Super Bowl Sunday has long been known as the second-biggest food consumption day, behind only Thanksgiving. It also has the reputation of being the second-largest alcohol consumption day, behind St. Patrick’s Day.
While we’re stuck on “seconds,” let it be known that we were not expecting to be going to school in the city with the “second-best” football team in America, when this article assignment came our way.
It was to be the perfect week to be a sports fan in St. Louis – the hometown Rams in the Super Bowl for the second time in three years. Favored by 14 and thought to be the obvious choice, Super Bowl champion fever gripped the Washington University campus.
Any Super Bowl would suffice as an excuse to celebrate, but having the Rams to watch made it that much more special. Parties and gatherings were organized, with the expectation that it would be more of a coronation than a football game. As for ourselves, we were just expecting to see some good commercials. What we got was the most thrilling Super Bowl ever.
This was our first Super Bowl away from the South 40, and we were looking forward to having the set-up in full effect. When you’re a freshman, you don’t normally get your own entertainment center, and your televisions are limited to a screen the size of Palm Pilots. Sophomores are a little further ahead in terms of an environment with positive sensory stimulation, but some are still tempted to watch the game off-campus, in fraternities, or on the big-screens at Ursa’s or Ike’s Place.
Over at the “Northwest Territory” (Millbrook and SGH), there was definitely a big-game atmosphere. Being the resourceful students that we are, we decided to fire up the grill and invite a few of our closest friends to bask in the excitement. In the apartment down the hall, there was a slightly larger affair, with close to 75 students gathering around some sort of metal container with a tap. They got good use out of that device, or so we were told.
As parties started around 4:00 p.m., just in time for the fifteenth straight hour of pre-game coverage, most people were counting down the minutes until kickoff time.
The Patriots fans came out in droves, running on a fuel of pride and alcohol-based confidence. “P-A-T-S! P-A-T-S!” could be heard throughout the Millbrook Pool area.
After New England pulled off the super-upset, the red, blue and silver were everywhere to be seen. Jerseys patched with “Milloy,” “Bledsoe” and “Brown” were donned by proud New Englanders ready to start controversy and playful mocking banter among students. Banners were hung, signs made, and towels waving everywhere. Many came out to see what all the commotion was about and were greeted with chants of “Who’s number one?!” and the aforementioned “P-A-T-S!!!!”. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), this was the peak of celebration on this campus.
Following the game, the majority of the parties were deathly silent, while the hosts now had to begin the unenviable process of cleaning up. Many of the Rams fans either hung their heads in shock, or simply left not knowing what to do next. Groups that had been planning to go down to the Landing in anticipation of a huge city-party were now thinking of the homework that had been put off all weekend.
While this Super Bowl had the most expectation of any of the three we’ve experienced at WU, it also carried the biggest disappointment. There is no greater downer to a big-game party than to have your favorite team humiliated. The apartments are now clean (some of them at least), and the campus probably has recovered from the Rams defeat. Whether the city of St. Louis, or more importantly the Rams themselves, will recover.I guess we have to wait another six months to find out.
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