Rooting for Triangles

Recently in my History of Ancient Sports class, I stumbled across a quote from the mathematician/philosopher Pythagoras that I was particularly fond of. I posted it yesterday before the Superbowl, and while a few people saw it (and subsequently ‘liked’ it), I felt it held especially true to yesterday’s event and so I thought as though it was worth expanding upon. So first, the quote, and then I’ll get into everything else I have to say:

Leon admired Pythagoras’ genius and eloquence and asked him on which art he relied the most. Pythagoras said that he knew no arts, but was a philosopher. Leon marveled at the novelty of the term and asked what was a philosopher and what was the difference between them and the rest of mankind. Pythagoras is said to have responded that the life of man seemed to him like that festival which was held with the most magnificent games with all of Greece assembled. There some, with their bodies trained, competed for the glory and the fame of a crown, others were motivated by the profit potential of buying or selling, but there was yet another type, the best of all, who sought neither applause nor profit, but came to observe and to study what was done and how.

Ah yes, thank you, Pythagoras, not just for your excellent triangle theorems, but also for perfectly rationalizing the idea of sport spectatorship.

However, I felt that quote perfectly encapsulated yesterdays game especially. When people asked me who I was rooting for yesterday (between two teams I have no real interest in rooting for yet I found myself eventually backing Brady and co.), I responded simply with: “I’m rooting for a better game than last year.”

And boy, did the NFL deliver. What a game it was to watch. Quality back and forth football that more than made up for last years snore-fest, with an ending that will certainly be remembered. However, it I felt as though the quality of the whole production was a notch above. While there were no advertisements that truly stood out to me, there were also none that truly offended, either.

Most importantly, Katy Perry’s half time show was spectacular, it hit a chord with a wide variety of audiences. This was in part due to her broad appeal, but also due to the fact that Perry totally nailed the act. Personally I was glad to see a successful half time show. I honestly can’t remember seeing a performance that raised above the level of ‘meh.’ and I hope that next years can be equally adequate.

That being said, I do not envy whomever it is the NFL lines up to follow up Katy’s act.

Originally published at infinityculturebreakdown.wordpress.com on February 3, 2015.