Who Dat and all that?

It's always very tempting for someone of my age to attempt to be more 'in touch' or 'with it' than they really are and it's especially so if you are in one of the crustier positions in life - that of Head of a fairly traditional independent boarding school! As Twain said though, "I can resist anything except temptation", so I will have to comment on the event which draws 90 million viewers worldwide and that would be the Super Bowl. Whether you like football or not, it's hard not to be drawn in by some aspect of the formidable marketing job that the NFL does with its product. Borrowing from the same basic elements that fuelled the Coliseum in Ancient Rome, the NFL's gladiators are deified and packaged as the super-heroes of the sportsworld. Who needs eloquence when the quest of a whole state, a story of historical disenfranchisement made worse by natural disasters, can be reduced to a two word question that is on the same level as a glorified grunt - who dat? Well, the underdogs, who bear the somewhat ironic 'Saints' name which doesn't seem to fit with the seamier image of the city, did in fact earn the respect they crave in their two-word question and all power to them! I, for one, approved of their triumph and I love their black and gold uniforms!

The big question is surely what is behind the question though. "Who is that?" means an invitation to find out more about someone or an indication by their actions that it would be worthwhile to do that, both very laudable approaches to life. Curiosity is good and being interested in the worth of others is even better. If we adopt that as a natural response to others then we may well be starting from the standpoint of respect and, of course, that is crucial.

However, I cannot let the whole event go by without a comment on the so-called 'half-time show'. I'm not sure who it is that believes that aging rockers with decrepit bodies and faltering voices have even a smidgeon of the appeal that they used to have! I suppose it's too much to hope that the coincidence of the name of the band in question and the question of the moment are linked, but I would have to depart from my earlier advice and throw in a couple of extra words to convey my disbelief at how bad Daltry and co. had become, finally asking - who on earth dat !!??