Athletics: Though it may not rank as high in viewership as World Cup Soccer (Football to the rest of the world), the 53rd Super Bowl® is tonight and historically sports (heh!) the largest viewership in the US of any other television broadcast. The game is being held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia and features the 2-point favorite American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots vying with the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Los Angeles Rams to be crowned the champions of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2018 season.
The game is scheduled to start at 6:30pm EST (2330 UTC) and is being broadcast in the USA on CBS and, apparently, is also available for streaming on-line.
Advertisements: Over the years, it has grown to be a spectacle where the game play is occasionally overshadowed by the advertisements. An advertisement during this year's game sets a new record of over $5 Million for a 30-second spot. Some of the most memorable ads of all time premiered during the Super Bowl®. Who can forget the Macintosh 1984 ad or Michael Jordan and Larry Bird's game of "horse" where "nothing but net" became a meme?
An Experiment: In light of this opportunity, we are going to try something new for SoylentNews. We have set up a channel on our IRC (Internet Relay Chat) server especially for this game. The Patriots are favored to win over the Rams by two points, so the game may prove to be close... discussion about the game IS welcome. We are also offering a venue for people to discuss the ads that are broadcast, in real time. See an ad you thought was lame, say so! Laughed your butt off? Say that, too! The intent is to provide a shared space for the community to watch the game together.
Ground Rules: This is intended to be an enjoyable experience. In the sole discretion of the channel operators, ad hominem attacks, uncivil behavior, trolling, spamming, and politics are all grounds for getting kicked off the channel. Repeated violations will result in a ban from the channel and whatever other steps are deemed necessary to make it an enjoyable place for people to hang out and discuss the game and ads. In short, we are inviting you to our "living room" — have fun, but don't crap on our carpet. Let's put our differences aside and gather together for a shared community experience!
Sorry, no catering is provided, so you'll have to BYOB (bring your own... bacon =).
Details: Use your favorite IRC client or use the convenient link in the left-hand slashbox titled "SoylentNews". If you are new to IRC, these commands may be helpful:
# Pick a name for use on IRC:
/NICK mynickname# Join the channel (be careful with the spelling!)
/JOIN #SuperBowlLIII
If you have any questions about getting connected, I'd advise joining an hour or so before the game; I'm sure folks will be ready and willing to help.
Lastly, have fun, enjoy the game, and may the best team win!
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday February 04 2019, @12:13AM (5 children)
Ahh, football. Where a bunch of roided-out freaks in tight pants and tops that make their chests look bigger bump and tumble and grind and grab all over one another to get hold of a huge ball. The most heterosexual, manly sport *ever* after professional wrestling!
Eh, at least it's better than gladiatorial combat, even if it basically replaced that.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 04 2019, @12:31AM (2 children)
I have never once understood the homoerotic aspects of some team sports. Ass slaps? WTF? Guess that's what you get when you have a culture built on sexual repression.
(Score: 3, Funny) by takyon on Monday February 04 2019, @01:40AM
Trending towards sexual liberation? Ass slaps for everyone!
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by martyb on Monday February 04 2019, @01:57AM
Wit is intellect, dancing.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 04 2019, @07:22AM
As someone once pointed out, War is the sport of homosexual rape, inserting objects into other men's bodies, without their permission. Football is just practice. Macho, macho man! I wanna be, a Macho man! Village People, correct?
(Score: 3, Funny) by Phoenix666 on Monday February 04 2019, @11:51AM
You could always watch it for the deep thoughts of the sports announcers or the wit of the player interviews.
Washington DC delenda est.