More than a game!

So, is it just ME, or do you, too, feel that certain events are often more than they appear to be?

Today is February 2, 2014; it's SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!

For the 48th time, the winning teams of the AFC (American Football Conference) and the NFC (National Football Conference)

will meet on a neutral grid-iron for 60 minutes of play - that will actually take more than 3 hours to complete.

American football is big!  It's big business, it has a big fan base, it earns big money and it attracts the biggest TV audience of the year - every year!

But, it's just a football game!!

Or, is it?

I'm a sports fan.  I was raised in a sports family.  I love it.

From where I sit, it's so much more than a football game...

When two opposing sides face each other, it is likely that we all take sides.  Bets are made as to who will be right about the outcome and by how much.  It's a sub culture with its own rules and everyone seems OK playing within those rules.  For a period of time, we agree to (politely) disagree.  We debate, pledge allegiance to a logo, a uniform worn by the team we started rooting for as children that today is worn by a  completely different group of warriors.

Advertisers are willing to pay kings' ransoms for a 30-second spot during the game; we view them with the same discerning eye as the game, itself.

No, this is not just a game.

It's as though we collectively take a time-out to refocus on something that, when said and done, really affects but a handful.

But, it is also a time when we find pleasure in an event that, despite having to choose a team, actually brings us together.

At 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, millions of us will be sitting in crowded living rooms,  eating the same food and drinking the same drinks.  We become a collective conscious, much as we will unite during the Olympics that begin just days from now. 

This CAN be so much more than a game.  It can be a template of life, itself:  it's natural to disagree and still share the experience, it's OK to walk away from that experience in second place; life goes on.  It's good to share time with family friends and even strangers for a purpose that serves us all.  It's OK.

Today is also what we in the United States call Ground Hog's Day. Based on the hope of an early Spring as opposed to 6 more weeks of hard winter weather, an over-sized rodent comes out of his hole-in-the-ground as on-lookers wait to see if he will see his shadow, or not. 

Scientific, don't you think?

Much like the outcome of today's football game, the Ground Hog in Pennsylvania and the Ground Hog on Long Island, New York disagree!  But that's OK, too.  It will be what it will be!  (Actually, though, I hope the Long Island verdict is correct - that's where I live!)

Friends, what can we learn from a football game?

We can learn that life always combines victories and defeats.

We can learn that healthy debate and unwavering loyalty are good things.

We can learn that it's never too late to be a winner.

We can learn to respect the opinions of others and still love them when they don't agree with ours.

And we can learn that it is possible to eat too many wings!   

So, IS it just me, or do you, too, agree life could be great if it were one big football game?  

Game on!