“Watching” Sunday’s big game

Watching a sporting event with my entire family is an extremely uncommon occurrence. Typically, only my dad and I really have any true interest in what is going on with your average college or professional sports broadcast, though occasionally someone else will join us in front of the television. But to have everyone gathered for a single sporting event...I don’t even think I can remember the last time that such a thing happened.

But this past weekend had us all in my parents’ living room, all together to take in the big game. The scene itself is one that, perhaps because of its rarity, I find somewhat humorous.

My dad is, for the most part, actually watching what is going on, which is more than what can be said for most of us. The remote sits nearby in case he needs to rewind anything, which happens with some frequency during a typical game. Perhaps because he has no horse in the race, not particularly liking the Eagles nor the Chiefs, the rewind feature stays relatively unused, although a few outbursts of disbelief are still lobbied at the TV from time to time.

My mom and grandparents float between playing with my niece and somewhat keeping track of what is going on. Normally, sleep would take over at some point, but I think there was too much going on for that. Not that it didn’t stop Mikaela from trying. Unfortunately for her, my nephew had other ideas, such as utilizing her as a jungle gym. Meanwhile, probably much to the chagrin of everyone else, my brothers and I make nonsensical commentary over the game, rendering Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olson’s words almost unheard. Suggestions of fantastical plays and what conversations are being had by players on the field are shared, with reoccurring jokes and madeup storylines developing as the game progressed.

Watching the game with my brothers is especially entertaining in the fact that it is always fun to get their perspectives on what is going on in the game, as they come at it from the viewpoint of a non-fan. I found it particularly interesting when Jacob complained about how replays were slowing down the game, a comment made by many a more seasoned fan when it was first implemented. Or when the conversation turned to one particular call, it was noted that, even though he didn’t know much about football, he knew that was a bad call.

Regardless of how much of the game was or was not watched by everyone, it did give us all an excuse to get together for what would have been an otherwise normal Sunday, which was good enough for me.

A C ertain Point of V iew