I had successfully avoided the Super Bowl for LVII years. Year LVIII was no exception.
If you were into it, that’s great. Joy is hard to come by, as are communal experiences. This year, even more non-football fans than usual tuned in for entertainment, on and off the field. That’s great too.
Lisa Snider of Pomona isn’t a football fan but donned a red, football-style T-shirt with the cheerful slogan “Go, Taylor’s Boyfriend!”
Personally, I’ve never been able to follow football. The action seems as convoluted as 43-man squamish. (Anyone remember that?) Nor, conversely, do I understand watching purely for the commercials. It is not Opposite Day in my household.
Thus, following Patti Smith’s credo (“outside of society/that’s where I wanna be”), I do my own thing on Super Bowl Sunday.
To treat myself to a day in L.A., I started off at Silverlake Coffee with my morning newspapers. As an employee washed up for his shift while clad in 49ers gear, baristas were elaborately and ironically wishing him a good day. “I knew this was a bad idea,” he grumbled good-naturedly.
“Are you rooting for a certain team today, David?” a barista asked me.
“Nope,” I replied. “I’m ignoring the whole thing.”
“I think most people in L.A. are,” she said.
Was I part of the in-crowd despite my best efforts? Uh-oh.
Many of you were likewise ignoring the game. I asked on Facebook what you were doing if you weren’t going to watch the game. Dozens of responses rolled in from around the Inland Empire and San Gabriel Valley.
You were shopping at nearly empty stores, eating at nearly empty food halls or driving on wide-open freeways. Or maybe you were home, gardening or relaxing on a sunny, unexpectedly warm afternoon.
A few were doing big stuff.
Jim McCraley was leaving Chino and moving to Claremont. Welcome, Jim. He jokingly marked himself on social media as “safe from Super Bowl Sunday.”
Wrote Bruce Culp of Montclair: “I’m on the Amtrak…
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