Article by Chasity Fernandes, May 22, 2016<\/p>\n
This Super Bowl crept up on me. Between work, school, and helping out at home, I was unaware about the big kick off until a week or so before the game.<\/p>\n
I work for Food Plus in Flushing, Queens, or rather \u2018Foo Plus\u2019 as the sign outside reads since the D fell off years ago. The store began setting up festive sales and handing out football themed flyers. Customers with massive amounts of soda, chips, assorted dips, hot dogs, and paper products crowded the register lines. Also piling up were assignments for my three media classes, all asking for a report on the Super Bowl and those punctuated my realization that the most American viewed sporting event was upon me.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not much of a sports fan. Aside from watching professional boxing matches on TV (that include boxers like Pacqiauo,<\/a> Mayweather,<\/a> or Cotto,<\/a> to name a few) or maybe a NBA joust on a good day, I don\u2019t have the patience to sit through a contest. Let alone only watching it on TV. Attending real games allows for more\u00a0interactivety.<\/p>\n I grew up on boxing. There isn\u2019t a single person in my family who won\u2019t attend a family member\u2019s party for a major boxing event, and not a single person who isn\u2019t knowledgeable on the sport.<\/a><\/p>\n Basketball, however, I can say I don’t know as much about but enough to watch important and exciting games, though I have to tolerate\u00a0my boyfriend boring me to death with details and facts like the Knick\u2019s stats<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, Super Bowl parties<\/a>\u00a0can be a lot like other sport parties where people eat an excessive amount of junk food and gather around a huge TV set. This form of sport viewing I actually do enjoy since it\u2019s more exciting and easy to follow as 15 relatives collectively cheer (and boo) as attractive men, in this case in tight pants, run around.<\/p>\n I was actually excited about being\u00a0seduced\u00a0to pay close attention to what was going on. I believed it wouldn\u2019t hurt to actually learn about the game for once.\u00a0Yet,\u00a0Sunday, February 6, when it actually rolled around, I was surprised. I had worked the entire weekend because neighbors and residents went crazy buying snacks and drinks in preparation. Food Plus had a shortage of chips and soda by the end of the evening.<\/p>\n By the time I was finally off the clock that evening, a whole half hour after the game had begun, mind you, I could barely keep my eyes open. It\u2019s safe to say I can\u2019t recall a single big play or touchdown except the celebration at the end when the\u00a0Bronco\u2019s won, and of course, the halftime show, which had a controversial theme this year.<\/p>\n With Coldplay advocating for gay rights<\/a> with its colorful performance and Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s performance addressing the Black Lives Matter movement, lets just say I thought a lot of White America would be none too pleased with the halftime show this year.<\/p>\n After the game, I had finally regained enough consciousness to interview a couple of the people \u2013 for the assignments, of course \u2013 who had gathered in my house to watch along with my parents. The collective responses were similar. The game was boring. Louis Montenegro, 36, an elevator mechanic from Queens, said, \u201cIt was clear by the end that the Panthers let Broncos win so that Peyton Manning could retire with that one last victory.\u201d<\/p>\n That was a shared sentiment. A real cause for attention, however, was Beyonc\u00e9. Not only did she perform Formation<\/a>, which many believed to be a political statement on the \u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d movement, but her background dancers dressed as Black Panthers, a radical black political organization in the 1960s that fought for black rights. I was shocked because many pop culture and media artists usually avoid addressing social issues like race and racism because they could lead to bigger problems for them down the line.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nWORD Classifieds<\/a><\/h2>\n