第44回スーパーボウル

I don’t have too much interest in most spectator sports. I enjoy the Olympics, boxing, and American Football.

I didn't know the NFL updated their logo in 2008.

When I first came to Japan, American Football was never shown on TV here or even mentioned in the newspapers (except for the English-language papers). Most Japanese people had never seen an American football* game.

*(I say “American football because that’s what the game is called outside of the U.S., to differentiate it from soccer (which is often called “football” outside the U.S. (Japanese usually refer to that game as 「サッカー」 (soccer) though))).

But the NFL (America’s professional football league) stepped up their campaign about five or six years ago to make American football popular in Japan…much like soccer, baseball, and basketball are.

The NFL has played games in other countries, including Japan, to try to increase interest outside the U.S.
But it has had limited success.
In Japan, though, around five years ago, the NFL helped introduce American football to high schools and colleges in Japan.
At first it wasn’t popular and the only students who joined their school’s American football team were the ones who didn’t make the soccer or baseball teams. But the games slowly begun to grow in popularity here…although it has nowhere near the popularity that it has in America (yet).

And now American football has begun to be shown on TV here in Japan. Not every game…only the Superbowl game and a few other key games.
And the games that are shown are aired late at night and edited to fit into the time slot.
But that’s enough for me. Even if every game was aired, I’d probably only watch the Superbowl and games that the “Tampa Bay Buccaneers” played (I grew up in Tampa Bay, Florida).

Tampa Bay Buccaneers logo

Last night I watched the Superbowl playoff game of the New Orleans Saints versus the Minnesota Vikings.

New Orleans Saints

vs.

Minnesota Vikings

The final score was New Orleans – 31 / Minnesota – 28…so the New Orleans Saints will play in the Superbowl against the Indianapolis Colts.

Indianapolis Colts logo

So 「第４４回スーパーボウル」 (“Superbowl 44“) will start in America in less than 24 hours from now (Sunday, 2010 February 7 at 6:00PM (American EST))…but it won’t air in Japan until about fourteen hours later.

If you’re in Japan and you and to watch the American football Superbowl game…it will be aired on 「日テレ」 (Nihon TV) on Monday, 2010 February 8 at 24:29 (aka. Tuesday, 9 Feb at 00:29AM).

Do you like American football? What’s your favorite team?
Will you watch the Superbowl? Which team do you hope will win?