I really hate football. I just don’t see the attraction. In baseball, which I adore, there is finesse, strategy and gentlemanly-ness (mostly – certainly there are exceptions and Barry Bonds and A-Rod should be banned from baseball for life, but that’s another blog…) . To me, football is just sweaty, over muscled prima donas trying to hurt each other. When I watch football I am often impressed with the thought of how badly those guys must smell.
That said, I will be watching the Super Bowl today. It’s not the game, but spending time with dear friends and my husband, laughing and yelling and eating good food. I’ll admit I like the commercials. I think Peyton Manning is a bit endearing. I will probably find something else to do during half-time. Reports are the Beyonce will be singing her new song, one that advocates hating the police – not interested, thanks.
I did a little research this morning that astounds me. Tickets for the game on StubHub start at $2,995. Don’t even begin to think about the scalper’s charges! Add a parking pass for $85. A special tailgate party with Guy Fieri would cost you another $700. Advertisers are paying somewhere in the vicinity of $5 million dollars for a 30-second ad, not counting the costs of production. Forbes estimates that advertising revenue alone will be somewhere around $400 million dollars.
Yikes. What real good could we do with that kind of money? I think about the waste and the ego and the quest for entertainment and fun. I think about our priorities as a culture and I am ashamed.
