Somebody versus somebody else in the what's it called bowl

Previously published in The Berkshire Eagle, January 31, 2008


Super Bowl -- so what?

Yes, they're out there, lurking among you: The furtive, clueless few
who don't know when the game starts, don't know who's playing, and,
perhaps worst of all, just don't care.

Take, for example, Marylou MacDowell, 57, of Pittsfield, who "never
not ever" cared about the Super Bowl, and who said that sports were
only on her radar when she personally knew one of the athletes who
was taking part in an event.

"I find [professional sports] really, really boring and repetitive,"
MacDowell said. "They keep playing the same game."

Could MacDowell at least name the teams playing in Sunday's epic
battle?

"Yes," she replied. "The Patriots and someone from New York." That
would be the Giants, who actually play their home games in New
Jersey.

In previous years, MacDowell was known to hold an "Un-Super Bowl"
party in her home on the night of the big game, and instead of wings,
beer, and several couch-loads of rowdy acquaintances, MacDowell had a
formal sit-down dinner for six of her closest friends.

And the Un-Super Bowl television entertainment? Well, it wasn't men
in helmets and spandex. After an elegant meal, MacDowell and her
guests watched "un-footbally" schlock films. The only rule? The
movies had to be about men who cross-dressed, or made by men who
cross-dressed.

"We went through all of Ed Wood's films," MacDowell said, referring
to the angora and pearls-wearing, grade-Z movie director. "We also
saw 'Lobster Man From Mars,' stuff like that."

Matt Rock, a 44-year-old landscaper from the town of Washington, said
he'll buck the trend Sunday and will watch "Modern Marvels," his
favorite show on The History Channel.

"I've watched one game since the strike," Rock said, referring to the
NFL players' strike of 1987.

Why has it been that long?

"[The players] are way overpaid now," he said. "I'd rather watch a
nonprofit sport, where their hearts are into it. Football is a big
industry now."

A long-standing resentment of the Super Bowl is just one reason why
Rachel Purcell, 47, of Ashley Falls won't be tuning in.

"The Super Bowl always delayed my favorite [television] shows," she
said.

Purcell, the manager of Crystal Essence, a holistic gift store on
Railroad Street in Great Barrington, noted that the game might mean
more to her if it solved world problems -- "maybe if the United
States and Iraq were the two teams," she mused.

Purcell's co-worker, Kate Mulligan, 33, was perplexed about the
actual date of the Super Bowl.

"Didn't the Patriots already win?" she asked. "Or is it coming up?"

When told that the game is Sunday, Mulligan shrugged and grinned. "I
love watching guys watch football. It's tribal."

She also said she would be more likely to be excited by the Super
Bowl if she actually attended the game.

So if someone offered Mulligan two tickets to Sunday's game in
Arizona would she go?

"No, I'd sell them and pay my mortgage," she replied.