Super Bowl Sunday

   The Super Bowl is this Sunday, and I wanted to let everyone in on how much of a football nerd I am. Seriously, if you don’t like football, this might not be the blog for you because I absolutely love this time of year. I can’t say that I necessarily love the two teams playing this year. I’ve never been a big Broncos or Seahawks fan, but there are certainly a lot of things that make this game interesting.

   A lot of people don’t get why people like me are so obsessed with a game, but I can explain it simply. I love football - specifically the Green Bay Packers - like some people love their favorite television show. It’s an escape. For three hours on Sunday I can escape from expectations, and in general, life. I’ll never forget the two Super Bowls that I saw the Packers win in my lifetime. They were some of the happiest moments of my life. At the same time, I won’t ever be able to forget when we lost in the Super Bowl. I had no direct connection to anyone on the field, but it hurt like nothing I had felt in my young life. That’s the real beauty of football. In the same way that we connect to characters on a television show – or in a book - we connect with players and organizations. Their success becomes ours, and their failure matters more than it probably should to us. In a way, we find a place to belong when we become a fan of a team. Every Sunday, we get to belong to Packers nation or whatever team you choose to follow. There are no work struggles, relationship issues, or personal worries. There’s just fun for three hours.

   I think football says a lot about how we’re wired as human beings. Sometimes we need that time to turn our minds off at least once a week. I hope all of you find time to do that every once in a while because I can promise you that when you relax and turn on your favorite show or team for a while, the rest of your week will be much more bearable. In case any of you are wondering, I’ll be going for the Denver Broncos tomorrow. I’ve never quite forgiven them for beating my Packers in the Super Bowl, but there’s something about seeing a veteran like Peyton Manning play what might be his last Championship game that makes me want to root for him. I think that the Broncos will actually pull it off, too. They say that defense wins championships, and maybe that was true in the past, but with the recent rule changes in the game, I think that everything is different. My prediction is that the number one offense in the league is going to beat the number one defense 30-24.

   Anyway, I hope you all have fun watching the Super Bowl or just getting together with your family and friends. That might be the best part of Sunday. I’ll have some book news for you guys soon, but for now, I just wanted to tell you about one of the things that I think about when I’m not writing. Maybe next time I should talk about music. Thanks for reading, guys.