Congratulations to the Patriots on an incredible feat! It was one of the most boring and uninspiring games, but in the end, what matters is the score.

For me, this is Superbowl XL. The first superbowl I saw was in January of 1979, barely 5 months after I arrived in this country. As a young man thousands of miles away from home, deeply homesick, I needed distractions and sports provided that.  Just like the millions of young Indian men, I was a devoted fan of cricket at that time (and continue to be). Only issue was that cricket was not as abundant as it is today. And it was played all around the world in odd timezones. We used to be glued to short wave radios for commentary and read the newspapers for additional details and photographs. I come to the US where cricket was only known as an insect at that time and not as a sport!

I used to go every day to Indian Embassy, some 6 blocks away from Hunter College with the hope that they had “The Hindu” newspaper. This is a regional newspaper that covered Tamil Naddu, where I am from, and I enjoyed their Sports coverage. The Embassy typically had newspapers from approximately a week prior and The Hindu was not their priority because it is a regional newspaper. Imagine getting scores a week later and sometime missing a key day! It was depressing.

So, i gave in to learning about American sports. My apartment mate tried to teach me football by having me watch both College Football and Pro football on the tiny 13 inch black & white TV.  It is enough to say that he was much better at teaching me theoretical chemistry than football. I became friends with another Indian family in the neighborhood and that is where I learned the intricacies of the game.

By the time Superbowl XIII was played in January of 1979, I was pretty ready. I did not understand anything about the half time show and couldn’t wait for the game to get started! But I liked the commercials. Terry Bradshaw and Roger Staubach, two terrific quarterbacks and all the hoopla around the event was mesmerizing to me. I was hooked and have stayed interested in football for forty years!

I vividly remember waiting for the Football season to arrive and getting ready to watch the games with my friends in Forest Hills, Queens, where we all lived. We enjoyed a lot of Indian snacks during the game that my friend’s wife and his mother made for us. Monday Night Football was another thing we watched regularly, or more accurately, listened to. My friend’s wife needed to be dropped off for her night duty in Downstate Medical in Brooklyn, so I went with my friend and we would listen to the NY radio station that broadcast it. I am pretty sure  that it was 880 AM at that time, but I could be wrong. My friend and I would discuss, argue and get all excited about the plays, especially about some of the long passes by Bradshaw.

One of the Monday Night Football announcers those days was Howard Cosell. He used to live near Hunter College and picked up bagel from a deli on Lexington Avenue where I also picked up a bagel and coffee some mornings. So, I claimed some connection with him 🙂 I know that there are varied opinions about him, however, in my opinion he tried very hard to make even the worst football games interesting. One Monday Night Football game I will never forget is the one where he announced the death of John Lennon.

Over a period I warmed up to the half time shows and the commercials. The whole “Steel Curtain“, “Mean Joe Green” of the 80’s and the famous Coke commercial  will stick with me forever.

I watched both the Giants and the Jets (one had no choice being in NY), perennial losers in the early 80’s. Sometimes, I would watch Monday night games until the finish, hoping for miracles that never happened. I continued my allegiance to the Giants even after moving to CT, but then moved to being a Patriots fan. We live in Central CT right around the line where allegiances to NY/Boston teams shift 🙂 One of my kids is a Patriots fan but the other remains a Colts fan for reasons I still do not know!

In the ’80s and the ’90s, I was a very intense fan. I would get deeply upset and angry over my team’s losses. I would exhibit behaviors that my friends had no idea that I possessed – kneeling down on the floor, screaming, hitting the ground with both my hands and such. I am sure that this is very common amongst all the sports fans, just that some of my friends could not picture me ever doing that! Over the years I have mellowed down.

Even today, I strongly believe that I contribute remotely to the success of the teams and players I like and support. I try to sit still in one location to see if that is helping my team, or wear particular pieces of clothing etc. Once the Indian team was doing well when I was not watching, so I hid from the TV, in the bathroom! And they won…. Spurious correlations, but yesterday, I switched my clothing and moved to a new location in our living room and the Patriots scored their touchdown.

The technology in football has made incredible strides over the past 40 years. The quality of cameras, the use of replay to determine outcomes, the use of headphones to send signals, the alleged use of technology to steal opponent’s information etc. etc. There is absolutely no escaping today after committing an illegal play. There are umpteen “eyes” on you. And the fact that everything is instantaneous, even cricket matches (no need to wait even for a second!) is great. In the process, we have lost some fun and agony resulting from human judgement and errors!

Before I let this go too far, I want to wrap up by saying what an incredible feat that the Patriots have accomplished! I know that it is all a team effort and life is not fair and that the credit always goes to the top. But, Belichick and Brady have been constant throughout and deserve tremendous credit. Such long term relationship in high pressure jobs are hard to come by. You name it, they have broken all records, including perhaps topping the list of most boring Superbowls.

Just like I like to claim that I have a connection to Howard Cosell (I choose to say this carefully in company!), I do have a connection with Belichick. He is a Wesleyan graduate! As you might know, he often credits what he learned at Wesleyan   for helping him in his current coaching. Though I did not overlap with him, there is a connection 🙂

OK, enough. I need to go get my medium hot coffee at Dunkin Donuts for $1!