Post Superbowl Post

Today, the local news interviewed a Nurse Practitioner about what to do if you were so depressed about the Superbowl outcome that you  could not function normally. Really.

For the fans here, it is sad the Pats lost. It's always a morale boost when a team here wins. Especially during the long winter.

2004 President Congratulates 2004 Super Bowl Champs New England Patriots, Whitehouse photo Public Domain. Image via Wikipedia

But, it is not "our" loss.  I don't get people SO identifying with a team they do neither own nor play on, and which is comprised of team members who, in all likelihood are not even from the region.  It's not as if we can say,  those guys are ours, our family, our village.  They are hired guns.  They will say, our fans are great.  And if they were traded, switched teams or whatever would say the same things in that new city.

Sometimes, it is postulated that sports is a substitute for war. I don't think I believe that. But if it were then the Patriots are not our hired guns; they are Bob Kraft's hired guns.

I like the teams for sports I enjoy from the area where I live, but I don't identify with them. When the Red Sox won the World Series I was happy but I did not think we won the World Series. When I lived in NY I liked the Mets and I may have even rooted for the Yankees once or twice (I was young and the Yankees are an exception but as an anti-identifier). But I have no idea who I liked in football back then.

Professional sports are games. GAMES

They are games that make owners, players, and managers rich (I guess the Green Bay Packers are mutually owned by citizens). They don't play for fans, they play for money. They obviously grove on adulation but, whether its Bostonian adulation or Chicagoan probably doesn't matter.

Also, let's look at the idea of competition. I see these big contests and think it's just one day, one game, one race, one routine. Whole lifetimes rise and fall on one screw up in the a playoff series, the Superbowl, the Olympics, etc.  One bad day, one guy pulling on your previously damaged shoulder, whacking your leg the wrong way and you're finished with the game, in the sport or with life.

The Giants had apparently barely made the playoffs.  The Patriots were right at the top all season.  ONE GAME and they're losers? NO.

I did think the strategy applied at the end of the game was really interesting and I can't imagine trying to figure out all the rules. Apparently they change depending on how long is left in the game and whether it is a playoff.

I don't get it.  I am sure some psychologist or anthropologist somewhere does. Or maybe you do? 

Football and Whole Foods

Yesterday I went grocery shopping after Pilates; a normal thing. Or so I thought. 

Is it Thanksgiving? Christmas? 

No, it's Superbowl weekend in New England and the Pats are playing. 

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

It must also have been a holiday for many people who were at Whole Foods. Not so many in produce , many in the meats, deli, cheese and bread areas. The only two vegetable/fruits selling well, I believe, were celery for the hot wings and avocados. 

Indeed, the Whole Foods staff tells me that the store here in Portland is the top performing Whole Foods in the country. 

That's amazing if you consider the poverty level in Maine ranks in the highest five or so in the nation, especially for kids, and that we have among the highest rates of obesity and cigarette smoking. 

Whole foods (Photo credit: parislemon)

Go figure.  I had an other Superbowl story, but I can't tell it. Damn.

Do I care about the Superbowl, football or sports? I will watch baseball, will watch the the semis and Superbowl if the Pats are playing. But, if we have company, I find it boring. I end up talking and that ticks other people off. I will probably make some chili and read as my husband watches. But, yeah, I care if the Pats win. It means a lot to the region. As we are a poor state, a sports win can help people feel better. Go Pats, but as you watch please eat and drink responsibly.

What about you and football, the Superbowl, etc.?  

AND, Chris Bohjalian's book, SECRETS OF EDEN will be on Lifetime tonight.  I believe it is at 8 PM EST.  John Stamos stars.