As many of you know, America is about to celebrate its culturally unique pseudo annual holiday. SuperBowl Sunday has been a staple of the American experience since its heavy commercialization starting around the mid 1970s.
There’s going to be a lot of socializing and, of course, alot of eating. SuperBowl feasts have gotten bigger over the years as many people opt to home host extravagant watch parties. This year, instead of a party at a chain restaurant, I’ll be with friends at one of their houses. For people like me, life defining conditions take on new forms with gatherings like this. Where I was concerned with heartbreak in my younger years, the prodigious nacho dishes created by my friends now have me worried about heartburn. Additionally, Superbowl Sunday is no longer a struggle between the top 2 teams of America’s premiere football conferences, rather – as the title of the post suggests – it’s now a test of how well I pace my stomach for the inevitable rabble of bbq chicken, meats and tortillas.
Being in NJ, I am socially obligated to root for either the NY Giants/Jets or Philadelphia Eagles should they make it to the big game regardless of the team I root for personally. But I have a feeling – nay – I am 100% positive the Philadelphia Eagles are going to win this game.
Coincidentally, there may be some of you that are perplexed with the rules of American football and only see it as a collision of men with helmets and shoulder pads. There is an order to this chaos, I promise. But for the sake of value, I’ll suggest a way for you to enjoy it if :
you don’t want to drown in the media induced fawning of the teams, their players or their overarching dramatic storylines going into the game
or you’re only looking forward to the commercials during the game
or you’re unsure of the game rules but want to meaningfully participate in the technical discussions
The only statistic that you should pay attention to is the 1st (First) Down Conversion number of both teams – how many first downs they have as the game progresses. This statistic is the proxy tell-all about a team’s touchdown scoring potential (how well they pass, how well they run) while conversely showing how poorly the other team is faring from defending their goal area. This further impacts the time one team possesses the ball – a strong indicator of victory. So, if you want to get a sense of how the game is going, and who’s gaining/holding momentum look at the 1st Down Conversion battle. Whichever team has more 1st Down Conversions than the other at that point is the team more than likely controlling the game. Finally, as the gap of 1st Down conversions widen between the two, the victory will most likely be assured to the team with more conversions.
Enjoy the weekend – and the game if you’re watching!
Feel Free To Leave A Comment!