The best way to start a post about why Superbowl parties are an annoying desi habit, is with an excerpt from a chat transcript. The chat happened between me and a fellow-desi I used to work with. He pinged me in spite of my status being set as "Busy".
Him: Hey busy girl, how're you doing?
Me: Not bad. What's up?
Him: Do you have any plans for Sunday night?
Me: (confused if he is hitting on me, because I know he is married) This sunday? Why?
Him: We're having a Superbowl party. Lots of junta will be there. You should come.
Me: Oh..... well, maybe I'll drop by for a while.
Him: Come for sure. By the way, I am supporting your home team. :)
Me: (confused again) My home team?????
Him: Yeah, the Steelers!
Me: How is that my home team?
Him: Didn't you grow up near Philly?
Me: (still confused)Yes......
Him: So...
Me: So....I still don't get it... how does that make Steelers my home team? They're from Pittsburgh.
Him: Yeah, also Pennsylvania. That makes it your home team, right?
Me: Emmm... no! I am from Philly so my home team is from Philly - Eagles.
Him: I thought the Philly team was called Phillies.
Me: (wishing there was an emoticon for *groan*) That's the baseball team
Him: Oh is it? I thought that was the football team
Me: No, Phillies play baseball. They won the last World Series.
Him: Oh ok. I don't really follow baseball. My game is football.
Me: Anyway, just because I am from PA does not mean I will support any PA team. In baseball, in fact the Pirates and Phillies have an intense rivalry.
Him: OK.
Me: And there would be between the Steelers and Eagles too, but they are not in the same coference. Anyway, the Steelers are a good team. But as a true Philly girl would, I only support the Eagles.
Him: Never heard of them. They mustn't be very good.
Me: (still raw from the Eagles' defeat in the NFC championship game the previous week) WHAT???????????
Him: What happened?
Me: Eagles beat Steelers this season!
Him: I thought they weren't in the same conference.
Me: (now getting REALLY pissed off) They're not. It was an inter-conference game
Him: What??
Me: Never mind. Do you know who the Cardinals beat in the NFC championship game to go to the Superbowl?
Him: (after a break of a few minutes during which I suspect he was on Wikipedia) Yes, Eagles. I know that.
Me: (wanting to say - no you don't, you poser! you just said that you had never heard of the Eagles... but I stay polite) Ok.
Him: Anyway, come for the party for sure. Gotta go. (and he beats a hasty retreat)
This is what makes the desi pretense of caring about the Superbowl so annoying. Desis in America, no matter what their other flaws, are usually capable of intelligent conversation on a variety of topics. So why do they insist on sounding like idiots by putting on a show of caring about something just because the whole country is obsessed with it? A guy who thinks a Philly girl will support the Steelers just because we're from the same state is throwing a Superbowl party!
Although I have never been brave enough to attend a desi Superbowl party (which sounds about as much fun as a mormon Diwali party), I have seen pictures on facebook and they provide evidence of how clueless most people at those parties are. They burn money on merchandise to wear at the party, just so they can feel like they are actual fans of the sport. Unlike other normal people who wear jerseys to support their teams, the desi usually wears jerseys to show the world that he likes football. Browsing the facebook pics, I saw that a guy wearing a Steelers jersey at this year's Superbowl party, was wearing a Patriots jersey at last year's party!!
So really, desis, please stop pretending that you care about the NFL, or that you would have these parties even if the Superbowl was not a super-hyped media circus. Why don't you stick to your cricket parties? I know the Superbowl happens every year, so the peer-pressure to watch it is very high, but come on! I know there is some mega-cricketing event every year these days.
Maybe people like me who get bugged at this desi act of caring about the Superbowl should petition the World Cricket Association to have a big cricket game between India and Pakistan every year on Superbowl Sunday. Desis will then have a valid excuse to ignore football that day, and we will be spared these pathetic Superbowl parties thrown by them.
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Never hosted a Superbowl party myself, although I do plead guilty to hosting Presidential Debate parties. But as an outsider living at the exact center of PA, nothing wrong with supporting teams from Philly as well as Pitt. I am well aware of the strong east-west divide in sports fans, but I do know a bunch of "true" Philadelphians who support the Steelers (and Penguins), and folks from Pittsburgh who adore the Phillies.
ReplyDeleteGaurav : As someone who supports the Eagles, I know for a fact that it is virtually impossible to support any other team in the country. Well, maybe temporarily, if they happen to be either playing the Giants, Redskins or the Cowboys, especially the effing Cowboys. The fact that Pittsburgh lies in PA doesn't matter at all. If you know Philadelphians who support the Steelers, I am sorry, but they are not "true" Eagles fans. In fact, the only time the Steelers and Eagles fans rooted for one another was last year when there was a possibility that they would be the AFC and NFC champions and play each other in the superbowl. But that was just because they wanted to hear ESPN call the Superbowl the battle of the turnpike.
ReplyDeleteBut I have to speak on behalf of phony desi team supporters. Oftentimes, they have to fake interest in football just to be able to make intelligent conversation at the office water cooler. I've seen this in many of my friends. They tell me they're gonna go to an office World series party, yet, they are clueless about a single baseball fundamental. Well, a man's gotta climb the corporate ladder, so more power to you.
Gawker, fair enough. My point was not that they are "true" Eagles fans, but "true" Philadelphians. So it is possible from a Philadelphian to support the Steelers, just like you will find the odd Indian cricket fan who supports Pakistan more.
ReplyDeleteBut what does it mean to be a "true" Philadelphian if you're not a "true" Eagles fan?
ReplyDeleteGaurav, listen to Gawker!
ReplyDeleteGawker, your ID has given me fodder for a later rant - desis who show no imagination when coming up with online handles and often shamelessly copy famous blogs. :P
In my defense, when I began blogging, I had no clue that Gawker.com existed. Plus, "gawker" it is a shorter form of curiousgawker for which, however, I am prepared to accept full responsibility. But that being said, you should pursue the rant regardless.
ReplyDeleteTrust a couple of desis to turn a rant against them into an analytical discussion.
ReplyDeleteWorld Cricket Association..... a major clanger there
World Cricket association? Maybe you should also stick to commenting about games that you know a damn about. There is no such thing as World Cricket Association, only the International Cricket Council (ICC). Further, the big cricket rivalry is not between India and Pakistan, but between India and Australia. Please take your own advice and try not to make comments on stuff you don't know.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, one thing that gets me about ABCD chicks is how horribly crummy and old fashioned they are. Ping them and they will think you are hitting on them...not just hitting...trying to marry them and get a green card, the path to the precious American citizenship, the achievement limited to a highly exclusive tiny little club of 310 million people. Grow up, a guy walking up to you is not a symptom that he wants to marry you. That's how it used to be in the 17th century. I would recommend a slow transition to the 21st century; start by reading a Jane Austen novel.
I relate to this post. My Facebook was filled with annoying status messages about superbowl this year. It didn't seem like they were genuine fans because there were no hourly updates. Come cricket season, I wouldn't need to turn on my tv ..lol. Seems like they were jerking off to their own personifications of Superbowl fans...in front of their clueless family members and friends in India. Idiots.
ReplyDelete