Evendays

The French did fine considering what they had to work with: a 45 minute pre-game show, a European audience that doesn’t know the difference between a block and a tackle (wait… those were NFL refs!), a really ugly half-time band and a game that had lost its punch after the first series. French coverage started with de-covered Miami Dolphins’ Cheerleaders doing a routine while a roaming camera filmed moving body parts. The hosts then gave a history of French players in the NFL (just two: Laurent LaFite (kicker, of course) and Jean-Pierre Derrière (bench warmer)*) and talked about American Football clubs in France (200). The rules were explained with a 4 minute video clip (prepared by the NFL) then were later re-explained after disastrous calls. (Someone forgot to show the clip to the officials.) I see one game a year, maybe, and see football “anew” each time: the size and speed of the players, the impact of the hits, the gladiator spirit of the game, the adulation of the fans… It was 4:05 AM when I turned off the tube, happy to have lived an American moment, even if it was a sleeper. Bring on Super Bowl XLI. *Just kidding.