Football fans are left with a series of options regarding how they will view a Sunday slate of football games. They can stay home and watch whichever games are broadcast locally, keeping tabs on other games through score tickers and computers. The only real risk in staying home is that the networks might not give you the games you wish to see. If you can follow the games on the radio, a fan can pay for the ability to listen live to NFL games online and keep up with everything out of market that way.
Yet, for those of us who feel the need to watch as many games as possible, it’s hard to go wrong with “the sports bar”.
A popular sports bar on a Sunday afternoon in the Fall turns into a complete madhouse. Fans of just about every team in the league descend upon these places to watch their team, and any others that strike them. Every television in the building seems to be showing a different game, leading to a sort of sensory overload for the football fan. There is a menu full of tempting food, a tap list, and more football than you could watch at once. It is truly an overwhelming experience to be in a place like this.
On Sunday, I rode the 1:00 games out in such an establishment. From our table, my friends and I had televisions in all directions that we could watch. Next to us was a table of fans dressed in dark blue and orange, all huddled on one side of their small table to watch the Chicago Bears maul the Atlanta Falcons. The game was going on behind me, but their frequent cheers were enough to let me know that the Bears had the game well in hand.
There is an interesting ripple effect in sports bars like these during the early games. When one team scores a touchdown or makes a game-changing play, the highlight of that play then circles the room, as all of the other broadcasts give the out-of-town update. It seemed as though LeSean McCoy’s long touchdown run yesterday was so well-executed that he continued to run past the Ravens, Steelers, Bucs, Lions, Browns, Bengals, Falcons, Bears, Chiefs, and Bills, totaling just under 300 yards on the play.
Calvin Johnson took a victory lap around the room, crashing every other game with his touchdown receptions. The Ravens beat the Steelers so thoroughly that it carried from the corner of the room where that game was being aired all the way across to the Bears-Falcons game on the other end.
Some thoughts from week one:
-Is “people weren’t sure about him when he came to the franchise” becoming a really good indicator of future quarterback success in the NFL? That club now includes Drew Brees (almost seemed like spare parts coming out of San Diego), Donovan McNabb (booed on draft day), Aaron Rodgers (since Green Bay spent a first round pick on a player that wouldn’t see playing time right away, and who wasn’t filled with fan confidence when he did take over), Tom Brady (the 2001 season was “over” when Drew Bledsoe went down), Michael Vick (few people believed he would start a football game at quarterback again after his prison term), even Philip Rivers to an extent (San Diego may well have picked Eli Manning if Manning hadn’t begged them not to do so). So no, I’m not surprised that Cam Newton looked really good in his debut, considering all of that.
-Kyle Orton’s career would make a pretty interesting sitcom. He does pretty well everywhere he goes, but he isn’t a fan favorite and spent what little offseason there was this year wondering if he was going to get traded to Miami. “Next week on Game Manager, a popular NCAA hero becomes a fan favorite, but can he really fill Kyle’s shoes?”
-Chiefs fans are off to a rough start. They were one of a few groups of fans who spent the shortened offseason hearing about how their favorite team was going to take a step back this year. Now the Chiefs are 0-1, they were blown out in their first game, and they’re taking on major injuries. The closest thing to a silver lining I can find is that they play in the AFC West, and the NFL season is mercifully short.
