Two things only the people anxiously desire — bread and circuses.
–Juvenal
Superbowl Sunday is upon us again. Millions of Americans that cannot be bothered to pay even slight attention to the activities of their government will passionately cheer for overpaid adults playing a child’s game. They will project loyalty and pride in the performance of these athletes, who nominally represent the cities of Chicago and Indianapolis. Through a complicated web of inflated rivalries, viewers that don’t hail from the midwest will root for or against one team or the other.
Or were you planning to watch it for the ads?
I am a fan of the ads myself. Apple is supposed to have an ad that may be for a new wide screen iPod and an announcement that the Beatles are coming to the iTunes store.
I’ve always wondered how many political dissidents are dealt with during the superbowl. It seems like it’d be a perfect time to send in the jackbooted hit squad, but then again, those guys probably are all busy watching the game.
And as for apple.. yeah they have a wide screen ipod. it’s called the iPhone. http://www.apple.com/iphone/ipod/
I’m pretty sure that political dissidents succumb to the siren spell of the market economy once they realize how much their tickets could scalp for.
Isn’t that one of John Wayne Gacy’s clown paintings?
I’m pretty sure it isn’t. Supposedly it’s from a restaurant in San Francisco, but mostly it’s just an interesting picture related to circuses.
Overpaid, over priced, over everything!
1920 = each franchise cost one hundred dollars.
1960 = each was worth approx. 2 million dollars.
1993 = each was worth about 140 million dollars.
Also in 1993, the NFL signed a five-network, four year television contract, totaling almost four and a half billion dollars.
I didn’t even bother watching it this year, for one thing, the pop culture that is built around it makes me want to puke, for another thing, although the thought watching people sweat bleed and slip in the mud is exciting, it is much more rewarding to actually go out with a young one to the park and play the game with them, that way everyone wins.
I had actually intended to take my nine year old nephew out to the park while the game was going on, but I had a series of highly unexpected and quite unfortunate events coincide with those plans so I found myself unable to afford the gas money to drive him to the park. 🙂 On the bright side I get to watch the nifty ads on youtube, for however long my internet connection will stay on.
Four an a half billion dollars… That’s a lot of beer and Doritos.