Why Bother?

I've never been to a NFL football game, but in my youth I went to more Dodgers and Angels games than I care to count.
It started out easy enough. The Dodgers were the local team, and ticket prices, even after adjusted for inflation, were not near as bad as they are today. The whole family, five of us, would go pretty regular, once a month or more.
After a set of free tix found us at Angel Stadium, a little further away, we became Angels fans due to a more enjoyable family experience: the staff kept an eye on the rowdies and drunks, and didn't let things get out of control, unlike at the Dodger games. Add to that, the 70's Angels sucked, were never overly crowded , and priced accordingly.

After I'd outgrown the folks, I was a Dodger regular again... for the same reasons the family left for Anaheim: I wanted the rowdiness. After the last beer was thrown from the upper deck, it was exciting knowing that maybe we weren't going to make it back to the car without seeing something violent break out between drunken Mexicans or rival Blacks.
And still, back then, it was a cheap night by comparison. Even cheaper when you brought your own pocket bottle to spice up the $2 beers.

What it came down to, in reality, was not the game. It was atmosphere. Everybody cheering and cursing in unison. Dodging beer. Watching girls. Dropping peanut shells. The Wave. Swallows chasing insects at dusk. Another Wave! All the stuff you didn't do at home in front of the T.V., where you could have seen the action better anyway, along with instant replay.

All of this is why I just don't get the concept of luxury or VIP boxes, where the uppity can view the game in peace and comfort.

Last Sunday, I'm sitting here watching the Super Bowl, while the camera focuses on Jerry Jones, W Bush and all the big shot, super rich football fans, safely tucked away in their hidey-hole VIP boxes, separated from the full experience of a major public sporting event... I'm left wondering what it is they are doing there that they can't be doing at home.