You mean you didn't watch the Super Bowl?! - SSwanson

Samantha E. Swanson
You mean you didn’t watch the Super Bowl?!
February 8, 2005


To some, the Super Bowl is the epitome of football greatness, the platform upon which to crown America’s football legends, and the event that brings football fans across the United States together for one evening of unabashed, bone-crunching splendor.

And to others, it’s just another day.

A recent transplant from the Philadelphia area to Boston, MA, Kate Schooley, 25, was one of the few, in either city, to defy a 39 year old American tradition by not watching the Super Bowl.

“So what if I’m an athlete? So what if I’m supposed to be an Eagles fan or a Patriots fan? So what if everyone I know was watching it? I just didn’t care that much,” Schooley said.

Pressure to watch the game was greater this year than ever before. Schooley said she never had an allegiance to a football team, or any team that she wasn’t part of, but being from the Philadelphia area, and now living in Boston, friends and family from both cities attempted to capture her loyalty for the “home team.”

“My mom called me on Saturday just to see if I was going to watch the game. When I said no, she sounded all disappointed and then said that someone needed to be an Eagles supporter amidst all those New Englanders,” Schooley said.

Coming from a football family, Schooley remembers that Super Bowl Sunday was always a big event at her house. Everyone in her family supports the Eagles, so this Super Bowl was especially meaningful to them. But for her, it was just another day in Boston.

“They [her family] were having people over to watch the game, and they were all excited about the Eagles ‘inevitable’ win. They cared about it so much. I used to care about seeing the halftime show, but now I don’t even care about that,” Schooley said.

Schooley’s Boston friends thickly applied the guilt trip that because she has lived in Boston for over a year, she was obligated to root for the Patriots. As much as they prodded at her to choose a side, the Patriots’ side, Schooley remained indifferent.

“There aren’t many sports that I watch on television, only three, really: ice hockey, basketball, and rugby. Football is too slow, the game takes way too long, and there are just too many times that the game stops. I like to watch faster moving games on television. When it comes down to it, football just doesn’t hold my interest,” Schooley remarked.

So what did this glutton for fast-paced sports do while 86 million people sat glued to their television sets?

“I did what I usually do on Sundays. I went to Starbucks to read some stuff for school. Then I came home and made dinner, and then I sat on the couch to watch some movies that were on T.V.,” Schooley said.

Settling in to watch “Chocolat,” with only three channels separating her from Super Bowl frenzy XXXIX, Schooley was perfectly content...and whether the Eagles won or lost or the Patriots won or lost, Super Bowl XXXIX did not interest her one bit.