FRI 30 JAN 2004
Football? … Who cares?
By Betsy DalessioArgonaut Staff
I hate football.
There, I said it, and although I might get disowned by my family (well, at least by my dad, a former college player) and I probably won’t be headed out on many dates with Vandal football players any time soon, it is true.ÊI hate football in general and the Super Bowl in particular.
Why do I hate football?ÊIt’s simple, really. It’s the sheer idiocy of paying a professional football player more money than the President of the United States, a top research scientist and our leading educators combined just to throw a ball, run up and down a field and kick that same ball through two postsÊso far apart that even I could do it.
And to make it worse, we Americans spend days sitting on our asses, drinking beer and getting irate when ‘your’ team loses. We worship professional athletes in our society, ignoring the true heroes — those people who work hard every day and truly make a difference.
At the risk of sounding anti-American, doesn’t it strike you as sort of pathetic that we have turned aÊfootball game into a national holiday? Think of it: an entire day devoted to the uniquely American pastime of eating chips and dip and downing beer.
Half of the people who watch the Super Bowl only watch for the commercials. That makes it even worse. Why waste a perfectly good Sunday afternoon on watching commercials. Why not read a book or get some exercise?
And don’t even get me started on the “Lingerie Bowl” that Dodge is sponsoring on pay-per-view at halftime. It features seven-on-seven tackle football with skimpily clad lingerie models. Talk about the objectification of women.ÊWhere, I ask, is the Speedo Bowl?ÊNow that might be a game worth watching.
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against football players. I enjoy tightÊbutts in spandex as much as the next girl, but how about a little parity?
It’s entertaining to me to hear the other side of the spectrum. My good-looking neighbor thinks my argument is a lost cause and that I am trying to ruin one of America’s greatest pastimes for women and men.
My own father told me I was crazy, that the Patriots will in fact win by seven points, and that football is the greatest thing since the gladiators competed in ancient Rome. One of my fellow sports writers claimed that the Super Bowl is the greatest thing ever, asking “When else can you drink beer on a Sunday and not feel guilty about it?”
It is a lost cause. No matter what, football will always dominate in this country. And it’s too bad, really. We waste a lot of good tax dollars on stadiums and such, when really we could be making cities safer for children and promoting education. But instead we promote running around like goons with pads on, knocking each other down, losing tempers, fighting and discriminating against women.
When the women’s basketball team at UI gets as much coverage, support and respect as the football team, maybe I’ll think different. But until then you won’t see me holed up on a La-Z-Boy, drinking beer and voting on my favorite all-time Super Bowl commercial.
Saturday
UI men’s basketball vs. UC Irvine, Cowan Spectrum, 7 p.m.; UI women’s tennis vs. University of Utah, Boise, 1 p.m.; UI track at Cougar Indoor, Pullman; Intramurals: men’s and women’s 3-point shootout entry deadline; Outdoor Program: Silver Mountain day trip, departs 6:30 a.m.; telemark instructional clinic at Silver Mountain.
Tuesday
UI men’s basketball vs. Idaho State, Cowan Spectrum, 7:05 p.m.
Wednesday
Intramurals: wallyball entry due.
Thursday
UI men’s basketball vs. UC Santa Barbara, Cowan Spectrum, 7:05 p.m.; Intramurals: singles table tennis entry due; Outdoor Program: snowboard instructional clinics class session, 7 p.m.
Note: Intramurals — Entries for team sports will open one week before entry deadline. For more information call Campus Recreation Office at 885-6381. Outdoor Program — For more information call office at 885-6810.
Sports calendar items must be submitted in writing or e-mailed to arg_sports@sub.uidaho.edu by Sunday or Wednesday before publication. Items must include a date, deadline or some other kind of time element.
UI Argonaut, 301 Student Union, Moscow, ID 83844
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