The past weekend was a very important day on the American Calendar; it is what the American villagers loved to call the “Super Bowl”. Or is it the “Super Ball”? Well, some things are better left as they are. There are lots of things that have defeated my understanding just like our brothers from across the western border once said that, they cannot differentiate between malaria and the Holy Spirit because both made them shiver! Likewise, many things in America make many of us go round in circles. Never mind the tirade, as I was saying, the grand finale of the NFL (National Football league), the equivalent of the English Premiership, two cities were playing in this year’s final dubbed “XLVII”. On this auspicious occasion, we were invited by some American friends they specifically asked me to bring along my friends. On the list of friends, of course, I could not forget the one and only Diaspoman. Though the match was in New Orleans in Kigali, we graced the occasion glued behind a 72” LED TV screen that had all the size and sound effects to bring the stadium into the living room in Nyarutarama. Mr Ray, our host, had left nothing to chance, he had several cartons of the favourite brands like Budweiser, Heineken and the local brands like Armstel, Mutzig, etc. In America, such an event is not just watching the grand finale but real celebrating with friends.I do not want to sound discourteous, but I did not enjoy the match as much as I would have done if it was the English premiership taking place but all the same, it was fun! Another problem was that, the match kicked off at 7:00pm New Orleans time, which is like 2:00am Rwanda time. In order to keep alert for all that long, we had to get to the venue by midnight. There is no problem; we shall be watching the World Cup to be held in Brazil at that same time. That said, American Football is quite different from soccer in that, it is more of “handball” than “football”. See, the players spend more time holding the ball than kicking it! The other irony is that, the match is divided into 4 quarters of 15 minutes each. Funny enough, the time that counts is only that time when the players are running around or throwing the ball. It means, the 15 minutes quarter can even go on for more than 30 minutes! In the first quarter, the Baltimore Ravens (the team from Maryland Baltimore) went on rampage and were scoring at any opportunity. By end of the half, they had scored 28 points while the San Francisco 49ers looked like a shadow of themselves. NFL is all about muscles and fights. The players bash whoever dares run away with the ball without any provocation! The first half ended with the Ravens leading and so did the second quarter. Half time came nearly an hour-and-half from kick-off! What makes the Super Bowl a feat is where companies pay 4 million dollars to advertise in the game. At half time, fans were treated to Beyonce as the main artist as Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams took the stage with Beyonce, reuniting the trio who once performed as Destiny’s Child.Just a few minutes into the second half or 3rd quarter, all hell broke loose. There was a power surge and lights in half of the stadium went out and the game had to be stopped. The technicians took nearly half an hour to sort out the mess. Surprisingly, the fans kept their cool; the only complaints were from the Raven’s couch who said that the interruption was causing his players to lose concentration. Eventually, when the match resumed, the 49ers were the opposite; they kept pushing hard and they scored thrice to get 19 points. We were treated to a real fight as the San Francisco 49ers began to close the gap. Many of us supported the Ravens because they comprised mostly black players. (no racism intended). When the match ended, the Ravens had won with a two-point difference. After all, it was a typically African scenario, Afro-American players, power failure, just like in Africa!
