I think tomorrow is the Super Bowl. There are headlines on the news websites I look at. I see little blurbs about “Tom Brady” and “Goodell” and Kansas City. I wouldn’t recognize Tom Brady if I bumped into him at the grocery store. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I could pick out any professional football player if I came across one in my daily life. If I ever happened to win tickets to a Super Bowl game, I’d instantly be online trying to sell them. I’d pay money not to go to the Super Bowl. And that’s not just because of the coronavirus. I’ve always felt this way. Likewise, I declined an invitation to my good friend’s Super Bowl party this year.

I’m fortunate enough to be married to a man who feels the same as I do about the Super Bowl and football in general. For that, I’m so grateful. I hear of men who spend an entire Sunday in front of the TV watching football. On a pretty day! They could be out mowing the lawn, hanging out at the beach, hiking, cleaning the house, or reading a good book. But no, they’re sitting in front of a screen watching grown men run back and forth throwing a ball and tackling one another. I’d rather watch paint dry.

Even before my husband and I were married, when we were just friends or even dating, we’d go to our pastor’s house for his Super Bowl parties. The food was good, as was the fellowship. But we couldn’t get excited about the actual game. For one thing, I never understood the rules or what “the 40-yard line” means or what the quarterback’s job even is. It’s all so meaningless. I don’t know what people get out of watching it.

There was a time when I enjoyed watching college basketball quite a bit. Maybe because I used to love playing basketball. But even so, for the best games, I could just tune in for the last 10 minutes or so to get the gist of things. To spend an hour and a half watching a game seemed like too much of an investment. I think in general, the concept of watching someone else play a sport is kind of odd. We don’t watch other professionals, do we? I guess unless they’re actors.

I’d rather be in the game myself. Maybe the issue here is just that I don’t understand football. Typically, watching a beach volleyball game (which I spend about 3 minutes a year doing) or watching a grappling match or a basketball game, I’m inspired to play. It looks like fun. So I go and participate in my own capacity.

So tomorrow, to celebrate the Super Bowl, I’m going to go do yoga. I watched some jiu jitsu videos today in order to learn some techniques that I’ll practice tomorrow. I might lift weights tomorrow too – because after watching Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movies, I’m inspired to lift. I’ll take my dog for a walk because it’s good for us. It’s peaceful and the nature is inspiring. Seeing other people walk makes me want to walk. And my husband and I will walk together tomorrow too. We won’t watch the Super Bowl but we’ll tune in to Daniel Craig’s James Bond series for the 5^th time around – because watching him inspires us, too – to run, fight evil, dress well, travel, and to be fit. Oddly, watching football does none of these things. So, tomorrow I encourage you to watch what makes you want to be better / what inspires you – a pastor, the clouds, your children, your cat, the birds at the beach, dogs at a park, words on a page. If that’s football, so be it. I don’t mean to make you feel bad. But one thing’s for sure. I could recognize Kerri Walsh or Daniel Craig or Rener Gracie or Arnold Schwartzenegger or Lisa Scottoline – in the event I see them out and about doing their Super Bowl party shopping ;). ~