Superbowl rookie

Well this week I sat through my first American football game, and what a game. The superbowl is the finale of the football season and many people throw parties to watch the game, drink and eat...perfect! It was made even more exciting as the New England Patriots were in the final. Cue every business in the area displaying "GO PATS!" and everyone getting very excited. I have to say that I stil didn't quite know what to expect but as we headed off to a party on Sunday night, Stuart did an incredible job at explaining the basics of the game...he should write his own 'football for dummies' book. So here goes my explanation to you...

Each team basically has 2 teams - an offensive team and a defensive team. There may be 11 players on the field from each team at any one point. When you have your offensive team on, your opponent has their defensive one on.

So when on the offensive, you have to make 10 yards progress in 4 downs. Play starts with a player throwing the ball back to the quarter back who is the star of the team - in our case Tom Brady. He then passes to another player who is hopefully in a space where he can move forward. The defensive team are trying to stop him making progress. As soon as the offensive player touches the ball to the ground this is a down. If he has made 10 yards progress, the whole process starts again with another 4 downs given to make another 10 yards. Either way, maximum play time is about 20 seconds so it is quite slow going. The defensive team can turn over the ball and intercept, then play moves to them and their offensive take to the field and our defensive. 

There are 4 quarters, each 15 minutes. The first two quarters took nearly an hour and a half to play...hence the crazy number of advert breaks that occur every time there is an injury, team switch etc. The ads, however, are a major part of the superbowl as companies pay millions for a slot and so there aren't just reviews of the game afterwards but reviews of the ads too.

The adverts are as captivating as the game...this was at a particularly nail biting point

Then there is the half time show...this year Madonna took to the stage being carried in by vast amounts of men dressed as gladiators. It was very subtle! Highlight of the show was the tight rope dancer though...incredible! 

The key to the whole superbowl experience is the food and drink and I was certainly lucky on both fronts. We went to one of Sarah and Stuart's choral arts friend's house and enjoyed some home brew (very nice) and some impressive fare...gravalax, home made nachos and guacamole, homemade tapenade and then some delicious ginger bars, ginger ice cream and whoopie pies for desert. I was stuffed!

Sampling the fare with our host...yummy sour dough bread.

Anyway, I think I made a good superbowl rookie. By the end of the game I was able to identify the Gronk and understood the importance of Tom Brady. I was even beginning to make noises in all the right places...including a groan when it was all over. Sadly the Pats were beaten by the NY Giants.

Other than the superbowl, I had another great weekend roaming the beach at Pine Point again on Saturday as it was such a gorgeous day and walking the boulevard on Sunday morning stopping for endless cups of coffee in a diner afterwards. Can't grumble!