The local team won the national club championship

The locals are going ga-ga over here after the New England Patriots won last night. My interest in American football gradually increased over time and waned just as rapidly, so much so that not only I did not feel like watching the game yesterday but also did not switch channels to catch the half time show last night. The more I watched this game, the more it seems like a ruthlessly plagiarized, over dramatized, super hyped game. I started following the game with genuine enthusiasm once I understood the rules and actively followed my favourite teams, so much so that on some weekends, I followed multiple games at the same time on all available Tv/radios in my apt. I have started to follow baseball a little more closely over the past 2 years especially given the good seasons that the Red Sox have had. That game, although just as bad a replica of another more popular sport, atleast seems to be more natural and hard to play. But American football on the other hand, seems like a contrived outlet for militarily inclined mindsets. The terms, the phrases, the rules and then most aggravatingly, the commentary. From John Madden's excruciating stating of the obvious to the trash-talkers-in-suits that consitute the 'analysis' panels the only focus of the commentators seems to be to hype the sport come what may. Some quotes that I have actually heard on TV include astute observations such as 'He is a football player' and the oft repeated analysis on why a specific player who made one play in a 1 hour game is 'one of the most underestimated players' in the league. I have actually heard this praise sung so many times that it is time that one seriously questions the judgement of the people who are doing the 'estimating'. Quarterbacks throw 'strikes', teams combine in the form of 'offensive', 'defensive' and special team units, there is aerial reconnaisance and photography, there are 'battle' planners a.k.a coaches, there are radio communications, there are medics and the heroes become 'warriers' while cheerleaders hoot their praise from the sidelines. However, at the end of the day, these guys are playing a funnily different game of rugby in full body armour and tight pants(the juxtaposition of these skin tight pants and the macho symbolism around the game never ceases to tickle me)! After the hype, the glamour, the money and the steroids start to wear off, my suspicion is that this game will slowly fade away. Baseball and basketball stand far better chances of extending their reach. But maybe I am over analysing this. What if the intention and the raison d'etre of this game is really 'sports entertainment'? Does that make the guys who play these any less athletes? Does it become any easier to throw a deep pass to a receiver on the full run? Should be interesting to watch the evolution of this game over the next 25 years.