Are you ready for some football????

Well, I certainly was. Superbowl XL! I will skip the cliche Extra-Large reference that every sportswriter insisted on making, but as it was my first football game this season, I was quite excited. But before the game, I had an entire day to fill. Or as I thought of it, to waste.

I woke up relatively late, sent some emails and packed my backpack to leave. I walked to my computer shop, where I learned that the guy had not even started yet. Good old Israelis. I met Benjamin Epstein in Katamon, and from there we walked to Emek Refaim and then to the Old City, where we prayed mincha. Praying at the Wall was kind of difficult, as it was very very bright, and a bunch of brainwashed nine year olds were yelling at the top of their lungs. But other than that, it was quite nice. From there, we walked to Ben Yehuda Street, where we met Micah, just back from his trip to Prague. We played some cards, and then Jamin and I returned to Katamon to try to get some sleep before the game.

Despite lying on a soft bed for two hours, I did not get any sleep. Neither did Benjamin. We were at the Bronfman appartment, apparently some kind of appartment for a "non-program" for people who were on some kind of Bronfman summer program two years ago. Whatever. I met some interesting people, and got to read some of a playwright I enjoy, David Ives. "Sure Thing", "Words Words Words", "The Philadelphia"-- incredible revolutionary shows. One act shows.

From there we went to the pregame party at Marans' appartment, right off of Ben Yehuda Street. It has been in his family's possession for generations, and it is still in the 1960's decor, with the weird furnishings and tacky wallpaper. Still, it was a lot of fun. In attendance were myself, Jamin, Marans, Jason, David Zvi, DMD (David Mayer-Deutsch), Weiler, Micah and Josh. We drank some Danish beer called Hoegaarden, snacked on Bisli and Cheetos, and played cards. The catch, though, was that Marans' neighbor downstairs, a grumpy old lady, kept telling us to be quiet. I called her Ethel Rabinowitz because I didn't know her name, and soon some of the guys did too. Some party; it was all quiet as we built up to the biggest game of the year.

Soon, it was 1 a.m., and time for the game. We watched at the Center for Conservative Judaism, which is on Agron Street, which means to me that it is halfway between Ben Yehuda Street and the Dan Panorama. When we got there, the guard told us we needed passports to enter, and my heart sank like a large heavy piece of lasagna, as my passport was at the yeshiva. Fortunately, my driver's license sufficed, and we were in. The game was projected onto a screen, but it was big and in good quality. The game was on!

Though it was great to watch the game, there were some downsides. One was that I was watching with people with whom I don't watch the big game (Feld's house, you know I love you!). Another was that the snacks were eh. Another was that the game was being broadcast by ESPN international, which meant that instead of seeing the hilarious Superbowl commercials, we saw the same three self-promoting ESPN commercials for four hours. For the record, they were for the Bucks-Magic game, the international baseball tournament, and for the world series of poker. I know because I saw each about sixty zillion times.

And the game? It was... okay, I guess. Two good teams playing hard. I called the keys to the game, and predicted that Seattle would win if they converted third downs, didn't make a big mistake, and played well on special teams. They didn't do any of those, so Pittsburgh triumphed, 21-10. But Seattle wuz robbed. Now don't get me wrong; I think Seattle made plenty of stupid plays and bad decisions and mental blunders. But the officiating had it out for them. If anyone should be the MVP for the most valuable person, it should be referee Bill Leavy, for basically giftwrapping the game for Pittsburgh. For more information, see this article.

The game ended at 5 a.m., so we hurried back to Marans' pad to get a few hours of sleep before the van left at 10 a.m. I woke up with the unpleasant experience of Bisli breath. Yuck. We made it back to the yeshiva in record time, and most of the guys have taken a long nap and/or hot showers before resuming studies. I haven't done either, so I am exhausted. I'm so tired, it's starting to influence my typing.

Ltaer floks.