Superbowl Sunday XLVIII

Anyone else call this ‘Superbowl ex-el-vee-ei-ei-ei‘?

There are a few holidays that make me feel very American abroad, and where the two official holidays are Fourth of July and Thanksgiving, the one unofficial holiday is Superbowl Sunday. Though, I could strongly argue for a case to make it a day off, a bank holiday, because I’ve seen the lengths at which men and women abroad will go to watch the game. In fact, my Superbowls abroad might be celebrated with more ceremony than my Superbowls at home.

In China, we had two Superbowls; that’s two years where we watched football at 7am in the morning. The first year was my favorite, it was when the DiploMan and I hosted, playing a mediocre quality TV feed projected onto our pull-down screen, complemented by breakfast and Irish coffees. Our curtains were drawn for the occasion, and since our group of friends all took the day off from work we ended up spending the day indoors, curtains drawn the whole day, playing card games and watching ridiculous adult comedies.

The next year we decided to go out and watch the game, at a popular Irish pub in Guangzhou who fed us a big English Breakfast. Beers and Beans at 7am, yum.

This year, when I caught wind that the Superbowl would play between the hours of 2-6am, I thought surely no one would be crazy enough to watch the Superbowl. I figured a delayed feed it would be, that I would wake up to a Facebook feed of activity as I do every other morning.

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But no, I was wrong, and there was not just one, but two Superbowl parties here in Dar (and more that I’m sure I just wasn’t invited to). Never underestimate the determination of Americans! Only here in Dar, can I say that I’ve had a 2am rooftop viewing of the Superbowl. With one television playing a crispy clear version aired by AFN (Armed Forces Network), and another screen projecting the a low-quality Slingbox broadcast, important for us only for the occasional glance at commercials, I thought to myself, we sure as heck make for a compelling argument to declare Monday a day of rest.

Saturday Series / No. 16

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10’26’13 >> Oct 20, 2013, Simba vs. Yanga

The biggest football match of the year, the Dar Derby pits the city’s two hometown teams against each other: the Simbas and the Young Africans, better known as Yanga. Check out my friend Omar’s piece for a recap of what turned out to be a riveting match.

photo c/o diploman