When people write about the Fall they often write of death and transition. Those things are certainly a part of Autumn’s spell, but it’s a also a time for new beginnings. The school year begins in the Fall, as does the return of non-rerun primetime television. We often elect new leaders during the Fall as well. While trees prepare for their winter slumber we human beings are often restarting our lives at this time of year. Fall has always been my favorite season, but the reasons for most favored status have changed over the years.
When I was young it was most definitely because of school. Summer is nice and all, but sometimes you just miss the friends you only get to see at school or at school functions. Back when Saturday Morning Cartoons were truly a thing*, I used to get excited about those too. Saturday mornings began with “The Super Friends” when I was six years old, and new episodes made those mornings that much better. As I’ve aged, school and cartoons don’t nearly matter so much, but Autumn still has a hold on me. Some of that’s because of Samhain, Thanksgiving, pumpkins, apple, and cider (all favorite things), but a lot of that is because of pro football.
During the fall I live, sleep, and breathe the NFL (National Football League). I wear my team colors (black and gold) with pride and I check Pro Football Talk dot com like some people check their email or Facebook accounts. I admit to being obsessed, and to the yearly abandonment of my wife to Football Widow status. I am fanatical about my love of all things football, and most of society wouldn’t see that as odd, but you very well might.
You have your religious symbols, I have mine.
There are about 350 million people living in the United States. Out of those 350 million, 60 million watch the NFL on any given weekend. That’s about 17% of the population. By week eight of the NFL season over 150 million Americans have watched at least a little bit of football. Those are staggering numbers, and nothing else on television compares. Watching football makes me rather normal in a lot of ways, except in Pagandom.
The most recent Super Bowl was played on February 5 of this year, a date very close to our own Imbolc. As a result there were a few Imbolc celebrations and gatherings that Sunday here in the Bay Area of Northern California. One of those was scheduled at exactly the same time as the Super Bowl. When I pointed this out to one of the organizers, her reaction was “Oh? So?” leaving me dumbfounded. Over 100 million people watch the Super Bowl every year, and no church is going to schedule a bake-sale for that afternoon, yet many Pagans are completely oblivious to it.
I’ve often wondered about the complete disconnect between many in the Pagan community and organized sports. I don’t think any less of someone because they don’t watch football, but I do find it annoying how often I feel judged by it. Pointing out that your ritual is happening during the Super Bowl should not make me the oddball, but it does. In almost any other setting our positions would most certainly be reversed. No one is going to plan the company outing during the Super Bowl (and in some areas you’d be hard pressed to schedule anything during football season, I’m looking at you Green Bay).
As August rolls along and my wife once more dons her football widow black, I have a lot of Pagan friends who try to turn her into some sort of sports martyr. She knew what she was getting into when we got married (and planned our wedding date around both college and pro football!), it’s not something that was absent from the contract. I assume that their teasing is meant to be good natured (as infuriating as I find it), but my spouse is not some sort of cosmic anomaly, there are many sports widows and widowers out there. I don’t make fun of my friends when their world stops for new episodes of Dr. Who, and no one calls them obsessed when they wear shirts with a tardis** on them. Somehow that fandom is perfectly acceptable to talk about at gatherings, but if I mention that Peyton Manning is now a Bronco I’m met with eye-rolls.
I received a little bit of blow back last week after posting my Eight American Sabbats piece, with one of my friends commenting: “A Sabbat is a holy day, not just a popular football game.” That’s certainly true in some respects. A Sabbat is technically a Contemporary Pagan Holiday, but I was using Sabbat as a synonym for “holiday” and in that context she was most definitely wrong, at least when it comes to me (and millions of other people). Super Bowl Sunday is not just a football game, it’s a whole day of festivities. It’s true that that we are all going to celebrate different “holidays” and have different perspectives on what constitutes one. To me, a holiday is a day that invokes a sense of excitement or wonder that is shared by a fair amount of other people. (That’s why my birthday or your anniversary isn’t a holiday.)
When I think about the Super Bowl in that sort of context it’s most certainly a holiday. I wake up like a kid at Christmas, excited and bouncy. It’s not a normal day. There are only three times a year where I speak to everyone in my family: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Super Bowl. I have friends over, I shout at the TV, and I eat copious amounts of junkfood and hot-wings (Super Bowl Sunday is the Thanksgiving of Doritos). I look more forward to the Super Bowl than I do any traditional Pagan Sabbat (I don’t wake up on a Mabon Tuesday with butterflies in my stomach), but that’s just me. The Super Bowl isn’t a holiday for everyone, even though it’s often celebrated with more participants and gusto than many traditional holidays.
While many Pagans think it’s weird that I watch football with such passion and devotion, I think it’s equally weird that more Pagans aren’t sports fans. As a community we are plugged into a lot of things: great music, technology, movies and pop culture, but that never translates to sports. A great football game is like a great ritual, lots of energy everywhere and the hairs on your arms standing up. I’m not saying football is magickal, but it does raise some power (even if it’s not directed anywhere usually). The air in my living room is thick during football season, just like it is at a Samhain ritual.
I don’t expect you or anyone else to be a football fan, I just wish people stopped seeing it as such an unusual thing. I’m not abnormal for watching football. It’s not completely out of the mainstream to pause your life every Sunday morning/afternoon to watch the action on the old gridiron. Football has been woven deeply into the fabric of our national culture (for better or for worse, take your pick). Watching my Steelers win Super Bowls five and six were some of the happiest moments of my life. Seeing Eli and the Giants knock of the Patriots twice were gifts from on high that keep on giving.
Don’t worry, this blog won’t be turning into sports central after the NFL kicks off tomorrow. My sports fandom and my Paganism don’t converge all that often, just don’t expect me to post on Sundays.
NFL Predictions 2012
Division Winners AFC: Patriots, Steelers, Broncos, Texans
Wild Cards AFC: Ravens, Bills
Division Winners NFC: Giants, Packers, 49’ers, Falcons
Wild Cards NFC: Bears, Lions
Super Bowl: Bears over Texans
*In all honesty, I still watch a few cartoons. New episodes of Young Justice can’t get here fast enough.
**I have never watched an episode of Dr. Who, but I hear it talked about so much that I know what a tardis is.
If you are still reading and want a good laugh, check out these instructions laid out before a Super Bowl Party back in 2006. Completely hilarious things are in italics.
__________
OK, here are the details for sunday’s Super Bowl Party.
I think this is the 8th time I’ve hosted a Super Bowl party, but this year’s party will be A LOT different. The major difference is that this game is really really really important to me as it features my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers, playing in their sixth Super Bowl, and first one in ten years. Because the Steelers are playing I’ll actually want to watch all of the game, but with the stereo hooked up to the TV and two TV’s going that shouldn’t be a problem.
Anyways, on with the details . . . .
*The game is scheduled to kick off a little bit after 6:00 pm. If you get to the house after kickoff you’ll have to use the backdoor so you don’t walk in front of the TV. You are welcome to come over as early as you want that day, if enough people show up we might have a Madden (video game football) 2006 tournament or something.
*I’ll be making chili for the game (as usual), but we won’t be providing any drinks, so bring some drinks for yourself. I’ll probably make a huge pot (urn) of coffee, because that’s what I drink during football games. Also, I’ll love you even more if you bring some junk food to share with everyone. We’ll have plates and cups for everyone.
*I don’t drink alcohol during football games, but I do drink lots of coffee. Don’t ask me if I want a shot, just let me do my thing.
*Seating will be limited, and the couch will be reserved for the two people other than me who sat there during the other playoff games. I’ll try to set up as many chairs as possible, but bringing pillows or folding chairs with you might be a good idea. I’m giving my couch seat to Lisa, as I’ll be pacing anyways. There will actually be an area taped off for me to pace in-stay out of it.
*Ari will be baking a Steeler cake.
*If anyone wants to wear Steeler gear, I will have some extra stuff people can wear, first come first serve (or first reserved . . .).
*In the event that the Steelers lose . . . .
Be nice to me, file out of the house quietly and don’t mention the game for a few days (or weeks).
*In the event that the Steelers win . . . .
I’ll play Mekong after the game and do a bunch of shots with anyone who is interested.
*Halftime . . . . . this year’s halftime show features the Rolling Stones. Ari will also be dancing at Moriarity’s, I won’t be hurt if you leave to watch her dance.
*I have a lot of silly superstitions, I know that they don’t really mean anything, but continue to humor me.
*Try not to point, laugh too hard, stare, etc., while I’m cheering on the Steelers.
*Seahawk fans are welcome, but don’t expect me to be very nice to you during the game.
*RSVP’s are REALLY helpful, that way I can make enough food and coffee and figure out the best places to put the TV(s) and chairs, etc. If you forget to RSVP, it’s cool, but it’d be nice if you did.
*Have fun, really, it’s just a game, I’m only staking my entire life on it.
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