2008 Woodie Awards
Super Bowl? In Italy? Not a chance
Matt Kiebus
Issue date: 2/5/08 Section: Sports
By Matt Kiebus
Columnist
ROME -- The Super Bowl has already been played; the NFL season is over. This frees up Sundays for men everywhere to spend quality time with girlfriends and significant others, and unfortunately, it no longer gives people a viable reason to drink at 1 p.m. The gridiron is left dormant for the next few months.
Here in Italy, the locals could care less. The only recognizable name in Phoenix, Ariz., last Sunday was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Italians love American music. They just have no clue what the lyrics mean.
At home, people of all shapes, colors and creeds got together to watch the one thing that binds (and perhaps defines) us as Americans -- The Super Bowl.
That is what I used to believe and hold dear: Most people in the United States take the Super Bowl more seriously than their respective church doctrines. "It is more than a game, it is an event," we are told.The pre-game analysis consists of all-hair and all-wardrobe teams. Stuart Scott's eye starts to bother you more than ever. Chris "Boomer" Berman is way too excited. The Fox crew is making fun of Terry Bradshaw's illiteracy. The CBS crew is mocking Shannon Sharpe's speech impediment. Tiki Barber is pouting.
And I'm missing it all, the wonderful pageantry that is the Super Bowl.
In Europe, and specifically in Italy, people know every American presidential candidate, from Clinton and Obama to Huckabee and McCain. However, no one could pick Tom Brady out of a lineup of one-legged dwarfs. Many people in Rome care about American politics more than Americans. Someone has to tell these Italians to get their priorities straight.
The quest for the Italian football fan in Rome was nothing more than a complete failure. Whenever I asked the question, "Who do you want to win the Super Bowl?" I received the same perplexed look, as if I asked if I could've kidnapped their daughter.
From the Metro to the bus system, from Italian teachers to pizzeria workers, the answers came back the same: "Who?" … "What?" … and the ever-popular, "Why?"
Columnist
ROME -- The Super Bowl has already been played; the NFL season is over. This frees up Sundays for men everywhere to spend quality time with girlfriends and significant others, and unfortunately, it no longer gives people a viable reason to drink at 1 p.m. The gridiron is left dormant for the next few months.
Here in Italy, the locals could care less. The only recognizable name in Phoenix, Ariz., last Sunday was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Italians love American music. They just have no clue what the lyrics mean.
At home, people of all shapes, colors and creeds got together to watch the one thing that binds (and perhaps defines) us as Americans -- The Super Bowl.
That is what I used to believe and hold dear: Most people in the United States take the Super Bowl more seriously than their respective church doctrines. "It is more than a game, it is an event," we are told.The pre-game analysis consists of all-hair and all-wardrobe teams. Stuart Scott's eye starts to bother you more than ever. Chris "Boomer" Berman is way too excited. The Fox crew is making fun of Terry Bradshaw's illiteracy. The CBS crew is mocking Shannon Sharpe's speech impediment. Tiki Barber is pouting.
And I'm missing it all, the wonderful pageantry that is the Super Bowl.
In Europe, and specifically in Italy, people know every American presidential candidate, from Clinton and Obama to Huckabee and McCain. However, no one could pick Tom Brady out of a lineup of one-legged dwarfs. Many people in Rome care about American politics more than Americans. Someone has to tell these Italians to get their priorities straight.
The quest for the Italian football fan in Rome was nothing more than a complete failure. Whenever I asked the question, "Who do you want to win the Super Bowl?" I received the same perplexed look, as if I asked if I could've kidnapped their daughter.
From the Metro to the bus system, from Italian teachers to pizzeria workers, the answers came back the same: "Who?" … "What?" … and the ever-popular, "Why?"
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