Well, another football season has come and went, and I mostly missed it. It's kind of sad, actually, as I enjoy watching football when I get the chance, especially if my favored Steelers are playing. Since ESPN/StarSports in Taiwan broadcast nary a game of the NFL, it's something I've been missing. I thought I might have my chance to catch some football action when the Superbowl rolled around, but even that wasn't carried by the local sports networks. Apparently, as I'd read on-line somewhere, too much money was spent on NY Yankees games to purchase the Superbowl broadcast rights. I guess it figures -- baseball is big in Taiwan to begin with, and as the Yankees have an 'ace' pitcher from Taiwan, Wang Chien Ming, nearly everyone here is a WangChienMing/Yankees fan. So, I thought my chances to see a football game this year were slim, but then I figured that there would have to be some place showing it in Taibei. After a quick look on-line, we made reservations at a place in the city offering a special breakfast buffet and a big-screen TV.
Yep, yep, Superbowl and breakfast. No chips and salsa or chicken wings and pretzels at
our Superbowl experience this year, but rather ham, eggs, and bottomless cups of coffee. Thanks to the 13-hour time difference, we had to get up at 530am to make our 630am reservations to watch the game at 7am. I am quite glad that YT is also a football fan as well, thanks in no small part to her living in Pittsburgh Steelers country, and that she wanted to go as much as I did. She also wanted a chance to wear her #43
Polamalu jersey, which she bought after the Steelers won the big one in the 2005 season.
I must admit, though, that I really wasn't confident that it would be worth the while. I don't really care much about either team, and like most every Superbowl (ok, except the Steelers in 2005), I don't really care that much who wins, I just want to see a good game. I must admit, though, I was rather predisposed to be against the Patriots. For one thing, they're sort of AFC
rivals with the Steelers, and so I just don't like them. Plus, this year the coaching staff of the Pats was caught cheating early in the season (video-taping the other team's signals --
Spygate), so another reason not to like them. Also, I'm not a big fan of football dynasties, and the Pats have won it three times since 2002, and back-to-back in '04&'05. I like to see things shaken up a bit from year to year, and another Pats win would be depressing. Plus, in case you didn't know, the Pats were going into the game undefeated, and were predicted to be the first NFL team to have a perfect 19-0 season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins. I had been a Dolphins fan (at least off and on) before I moved to Pittsburgh, so given my predispositions I wasn't too excited to see the Patriots break that record. The Giants were only the team standing in their way, and definitely had the underdog status. To be honest, I also didn't like Tom Brady's attitude in the pre-game interview, way too arrogant, so I had no problem going for the Giants. I really thought they had no chance, though, and I even told YT that I might switch to the Pats just so I wouldn't feel too disappointed at the end of the game.
But boy was I not disappointed -- it was easily the best Superbowl I have ever watched. Though the Giants clearly were more dominant, neither team could get a good hold on the game till the very end (see
here if you want a good recap), and I haven't been that emotionally involved in a sporting event for quite a while. I'm sure the mix of the crowd and the volume of the speakers added to the experience, too. The room seemed pretty evenly split between Giants and Pats fans, so there were always people cheering regardless of who had the ball. All commercial breaks were filled with trivia questions for prizes, too, so there weren't really ever any lulls in the entertainment. We were also sitting across from a couple of guys who were fun to talk to. They were pilots for UPS, and also didn't
really care who won, but were for the Giants. They also seemed to know their football trivia, and won two bottles of wine, 4 mixed drinks, and a couple of hats. I guessed correctly that Bernie Kozar held the record for the quarterback with the longest streak of incomplete passes. Ok, it was multiple choice, but still, I won something too. Yay.
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YT and I were literally jumping up and down after the play where, on the last drive with about 2
minutes to go,
Eli Manning broke the tackle and threw the pass to David Tyree for the first down. We were again literally jumping up and down after the touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress (a former Steeler) that won the the game for the Giants in the very last minute. Amazing. YT was even taking pictures of the TV screen. We were still excited even after we left, and had the whole rest of the day to think about it. It was such a great game. For the only game of the year to be able to watch, I'm glad that one was it. It was quite a memorable experience, and made up for all the other football I missed this year. Definitely worth getting up for.
So, that, and some shopping afterwards, was basically our morning out on the town. What a great time to have a bit of time off, too -- no classes this week due to Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year (according to the traditional lunar calendar). Yay! But, more on that later, perhaps, I have some sleep to catch up on.
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Wishing you all sweet dreams, and a happy lunar new year, BB
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we were either eating or playing Mahjong. As I understand it, those are basically the traditional activities of Chinese New Year, so I guess I got the appropriate dose of activities in my cultural immersion. We had a big dinner with the family (here), then another big dinner with Mom's side of the family (at an uncle's), then another big catered dinner with Dad's side of the family (here, in the garage). During the interim of shuttling back and forth and eating, we were here at home eating snacks or leftovers, or, you guessed it, sleeping. Ok, we also played Mahjong. I must say, though, it was a lot of fun.
The recipient of the red envelope has to offer in response a wish or good thought for the deliverer in the new year, such as (I'm summarizing here) may you be either happy, healthy, wealthy, or well-nourished in the next year. The kids definitely made out pretty well in the end, but it's mostly to be saved for the future. We gave red envelopes to the kids, and to mom and dad as well. We also received red envelopes from mom and dad, and Karrie (YT's oldest sister). It was a nice time, and even better (needless to say) with YT back. It was the first time she has been able to celebrate Chinese New Year with her family in seven years. I'm glad I could be a part of it, too.
