Football

Today, Sunday February 1st, was the day for the 43rd Super Bowl. I did not watch it. I have however seen many (American) Football games already. Or well, at least three. But they have all been memorable experiences.

My first American football game was a home game, possibly maybe on October 4, between California Golden Bears and Arizona State Sun Devils. The game was long and in the end rather boring as well, but having gone there with a free ticket I would say it was well worth it. Our native friend Kelvin told us that usually the other team brings their band and cheerleaders as well, but this time, whether the reason be the long distance between the two universities or some other reason, the Devils did not have any support groups with them. I was very much looking forward to seeing the cheerleaders after having seen all those (of course very realistic) American movies, but they did not quite live up to the expectations. I was told that cheerleading had actually become so dangerous with all the difficult stunts they were expected to perform, that the risk of injuries had become too high and the insurances too expensive. But even if the game seemed very long, me not really knowing the rules, the sun being so hot and in the end us being cold once the sun set, it was lots of fun and the pastry I had during the halftime show was absolutely delicious!

My second football experience I shared with my friend Mari who came to visit me all the way from Turku in November. Mari has spent quite a lot of time in the States and was eager to go watch a Bears game during her visit in Berkeley. Me being a bit stingy and not yet too convinced of my love for football, I must have seemed rather hesitant and even unwilling to join her and we ended up going for a walk instead. Lucky for Mari (and me) it turned out to be the second of the three rainy days I have had here in Berkeley and we had to run for cover! Surprisingly (not!), we of course ended up at the campus bar (website worth visiting :) ). We watched the game there with our pints and at least three dozen drenched Bears fans who had decided half way through the game that it was a lot more comfortable to watch the game at the bar than at the stadium. Imagine the feeling when you are wearing nothing but a soaking wet T-shirt, micro shorts and fur boots (the IN apparel of the year here in the land of eternal sun shine). That ended up being a very enjoyable football experience and I don't think Mari was left too disappointed not having been inside the stadium to watch the game.

My third game was great as well. Berkeley is known for its hills and conveniently there happens to be one right next to the football stadium. During every game there is probably almost as many people watching the game on the hillside as there are in the stadium and this time we went there as well. Also, this was the Big Game of the year, ie. Berkeley vs. Stanford. The rivalry was at least as bad as in a Finland vs. Sweden hockey game, and heaven help you if you happened to be wearing anything red, which is the colour of Stanford. Unlike the second game, the weather was beautiful, the views were great and I was lucky enough to be surrounded by all "my boys", both the Berkeley boys and the Helsinki one (excluding Kelvin, who was stuck somewhere in the crowd and couldn't reach us on that very crowded and slippery hill). However, like I mentioned earlier, the game has a tendency to last quite a few hours so the first hour and a half was enough for us. The halftime show was worth seeing though, since especially both the Berkeley band and the Berkeley cheerleaders had obviously put in a lot of extra effort in honor of the Big Game!