For me, the answer last Sunday was Yes, I can. I wonder if it's a lot easier when you have money riding on the outcome. Here's how it went for me last Sunday. I live about 140-145 miles from MetLife Stadium (it's less than a 2.5 hour drive, about half the time to Ralph Wilson Stadium from my house) & when the weather forecast turned out so good for the game, I decided to go. I also had a chance to win a bracket playoff pool with Seattle & get both money and bragging rights with a Seahawk victory. During the game I really got into rooting for Seattle and loved every second of the game.
Beyond the pool victory, there were other reasons why I wanted Seattle to beat Denver. Seattle has more ex-Bills than Denver does. Head Coach Pete Carroll's 1st NFL coaching job was with the Bills. They also have major player Marshawn Lynch & reserve Tarvaris Jackson on the team. At the end I liked the fact that Jackson ended up with more Super Bowl snaps than Gailey ever gave him with the Bills. Denver has no ex-Bills players and has 2 assistant coaches who were once with the Bills (Studesville & Tolbert). Other reasons I wanted a Seahawk victory included Seattle had never won a Super Bowl before & I like to see the 1st time winner to reward the fans. Also, I thought Pete Carroll was royally screwed by the Jets 20 years ago when he was fired after 1 year as head coach & replaced by Rich Kotite. I really wanted to see him win it all in the Jets home stadium. I also like the guy for his unconventional methods. So, overall, I found it pretty easy to go in & root hard for a Seattle victory.
I also wonder if it's easier for fans who gamble to adopt a team on a given Sunday. I don't bet individual games but sometimes I can win a pool when the last game of the week or season comes down to one game for me to win it all. I find it easy to adopt the team I need for that game & I can really get into rooting for them. I'm sure the individual game bettors know how easy it is to root for a team this week that you will be rooting against the next week.
Overall, I think having a rooting interest & seeing that team win enhanced my Super Bowl experience. Also, this year's Super Bowl crowd was the best I'd ever seen in the 5 Super Bowls I've been to (I went to all 4 of the Bills Super Bowls back in the 1990s). I think the main reason was that there were a lot fewer corporate types in the stands. Instead of someone with connections bringing a client to the game, the corporate types didn't want to bring a client to the game & have them there with the potential for bad weather, so they sold those seats on the secondary market instead. Because of the weather threat & the "suits" selling the tickets, more tickets were available on the secondary market & prices came down. When prices came down, more real football fans saw the chance to go to the Super Bowl cheaper than most years & jumped on the chance. Also, it made the game more available & affordable to the fans of the 2 teams involved & helped create a crowd of more fans with a rooting interest than your typical warm weather or indoor Super Bowl.
Beyond the pool victory, there were other reasons why I wanted Seattle to beat Denver. Seattle has more ex-Bills than Denver does. Head Coach Pete Carroll's 1st NFL coaching job was with the Bills. They also have major player Marshawn Lynch & reserve Tarvaris Jackson on the team. At the end I liked the fact that Jackson ended up with more Super Bowl snaps than Gailey ever gave him with the Bills. Denver has no ex-Bills players and has 2 assistant coaches who were once with the Bills (Studesville & Tolbert). Other reasons I wanted a Seahawk victory included Seattle had never won a Super Bowl before & I like to see the 1st time winner to reward the fans. Also, I thought Pete Carroll was royally screwed by the Jets 20 years ago when he was fired after 1 year as head coach & replaced by Rich Kotite. I really wanted to see him win it all in the Jets home stadium. I also like the guy for his unconventional methods. So, overall, I found it pretty easy to go in & root hard for a Seattle victory.
I also wonder if it's easier for fans who gamble to adopt a team on a given Sunday. I don't bet individual games but sometimes I can win a pool when the last game of the week or season comes down to one game for me to win it all. I find it easy to adopt the team I need for that game & I can really get into rooting for them. I'm sure the individual game bettors know how easy it is to root for a team this week that you will be rooting against the next week.
Overall, I think having a rooting interest & seeing that team win enhanced my Super Bowl experience. Also, this year's Super Bowl crowd was the best I'd ever seen in the 5 Super Bowls I've been to (I went to all 4 of the Bills Super Bowls back in the 1990s). I think the main reason was that there were a lot fewer corporate types in the stands. Instead of someone with connections bringing a client to the game, the corporate types didn't want to bring a client to the game & have them there with the potential for bad weather, so they sold those seats on the secondary market instead. Because of the weather threat & the "suits" selling the tickets, more tickets were available on the secondary market & prices came down. When prices came down, more real football fans saw the chance to go to the Super Bowl cheaper than most years & jumped on the chance. Also, it made the game more available & affordable to the fans of the 2 teams involved & helped create a crowd of more fans with a rooting interest than your typical warm weather or indoor Super Bowl.
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