Around the Bluhmin’ Town

By

Judy Bluhm

Football. Once again it is that time of year when we Americans obsess over who will make it to the Super Bowl. The fate of our beloved Cardinals has been decided as they got crushed by San Francisco. Maybe our constellation prize is that Arizona is hosting the Big Game. And that Super Day is not just a sports event. It is a cultural phenomenon that sweeps the country, starting out in our kitchens!

We will have consumed about 100 Billion chicken wings just watching the playoffs. But on Super Bowl Sunday we Americans will eat over 125 Billion wings! That would be enough chicken wings to fill up 1,083,333 football fields! Oh yea, but we won’t stop there. Dominos Pizza claims it will deliver 12 million slices of pizza on that one afternoon! And to wash it all down? How about 325 million gallons of beer?

Football is not a game. It is a sensation! We will not be derailed by current events or nightly news. Politics? Don’t really care! Inflation? Oh well! We have more important things to think about! There is rushing, passing, unnecessary roughness, tackling, kicking, interceptions and touchdowns to consider.

We don’t even need to have a home-team in the Finals to still pick a favorite. The Super Bowl is a spectacle, a show, a never-ending food fest. It is the second largest American food consumption day of the year, right behind Thanksgiving. We will eat all manner of unhealthy, fattening, tasty things that we rarely bother with the rest of the year. Which is a very good thing, because we’d all blow up like blimps if we kept it up. Fortunately, the Super Bowl only comes once a year.

I might get some yummy Velveeta and make one of those delicious cheese dips. My daughter says Velveeta is made by the devil and is nothing more than yellow chemicals. My girlfriend says the thought of Velveeta makes her ill and it should be banned as a food product because it is not even cheese! My doctor says that it could clog our arteries faster than you can scream, “Touchdown!” I call, “Foul!” Dice up the yellow log of God knows what, add a little salsa and microwave for a minute. Heaven waits. Why worry when there are games to watch!

Derived from English rugby, American football was started in 1879 with rules instituted by Walter Camp, a player and coach at Yale University. Actually, football has its roots in soccer, which was played 200 years B.C. when Chinese players kicked pig bladders or skulls (hope not human) back and forth. In fact, entire villages got involved and one game lasted three days with 900 players! Now that would have been fun to watch! From pig bladders to pig skins, we have come a long way. (Not to mention eating like piggies).

Dear Readers, I hope your favorite team makes it through the playoffs. If not, we can drown out our blues with 325 million gallons of beer. One glass at a time. Game on!

Judy Bluhm is a writer and a local realtor. Have a story of a comment? Email Judy at [email protected].