Friday, February 04, 2005

What kind of poet . . .

. . . watches the Super Bowl? I'll admit it. I love watching football, and I never miss the Super Bowl. Rest assured, I'll be watchhing this Sunday.

Does that make me a bad person? Is my appreciation of art and beauty called into question with every Flare, Slant, or Draw-Play?

I wonder if there are any contemporary poets out there who used to don the pads?

Last semester, Thom Ward came to my school to give a reading. He boldly talked about lacing up his cleats and kicking @$$ before a shocked auditorium. He still pumps iron, etc., but he mentioned how he suffers from gimpy knees because of his football days.

I also had the honor of hanging out at Austin Hummell's house while I was doing a visiting teaching gig up in Northern Michigan University. We were watching the NBA playoffs and snarfing macadamia nuts while looking over poems. I guess the two can happen simultaneously--art and physical grace.

Anyway, I'm a poet who so happens to be a sports nut. I'm going to be watching Super Bowl XXXIX for the sport, not for the commercials.

8 comments:

Leslieann said...

Wooooo! I LOVE football and I'm sure you know by now that Aimee does as well. So not only are we poets loving football - we are WOMEN poets loving this sport. And since when are poems and football mutually exclusive? :)

Rest assured Oliver, you are not the only poet watching the game for the game. :)

As for poets who used to don the pads? Well, how about a great friend of mine, Ross Gay - amazing poet, painter & football/basketball player? For all of you in NYC, he'll be featured at the louderARTS project at Bar 13 on March 21. Check out http://www.louderarts.com.

Btw, why is the Super Bowl counted in roman numerals anyway?

son rivers said...

I'll be watching too. But I'm not a football fan. Just a Patriots fan. And a bandwagon one at that. Go Pats!

cornshake said...

count me in too. D is making a wicked huuuge sub for our friend's house. but i hate both teams. i wanted a colts/vikings superbowl. fooey. :(
but i just like football, so i will indeed be tuned in. i have to--it will be my last fix till august when the Buckeyes are back.

Susan Allspaw Pomeroy said...

I mirror Greg-- A Pats fan only because I was raised in Boston, and something bad will happen to me if I cheer for anyone else in such a final game. I actually think football (and hockey) can be very visually poetic with the play-by-play and color turned off. Imagine reading a Whitman poem over the action of the fourth quarter when there are no more time outs and no out-of-bounds! So you go, Oliver. Eat bad food, yell, jump up and down, and enjoy! We'll be with you!

A. P. Bucak said...

Now, Oliver, does "snarfing macadamia nuts" really count as physical grace? ;)

Oliver de la Paz said...

Snarfing does involve some grace. You should have seen how elegantly we inhaled those salted treats from Hawaii. We were so artful in our mowing down of nuts.

Unknown said...

I'm sorry to say that the Poetry Administration will be revoking your membership cards herewith and forewith for the unforgivable act of football watching.

=)dba

Oliver de la Paz said...

Ouch, Deborah! Can I appeal?!