Guest Feature- Beer & Bachelorettes: Acting Like A Lady During Super Bowl 50

Super Bowl Sunday: The one day out of the 365 days of the year where it is publicly okay to drink and eat more than you should, and actually enjoy watching commercials (which we would typically hate if we were watching any other television show). I, along with three other single ladies, camped out at a local bar to watch Super Bowl 50. I realized my transition from forced football fan to football fanatic had become complete when I was in a bar with a beer in my hand yelling profanities at the game just as much as the guy with a beard sitting next to me. Due to friendships made in college, I have become “one of the guys” when it comes to watching and participating in sports.

Black and yellow are my team colors -- I am proud to be a Pittsburg Steelers fan. Growing up with a dad and brother who are diehard fans didn’t give me much of a choice, so I found myself time and time again yelling at the game alongside my crazed family fans. I enjoyed football and I understood football back then, but now, my love for the game is even greater now that I have the knowledge to back it up. Do I know every single team member and their track history back from when they played Pop Warner ball? Absolutely not. But I can, however, tell you that Rod Woodson, Jack Butler, and Dermontti Dawson were just a few of their unforgettable players and there must be a reason they’ve won 6 out of 8 Super Bowl Championships.

Unfortunately, the Steelers lost to the Broncos 23-16 after a well-played game and eliminated my dream team from making it into the Super Bowl this year, which left me rooting for the Panthers. Again, I was disappointed. But listen, just because my team didn’t make it as far as I would have wanted them to, doesn’t mean the game ends. For Super Bowl 50, I was first in line to kick my feet up, drink an entire pitcher of beer, and stuff my face with foods that did nothing for my girlish figure.

Picture this: a bar full of men claiming they were not “fair weather fans”, then they just happened to start cheering for the winning team with 4 chicks who were clearly more into the game than they were. While they were more concerned about switching their team jerseys in the bathroom with their bandwagon buddies, the four of us were more concerned about why that flag was thrown on a certain play. I may have been one of the only Panther fans in the place, but at least I knew enough to cheer for the underdog team and when it was actually appropriate to cheer or not. Football is not a language that is hard to learn; it’s a game that is now shared with men and women -- women, who frankly, know a lot more than you think we do.

I went from being someone who just watched sports because the men in the family did, to yelling at the stranger in front of me to sit the hell down because I would miss a play. If I have the opportunity to pause the game to run to the bathroom or record it and avoid social media before I watch it, I take that opportunity. I don’t want to miss it as much as you don’t. So by all means, stand in front of me when the next game is on to block my view and you’ll see not to mess with Beer and Bachelorettes.

Erin is a guest writer for The Ladies League.