The Super Bash – pure entertainment or the essence of sport?

Last weekend was the big weekend in the American football calendar – the NFL Super Bowl. For the uninitiated, this is an iconic event in the sporting calendar in the US – I believe every year more than 100 million fans tune in to watch this one game. This year the Super Bowl was played between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. In what was a nail biting match, the Packers led for most of the match, but the Steelers put up a superb late fight. Even though they were trailing 21-3 before half time, the Steelers pushed hard and the scoreline was a hugely thrilling 28-25 midway through the fourth quarter. The Packers finally scraped through with a 31-25 win and became champions for the 2010 season.

We did not go to Dallas to watch the match. But we still went close enough. We watched it in London. If you are wondering how that happened, here’s how. On Super Bowl matchday, NFL organises events across key cities where the match is shown live on giant screens. The London Super Bash (hosted by the exciting duo of Arlo White and Neil Reynolds) was held at the O2 and was watched by 3000 noisy fans. And of course in true NFL style, we did not just watch the match in the aO2. There were also cheerleader performances, awards ceremonies and on stage interviews both before the match as well as during the breaks, making it a truly memorable event.

This was the first time that we witnessed a live NFL match, albeit on a giant screen. While between the two versions of football (American and the more traditional English version i.e., soccer), we continue to prefer soccer, we were very impressed by this experience. It is a great party. And there is some world class entertainment centred around a highly physical and exciting sporting occasion. There are very few  events which can boast of having a half time act such as Black Eyed Peas and a pre match performer as Christina Aguilera. But what really makes the sport stand out from others, especially football, is the sheer spirit of camaraderie between rival team supporters. While in football, rival team supporters are kept completely separate for fear of violence (think home stand and away stand at a football club), what we saw at the O2 was quite refreshing . Supporters of both the Steelers and the Packers not only sat with each other, but joked, partied and celebrated together. Yes, the supporters were from rival teams but their behaviour underlined once again the essence of great sport – it brings people together.