Being a Houstonian who doesn’t care about all the Super Bowl hype is a lot like living near the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. You live near a lot of artistic activity, near a venue for events which provides lot of quality entertainment to a lot of people. You hear the hype and excitement, sometimes you even get to see it with your own two eyes (if you’re lucky).

But in the end, being near it for so long has somewhat desensitized you to the hoopla and excitement and hype of the entire ordeal. Enough that, eventually, it gets to a point that you mostly forget that it’s even happening. I woke up today not even thinking about Super Bowl LI; didn’t once cross my mind apart from remembering that I had to write this opinion piece.

Because, really, I have other priorities to focus on than a football game I have no investment in watching at all, whatsoever.

I mean, who’s playing? I can’t name them off the top of my head, but my ambivalence towards the Bowl this year mirrors my apathy for it I had last year. Why watch the game if none of the teams I care about are playing in it? And heaven forbid the freaking Patriots are heading to the Super Bowl again, in which case I would certainly not watch the dang football game even if my life depended on it.

But if it isn’t the Texans or the Cowboys, then I’m sorry, I just don’t care too much about this year’s Super Bowl LI. Maybe- maybe– I’ll watch it at least a little bit just to keep an eye out for any good debut film trailers sprinkled into the mix of the commercials, but even that is stretching it a bit.

This more likely than not is just me being a cynical Houstonian who understands the grander problems to be tackled in the city as well as in the state at large, but seeing all this funding go towards a one-evening event and not, say, towards improving inner-city schools that need renovations or better pay for better teachers just kind of irks me.

I understand that the city needs the revenue; I understand the city businesses can do good with the exposure and the tourism; I won’t take away from those vital facts. But seeing so much going towards this one football game and not towards services that desperately require greater funding to make the city a better place just doesn’t do much in the way of trying to hype me up for it.

Hit me up next season when the Texans get their stuff together and actually remember their team comprises of more than just the league’s best defensive line. Until then, I’m just enjoying myself from my view from afar; apart from all the hype and hoopla, thank you very much.

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