{"id":1311,"date":"2014-01-29T18:29:27","date_gmt":"2014-01-29T23:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1311"},"modified":"2014-01-29T18:58:23","modified_gmt":"2014-01-29T23:58:23","slug":"poem-super-bowl-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/29\/poem-super-bowl-sunday\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: Super Bowl Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Super Bowl Sunday<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Guess what I herd<\/span>
\nIt’s Super Bowl\u2122 Sabbath<\/span>
\nQuite coincidentally on Sunday<\/span>
\nAnd I’m not sure who’s playing who<\/span>
\nPerhaps the Cowboys and Indians<\/span>
\nOr the Lions and the Christians<\/span>
\nThe eternal argument weather<\/span>
\nIts just<\/span>
\nA little gamey<\/span>
\nOr THE GAME<\/span>
\nEither weigh<\/span>
\nTeeming<\/span>
\nIt’s all-American<\/span>
\nOnly more so<\/span>
\nUnlike baseball<\/span>
\nHear the greatest fans<\/span>
\nAre on the bench<\/span>
\nCouching their devotion<\/span>
\nIn hyperbole<\/span>
\nStill<\/span>
\nEver hoping that<\/span>
\nThe game<\/span>
\nIs more interesting<\/span>
\nThan the commercials<\/span>
\nPraying for a comeback<\/span>
\nIf only we can just stop ’em!<\/span>
\nThe incessant commentary of the retired<\/span>
\nMature men<\/span>
\nAlternatingly offensive and defensive<\/span>
\nOnly sew I’m tolled<\/span>
\nAnd sow I will<\/span>
\nEndless possibilities<\/span>
\nEach with much deeper rootings<\/span><\/p>\n

As you might have guessed by this poem, I’m not much of a sports fan.\u00a0 I don’t necessarily have an inherent problem with sports.\u00a0 I do see sports obsessions as a big part of the playbook to distract people from the real issues in their life.\u00a0 As some mild catharsis, this may be fine.\u00a0 Nonetheless, I suspect that for the millions of Americans who spend time following sports second only to work, this probably doesn’t represent a healthy balance in life. Of course, if people are actually playing sports, I find this much more worthwhile. Unfortunately, we have bred a spectating American culture more than a participatory one. Western civilization may not be able to stand (and may have to settle for sitting on the couch) without living vicariously through celebrities.\u00a0 I suspect that if alien anthropologists visited America, they would likely conclude that sports and\/or making money were the leading religions, outdistancing traditional faiths.<\/p>\n

I don’t think that it is an accident that one of the most violent American sports, football, is among the most hotly contested among its fans.\u00a0 This strikes me as not too far removed from fomenting patriotism in the run up to war when Team America is scheduled to go up against loathsome Team Anybody Else.\u00a0 Competition is one thing; world domination is another.\u00a0 For instance, has anyone else wondered why the World<\/em> Series in baseball only includes U.S.!\u00a0 Such blind arrogance and American exceptionalism makes the world a more dangerous place to live.<\/p>\n

I do love rooting for underdogs, so you can reliably guess which team I’d root for, even if I’m not even aware of the game. So, whether it’s Team Tweedle Dee or Team Tweedle Dumb, you may just find me silently somewhere else…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Super Bowl Sunday Guess what I herd It’s Super Bowl\u2122 Sabbath Quite coincidentally on Sunday And I’m not sure who’s playing who Perhaps the Cowboys and Indians Or the Lions and the Christians The eternal argument weather Its just A … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174,9,15],"tags":[563,546,403,400,25,166,533,516,534,633,432,359,273,66,201,658,94,83,525,535,529,203,85,380],"class_list":["post-1311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-america","tag-argument","tag-arrogance","tag-balance","tag-christian","tag-commercial","tag-competition","tag-culture","tag-domination","tag-exceptionalism","tag-faith","tag-life","tag-love","tag-money","tag-patriotism","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-religion","tag-sabbath","tag-sports","tag-time","tag-war","tag-western-civilization","tag-work"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: Super Bowl Sunday | News, Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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