More people viewed Super Bowl XXXVIII than voted
Beyond our borders
By Kristina Herrndobler
An estimated 143.6 million people watched at least some of the New England Patriots‚ win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, according to Associated Press reports.
I was not among those 143.6 million sports fans. It isn‚t that I don‚t like sports or a good party; it was just that I had more important things to do, like scrub my kitchen floor.
I arrived at my new apartment in Washington D.C. on Saturday, just in time to spend my first weekend in the country‚s capital cleaning my inner-city apartment. For the first time in my life, I have my own place. Unfortunately, that means I also have my own spiders and my own bars on my windows.
In all actuality, the apartment isn‚t mine at all. I live in the basement of a sweet couple and their dog. The place should be mine though, because I am certainly paying a good chunk of their mortgage payment.
Since my whole paycheck is going to rent, I have no television. And being new to the city, I also have no friends, so the Super Bowl and the Justin/Janet scene were out-of-the-question.
But really, in the scheme of things, I didn‚t miss much. In the weeks and months ahead, the game will be nothing but an afterthought. Thousands of other things more closely affect our lives, although not nearly as many of us will pay attention.
In 2000, only about 105 million Americans voted in the presidential election.
Many more people wished they had, once we learned of how close the race was. But the simple fact is more people were interested in Sunday‚s Super Bowl than electing the president of the United States.
It doesn‚t take a genius to figure out why this is so. Reading up on several candidates and then making a tough decision is not nearly as much fun as watching a bunch of men beat up on each other while chasing a ball.
But the importance of researching the issues and the candidates is essential to the country. While few of us will ever get the chance to meet the president, his decisions directly affect our lives and the world in which we live.
The global community is watching our every move and the great majority of it is hoping we elect anyone but President Bush. When I talk to my friends overseas, they always ask which candidate I will be voting for. I have repeated again and again that I am uncertain.
"If you vote for a murderer, you are a murderer," a group once told me.
The simple idea that not everyone will vote in such a huge election amazes him or her. But then again, it amazes me. We fight wars and lose American lives so people can have the right to vote, a right we take for granted.
To watch the entire Super Bowl, without missing any of the year‚s best advertisements or the over-the-top halftime show, would have taken a few hours.
To vote takes five minutes. However, just like the preparation that goes into the game, we must educate ourselves on the issues and then decide who deserves to win the race to the White House.
Kristina is a junior in journalism. Beyond our borders appears every Wednesday. These views do not necessarily reflect those of the DAILY EGYPTIAN.
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