Someone who is NOT watching the Super Bowl

Someone who is NOT watching the Super Bowl
by Geofree Capodanno

The twenty-ninth Super Bowl is just days away and I am exhilarated. As a lifelong fan of football and the Philadelphia Eagles, I am counting down the seconds to the game. The Philadelphia Eagles will take on the New England Patriots in Jacksonville, FL. There will be new commercials that might or might not be entertaining, but definitely expensive to air. Paul McCartney will be performing live in the halftime show. This is the media event of the year and everyone will be watching…right? I found out that this is not the case even though that seems to be the game’s reputation. I discovered someone who will not be glued to their television set on Sunday, February 6, 2005. Her name is Beverly Baran.

Beverly Baran, 62, resides in Coral Springs, FL. When I asked her if she was watching the Super Bowl on Sunday, she replied, “No. I will not be watching the Super Bowl.” I could not believe it. Yeah, I could not believe that I actually found someone to interview for this story about who is not watching the Super Bowl.

First and foremost, I asked Beverly why she was not going to tune in to the game. “I don’t like football,” said Beverly. “I never have and probably never will.” I asked her if she has ever watched a Super Bowl before. She told me, “Nope. Never. Not interested. It’s just a football game and I don’t watch football.”

She continued to tell me what she would be doing instead. “I work from my home on my computer. I write discharge summaries on patients in psychiatric hospitals. I actually have a lot of them to complete this weekend, so I will be doing those on Sunday. Hopefully, I won’t be still doing them too late on Sunday.” I asked her if she got finished before the game would she take a look at it out of curiosity. “No. I will probably go see a movie. I haven’t seen one in the theater for some time.”

Beverly’s companion, Barry Cohen, told me that he has watched the Super Bowl for years and he definitely cannot wait for this one. “I’ll be in the living room and she’ll be in the office,” Barry stated. “We will have dinner together before the game, but after that it’s time for football.”

The final question I asked Beverly was who she thought would win even though she has no idea about the teams at all. After reminding her of the two competitors again, she told me, “New England. I am from the New England area, so I think the Patriots.” I jokingly told her that it was a good thing that she won’t be watching the game on Sunday then.