It is an annual event, the Super Bowl.
Is it on the tv... Yes
Do we watch it... No
It is a social event, friends stop by, we have hot wings and cold beer and when there is an amazing play we look and then go back to talking, eating and drinking. That is what we would rather do just have fun and the game being on is just a reason to get together, it is the friendship.
No Max,
I have not tried to do any of those things. Plus I am sure a books worth of other sports tasks that I have not tried, nor ever plan to try.
I'm sure that most athletes get pleasure from their accomplishments. And I am sure it helps their ego that others like to watch them do it.
I have no issue that people seam to enjoy being spectators to the feats of others.
The world would be a very sad place if we all enjoyed the same things to the same level.
What I desire to know and understand is why is sports such a big deal?
What is it about bowl games, March Madness, and all the other sports matches that makes fans act so crazy?
Looking at this from another perspective, if you or I knew and understood why sports captivates and motivates people, perhaps we could use that insight to boost the causes we support.
Chas
When I was a kid, football was fun to watch. (we were in Dallas, and Cowboys were pretty good, plus we had no baseball team)
but to really enjoy it, you apparently need to browse to dolphinstatium.com
George_ou just noted that it was hacked and the main page pulls spyware via a javascript line onto your system (if unpatched)! Wow, now that's exciting!
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/Ou/?p=421
Yeah. The NASCAR driver isn't watching the stands as s/he drives past. There are more important things to watch, like the other cars on the track 3 inches from their own car's bumper.
I enjoy watching many sports, including auto racing. I can't see getting upset about any of it. My nerves and stomach and colon don't deserve the abuse. 
"When you see people getting really upset over a stupid game that they didn't even play in ... "
I've been to races and watched people wait for a particular driver to come by so they can give him the finger (here's the kicker) EVERY LAP. They spend a minimum of $75 to spend all afternoon looking for somebody they supposedly dislike to flip him a bird he can't see anyway.
You pick a team, you read the stats, you talk about it with friends, even do a little snickering with them if they don't agree with you. All that is the build up to the emotion of the game.
Its the same with the media. They like to make a big deal out of the super bowl because it helps to build up emotional interest for it. And emotional interest is the most captivating kind of interest out there. The one that will keep you watching, then one that will keep you interested. So the more they build up the interest, the more they have your attention. The more they have your attention, the more money they can make during the game.
Bar owners spend thousands of dollars preparing for the super bowl parties because they know that, if the emotion is high, and people have a good time, they will spend money. If they really have a good time, they might come back when there is a regular game on. It's all about having a good time.
I like it specifically because i have a good time at it. I cheer for the Colts this weekend because i like their quarterback. But you know what, i will still have a good time if the Bears win. Because i like it when the underdog comes through in the end. It's all about emotion.
If you don't surrender to the emotional charge of the hype, then it's just another sporting event for you and you will definitely not get it. If you don't understand the sport, you cannot tell if you like it or not, if you don't like it, you won't understand why other people do. It's life.
Other than expecting da Bears to put up 24 points. Try 17.
Disclaimer: I didn't participate in sports as a child, other than one season of T-ball. Scared of the ball, didn't like to be cold / wet / hit, too short / small, whatever. Pick your wimpy reason and it probably applied. I also hate to practice anything.
About twelve years ago a couple of friends invited me to a stock car race. I had nothing better to do, the weather was nice, the beer was cold, the ticket was free; I figured, what the heck?
When three cars came bouncing off each other side-by-side, out of last turn after 200 miles, and finished with less than ten feet between the nose of the first and the nose of the third, I understood why people watch cars going round in circles (ovals, rectangles, triangles, assorted squiggles, etc.).
Do I claim it's a sport? Yes. There is a defined objective and scoring system, unlike gymnastics, figure skating, or other judged events. Do I claim drivers are atheletes? Well, we could debate that one. While most drivers aren't as fit condition as gymnasts or figure skaters (excluding Mark Martin), many are in better shape than most golfers and some baseball players.
Why do I watch? Like most sports, once you start learning the subtleties, there's a lot more going on that it initially looks like. Strategy (Pit now or later?Drive fast now to gain ground, or take it easy on the equipment and mount a charge toward the end?); tactics (do I have enough distance to pass before the next turn? If I wait, will I get trapped behind slower cars and not have room to pass? Change four tires for better grip or two for a faster pit stop?); and lots of action.
No, I'm not there to see a crash. I'm there to see drivers hanging as far out over the edge as they possibly can -without- crashing.
Auto races are one of those sports that are better at the event than on TV. (Hockey's also better live; that puck tracker on the tube just doesn't cut it.) TV concentrates on the front four or five cars. If they're separated by a lot of distance, TV stays with them anyway and often ignores the action further back in the pack. At the track, I can ignore the front runners and look for action elsewhere on the track. There may be five cars racing in a close pack for 27th place, but they're racing just as hard (or harder) as the guys up front, and more entertaining.
It's also the only major sport where you can listen in to the team communications. Imagine a football game where you can hear each side's head coach, quarterback, and offensive and defensive coordinators talking to each other during the game. That's what its like listening to the crew chief in the pits, the driver, and the driver's spotter. (The spotter is a guy with binoculars and a radio on top of a tower who tells the driver what's going on around the track. Each car has a spotter.) Listening to them lets you know how each team thinks it's doing, what it's going to do next, and (most entertaining) what they think of the other teams.
Try your local track one Saturday night. Most of them are under $15 U.S. and will allow you to bring your own coolers. (Another advantage over other spectator sports: bring your own food and drink if you wish. Try that at the football game.) Don't forget your ear plugs.
Edited: It's one of the few professional sports you can try for yourself at the same venue as the pros with the same level of equipment. You'll never throw a fast ball at Yankee Stadium or putt for par at Augusta National. You can plunk down $100 clams at most major tracks and ride shotgun while mid-level drivers run laps at pro speeds, or you can drop $200 and drive several laps yourself as fast as you dare in equipment identical to what's used at the top levels.
Now I find football moves to slow for me, especially at the stadium. (American football, that is.) Play stops every time possession changes because of the TV-mandated timeouts. Baseball was always too slow for me. (How can a country that claims baseball is its national pastime complain that international football ("soccer") is boring?) Basketball suffers from the constant stops for fouls during the last five minutes of play / thirty minutes of real world time. It theoretically possible for an automobile race to be run without a single stop in the action, and it happens every couple of years.
.....getting tackled by his opponent's burly linebacker (or caddy)!
mph fast ball. Thought I was was going to **** my pants.
Football, You Bet
I honestly want to understand why people get so worked up about watching sports in general, and the Superbowl in particular.
I can accept that some people find sports to be entertaining, and I do not wish to detract from their enjoyment of the event. I just want to understand why people get so excited about what someone else did.
Aside from those who gamble on the outcome, what impact does who wins ANY sporting event have on the lives of those who watch?
Why do people spend so much time talking about what a team or player did in a game?
I freely admit, that if I watch any sporting event, the result is the same, I fall asleep. But football seems to put me to sleep the fastest.
As a side activity, in another thread, I posted some things I would prefer watching football too, and other things that I would rather do than watch football.
I would prefer to watch a football game than have a root canal.
However, I find watching paint dry much more interesting and fun than a football game.
Having a colonoscopy was more fun than watching football.
What are some of the things you would rather do than watch a football game?
Chas