The Sporting Life

On the weekend Peter and I, like many households, watched the Super Bowl game. We invited friends to join us, friends Peter has known for over 40 years. He has spent many special Sundays watching the Super Bowl with them.

Sporting events like this are held around the world. Who has not sat down occasionally to check out events at the Olympics televised from China, Vancouver, Paris, even Russia? Maybe you are a summer sports fan and enjoy watching swimming or track and field. Or you dream of mountains of snow and skiers racing up and over the moguls. Maybe you know a prticipant – like us, cheering for Rosie Maclennan a few years ago as she bounced and somersaulted and won gold for Canada, on the trampoline.

Some of these events take place right here in Toronto. Although we have to look pretty far back in history to find the Maple Leafs in any playoff activity, we remember a few other highlights. In the early 1970’s we cheered for the Blue Jays as they won the World Series 2 years in a row. And who will ever forget the Raptors and Kawai Leonard as they took us to the top of the NBA? Our city, in fact our entire country, was behind that Toronto team.

Our Super Bowl evenings with our friends are pretty traditional: our friends come before 6:00 pm to get settled and begin snacking on appetizers. The men discuss the upcoming game, and the women fill each other in on family news. During the game, everyone hopes for a glimpse of the million-dollar ads. Then it’s half-time and we watch the show while trying not to spill chili on our laps.

This year there were some extra highlights.The half-time show featured Usher, an R and B artist with a large back-up group. But the real celebrity was in the audience. Taylor Swift, in case you have been napping for the last several months, is the celebrity of the year, maybe even the decade. She has a lot of talent, writes and sings her own songs, and creates many of her own dance routines. Her shows are filled with movement, light and sparkle. Although the cameramen were told to focus on the game, they, (obviously “Swifties,”) couldn’t help sneaking glances at Taylor as she cheered for her boyfriend, number 87 on the field.

Our celebration was a little more low-key, with no celebrities. But we did have a couple of costumes to add to the excitement. You can see them in the photo:

And we had another highlight – betting. Peter created a pool where guests paid a toonie for each quarter of the game. Each person picked a small slip of paper on whch was written the name of one of the teams and a total score. At the end of each quarter, one better would win the entire pot – $12, minus the original bet of $2. Really only $10. Now we all know that $10 won’t even buy you a burger and fries at Harvey’s unless you have a coupon. But these betters went crazy, abandoning their drinks, eyes focused on the screen, even changing their original loyalties:

“Well I really want San Fransicso to win, but now Kansas City is worth $10 so Go Chiefs Go!!”

This group will be impossible to handle when the FIFA World Cup comes to Toronto for 6 games in 2026.

Sue