Super bowl article response: football is entertainment, too
Editor:
Perhaps the article “Students: Super Bowl dull” (Feb. 11) should have been featured on the editorial page because the author definitely had a purpose in his writing, and it wasn’t to inform. Anyone reading this article would assume that most students and faculty members at GC&SU dislike the Super Bowl, as well as professional sports in general. This is a misrepresentation.
The students and faculty interviewed share concern that the Super Bowl has more entertainment value than sport value. As far as many are concerned, sports are entertainment. Professional athletes are highly paid and placed on T.V. because there are many of us who enjoy watching them play sports. It is a form of universal entertainment, not just American. I was not aware that this was a problem. Mr. Attaway even complains that the Super Bowl attempts “to be the most entertaining it can” with “extravagant halftime shows, the cheerleaders, and the (dumb) commercials.” Please explain to me what is wrong with a sport trying to be entertaining? I would think this to be a better choice than not being entertaining. Does Mr. Attaway want the Super Bowl to be boring, dull, or anti-climactic? Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but that doesn’t sound like something I would like to watch. If you don’t like the Super Bowl, don’t watch it. But let those of us who enjoy the game watch it in peace.
Dr. Viau pushes the argument even further, ranting that the Super Bowl is a silly “blood sport” used to feed Americans’ appetite for violence. While I agree that football is a physical game, it is just that: A GAME. Dr. Viau makes football sound like the source of violence and hatred in our country. Maybe my memory fails me, but I cannot remember hearing about a violent act that was attributed to the influence of football.
And for a liberal arts school that prides itself in eliminating stereotypes and being an accepting institution, Dr. Viau sure expresses a negative one of professional athletes, saying that they are “big old hunks of meat slightly animated by intelligence.” I’m sure all of GC&SU’s student athletes, who strive to maintain a good grade point average as well as excel in their sport, appreciate this comment. This stereotype of athletes should be treated with just as much disgust as one about gender or race. After all, it is wrong.
Maybe the people interviewed for this article would have rather watched the Super Quiz Bowl, where mental athletes compete by taking a quiz testing their knowledge of the various school subjects. It would be free of commercial interruption since marketing is frowned upon. It would also strive to be as low in entertainment value as possible in an attempt to please those who seek out boredom. If that sounds like a good time to you, then have at it. But as for myself and 86 million others, I think I’ll watch the Super Bowl.
Caleb West
Sophomore
Business Management Major
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Feb 18 2005. Filed under Opinion.
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