I did not enjoy reading this article by Martin and Reeves, The Super Bowl and U.S. solipsism. It stereotypes Americans as ignorant, self-aggrandizing, chest thumping buffoons. From the beginning, the bias is heavily slanted against our country. It seems that they are looking to support their theory that we are proud idiots, and I found it offensive.
Okay, so our media hypes the Super Bowl as "the greatest one-day sporting event around" (Martin & Reeves, 2001, p. 214). I would argue that they do that in order to get more ratings. I think that we as a country like to build things up to make the event that much more special. I think any country would do the same. I would be interested to see what you would find if you stopped 10 people on the street and asked them that same question. "Is the Super Bowl the biggest international sporting event of the year?" I would be surprised if three of those people agreed that it was. Those three would probably also think that the capitol of Illinois is Chicago (it's Springfield ;-)
If you had stopped me (prior to reading this article) and asked me this question, I would have said, "No way." I would have put the World Cup, the Olympics, and like 3 other sports ahead of it. I know football is not an international phenomenon, but that does not mean it cannot be a huge spectacle here. I actually wish we pushed more international sports as a country so that we would stand a better chance in international competitions.
I am not sure why people look down us for enjoying football. These authors seem to do it because they have taken offense to snubs against soccer. Just because I do not like the same sport you do does not mean you have to make it personal.
I wish we had gotten to discuss this article in class--maybe we will spend some time on it Monday. I would be interested to know if others had a similar reaction to yours. I understand what you are saying about the way people from the U.S. are portrayed in this article. I am not sure if I shared this in class but when I went to Australia in 2007, I asked an Aussie what their impression of Americans was. She asked if I had seen the film "Borat." I had not, but I know that it is a pretty negative depiction of people from the U.S. Unfortunately, I think that people from the U.S. do not have the best reputation in the world. I am sure we will talk about this more in class.
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