It is Superbowl time again. My mom's birthday is the same day, so the family is having a huge Superbowl birthday party. Given the teams participating this year, I hope for a good game. Since we can't go to the party, I'm making chili to go with the Bountiful Baskets hostess pack I ordered. (Super Hostess Pack - Are you ready to get your snack on? Corn tortilla chips ready to bake or fry. Veggie tray fixings: hoping for carrot, grape tomato, green onion,jicama, mushroom, snap peas. Guacamole and Salsa fixings: hoping for avocado, cilantro, garlic, green onion, lemon or lime, jalapeno, tomato, yellow onion. ! ) I'm excited to see what I actually get so I can plan menus for next week.
For quite a few years, I didn't get to see very much of the Superbowl. I was working at ISMC-the Intel Sales and Marketing Conference. I was part of the Information Technology group supporting the event. In my case, that meant upgrading software on computers, configuring computers, explaining new features and new options. For at least a couple of years, the first night of ISMC coincided with the Superbowl. I got to see a few minutes of football and one or two of the lauded commercials. Many years earlier, my daughter's piano teacher always had a recital on Superbowl Sunday. We were usually home by the time the game started.
The Romans created spectacles to keep the populace entertained. Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern, and European rulers did as well. From archaeological findings, we suspect that most civilizations have hosted events, whether religious or secular, to entertain, educate, and/or engage the populace. In our day, the Superbowl; cricket, soccer, or rugby world cup; Olympics; Majors in tennis and golf; NCAA basketball final four; MLB world series and other sporting events constitute a similar spectacle. Great Britain also has royal weddings that fit into this mix. In older times, we had to be present to participate. Now we can do so comfortably from our couch watching on our tv. We can watch on our mobile device wherever we are. We can watch things in almost every country on earth. These spectacles create a sense of community.
For most of civilization, community was the place where you lived. You knew your neighbors and participated in community events together. This is one reason for public executions. It helped preserve the sense of community (knitting at the guillotine, anyone?). Some of that community activity still exists. Here in Prescott, there are many community activities: Acker music scholarship night (my video blog about that), holiday lighting at the courthouse (another video blog), Christmas and Veteran's day parades, the rodeo, etc. For people who liver in smaller towns, the community in the older sense of the word still exists.
Do you watch Downton Abbey? Did you watch The Lizzie Bennet Diaries? Do you read Jane Austen fanfiction? These are things I enjoy-and all of them have communities associated with them. Most of this community is virtual, although many of the fans met the actors for Lizzie Bennet at Comic-Con. The Lizzie Bennet communities had Google hangouts where people could talk to the actors and ask questions. In all of the communities, people share with one another, comment, critique, praise, analyze, and discuss as if they were face to face. The Internet has created this ability to have true virtual communities.
Online gamers have virtual communities where they actually talk to one another as they participate in the game. They still don't generally meet face to face although there are venues for that. They talk through specific voice networks they've created as part of the game.
What has all this to do with the Superbowl? With its viewership, the Superbowl is surely one of the larger communities around. It is one of the true modern day mega-spectacles. Millions watch-some for the game, some for the half time show, some for the new commercials, some for the food at the parties. Lots of betting takes place. There are parties all over the United States. More than many other things in the US, the Superbowl is a shared event, creating a community if only for one evening (and the Monday morning quarterbacking afterwards). We're not attending a party-it will just be the two of us, the golf pro and me. However, we will be watching the game, cheering, eating, and critiquing the new commercials and play calling along with most of the rest of the US. We get to participate in this nationwide community event. And that is fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment