. But it’s still tough to figure out how people place a high value on things with such a low return on investment (or expense).