Look at the tight end on that one

For years, the Super Bowl for me has always meant one thing: an excuse to eat tons of junk food and audibly judge commercials without getting weird looks from people. In fact, on a copy editing test for an internship in college, one of the only current affairs questions I missed was which team had won the previous year's championship. (Don't worry, I got the Beyonce and Ryan Seacrest questions no problem).

But this year, I'm taking a new approach. Mainly because if my students are going to be arguing for 3 months at a time about football, I'd like to at least know how to cleverly interject to get them on task. A couple weeks ago, I ended up watching almost every division semi-final playoff game. (Granted, I was sick as a dog and immobilized on a couch in Atlanta, but what can you do.)

I watched the "beloved" Ravens go down hard to the Colts, while finally learning the name of the Baltimore quarterback. The Saints slaughtered Arizona, and I even got to educate the boys when they asked "who is the random chick jumping around in the private box?" Silly boys, anyone knows Kim and Reggie are back together. At least anyone who overdoses on E! reality shows.

It's a nice feeling to be connected to the one sport I've never really gotten jazzed about. My house was never one of the "but the game's on, honey" kind of Saturdays, so I didn't even really know how the game was played until college, when I had the "privilege" of living with a college football fanatic and also dating one. I even voluntarily watched Ohio State games this fall, including the Rose Bowl.

And even though my favorite cheer is still "just sit on him!" I feel like I can actually make educated comments about good/bad plays, the level of suckiness for a given quarterback, and mock a kicker for losing the game. Good going, Nate Kaeding.

So next Sunday, I'm bringing my A-game. Just make sure there's some nachos and terrible Doritos commericals, too.