MyTimeToBlog
The biggest sporting event of the year, and in prison it's considered a day to party, talk crap about football teams, and gambling. For me, it's about the newest trailers and commercials. I'm a football fan, yes, but when I'm watching TV, all I'm thinking about are the forthcoming movies and what would get me laughing.
That morning I'm gathering all the food for the meals my celly and I would be eating. I decided on a nacho bowl, but with no Doritos in my cell, I had to wheel and deal for a bag. I paid double for it because too many men were going around throwing prices that you either paid or didn't. I did. So, with a bag of Doritos, I scrambled to the chow hall for a bag of milk. I planned on making an Oreo cheesecake.
Back in my cell, I'm fast at work. My celly, lazy as hell, didn't help, only eat. I didn't care, this was about me enjoying myself, so I made the cheesecake, orange-flavored taffy, and prepped the food for the nacho. After, I made my way into the day room to find a bet.
I knew that I would be crazy to go against the Kansas City Chiefs, but after so many years of being the best team in the NFL, I felt that the Philadelphia Eagles could win. Many suitors wanted to bet, but only a few were brazened enough to follow through on it. We shook hands on my taking the Eagles, and them the Chiefs, promising to pay up the following day if we lost.
As I marched around the day room, men were making preparations to eat big tonight. They, as I wanted to be in our cells for the big game. Others would be in the day room, watching the TV mounted on the wall. When you had fans of football, everybody boasted and bragged about their team...sadly, the majority of the men in the Virginia prison were fans of the Washington Commanders.
Since their team didn't make it, most of the men rooted for Patrick Mahomes. His legendary status as the next GOAT made it easy for them to pick his team. Me, I couldn't. I always went against the grain, and I'm a New Yorker.
Ever since a teenager, I was a diehard New York Jets fan. We were horrible and even when Aaron Rodgers arrived as the man who could change the trajectory of our franchise, it never occurred. So as someone who had filled a thousand buckets with tears, I prayed to the football god that the Eagles would dethrone the Chiefs.
Now as the day progressed, I got our food ready. I used a friend's icebox that kept my cheesecake cold, and I had the taffy bagged and ready to eat. The nacho bowls were done, but not before I made numerous calls to family and friends, early. This would be the most watched football game of the year, and I wouldn't miss a second of it.
In my cell, on my bunk, watching the pregame. Every moment of it was fun, upbeat, even when the two teams met in the middle of the field, shaking hands. The coin flip landed in favor of the Chiefs, who deferred the ball until the second half...then the first trailer came on at the commercial break.
Jurassic World: Rebirth. It looked good, but I wanted my Marvel fix, and seeing the trailer for the next Fast and Furious movie; I watched the trailer for Captain America: Brave New World, and The Thunderbolts. There was no Fast and Furious trailer, only a commercial for ice cream with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and Ludacris. That had me upset, but then Jalen Hurts tossed a touchdown pass that had me grinning ear to ear.
My celly was a Kansas City Chiefs fan, who complained for the entire first half. He nor I could believe the beatdown that the Eagles handed the Chiefs. We forgot about that when Kendrick Lamar's halftime show took over the prison.
The TV in the day room blasted his hits, and with the great Samuel Jackson acting as Uncle Sam, costume and all, we were glued to our seats...but what we all wanted to know was would Kendrick Lamar perform his Grammy-winning diss song, "Not Like Us?" He did and jaws dropped. We couldn't believe he went at the rapper/singer Drake on one of the biggest stages ever--then we lost our minds when we saw Serena Williams Crip Walking while the song shook the entire stadium.
When that performance ended, all we discussed was what those in the entertainment world would be saying about what Kendrick Lamar did. The game no longer mattered, because as the second half began, sacks and interceptions showed us that Patrick Mahomes was mortal.
I did smile because I won my meager bet--and it was only the third quarter. Even so, I remained watching the game until the final whistle. I hoped to see more trailers for new movies, I did, but what stood out to me were the hysterical commercials for Michelob and Dunkin Donuts.
I enjoyed the laughs, and there were plenty, especially when the camera landed on Taylor Swift, the fans booed her. She couldn't believe it, but when an entire stadium was full of Eagles fans, what did you expect; Tom Brady even shared that Chiefs fans didn't fill the seats like yesteryear. They did two Superbowls in a row, and as an average fan, they couldn't afford the $5,000 dollars price tag for a ticket for a third time--the Eagles' fans did.
They watched their Eagles win the Superbowl, and I did as well from my bunk. This was my 27th year of watching the biggest sporting event in America in prison. The game was good because the team I picked won. But what I enjoyed most was four and a half hours without thinking I was incarcerated. I was a fan enjoying the festivities, and that's what mattered...and I didn't have to pay out ten dollars for losing my bet.
Superbowl Sunday was great, now how did you spend yours?