Ever get the the feeling that you watch the Super Bowl only because you’re s’posed to?

That’s me. I don’t walk around saying, “football sucks,” or “avid football fans are dorks.” Truth be told, I don’t dislike football or those who prey at its logo-emblazoned altar. I’m just indifferent.

Why?, you might ask. It’s not you, football; it’s me. I’m just not that into you. And it’s not just you, football. I’m not into your fellow sports either: baseball, soccer (the other “football,” for Americans), hockey, golf, etc.

I think it’s the physical gamesmanship. I’m built on the small side of average. In my formative years, playground team captains chose me last. Always. That has an effect on a boy’s psyche. As I grew up, I gravitated to activities that didn’t involve physical competition. In high school, it was hackey-sacking. In college, it was juggling. These pastimes didn’t involve points or winning or innovative victory dances. It was just me, a couple friends and a crapload of Mountain Dew.

That lack of engagement with sports has led me to a “so what” approach to them broadcast on TV. The sometime exception is basketball. But it’s not much of an exception; that just means I’ll stop to watch once in a while when I’m channel surfing. I still know next to nothing about the sport (other than the basic rules), and don’t care to know. I know some of the big names, but wouldn’t know anything more from a hole in the ground.

Fast forward to today: Super Bowl Sunday, 2007. What am I going to do? Watch the game, of course, ’cause I’m s’posed to. Unlike a lot of people though, I’ll probably have the game muted except for commercial breaks and Prince’s half-time show. In lieu of the play-by-play (which, for me, might as well be in that clicking African bush language), I’ll be listening CDs I bought today: MC Serch’s Return of the Product (a classic I should have owned long ago) and Lifesavas’ Spirit in Stone, which I got on recommendation. I’m sure both have a better flow than the network’s commentators.