Super Bowl XLVI survival guide

By Frankie Barbato, Spotlight Editor

Super Bowl is XLVI is less than a week away. For a football game that has turned into more of a national holiday, many spectators forget that the purpose of this Sunday is to actually the watch New York Giants play the New England Patriots. With so many other things to focus on other than the big game, the daylong event can be stressful. But fear not! Here is a survival guide to help manage Sunday’s most important festivities.

1. Oh no! I’m a Giants fan in Boston: So you are one of the 4 million students at Boston University who is from the Long Island/New Jersey area? What a rarity. Wear your Giants jersey anyway and remember that there’s strength in numbers. If you are going to show your Giants pride, make sure you have at least four friends to back you up when a drunken Patriots fan decides to throw something at you. Oh, and try not to smile if Tom Brady does something dumb.
2. Learn the game: Nobody likes a jersey-wearing, “I’m so excited for the Super Bowl” fan who doesn’t actually know anything about the game. Make sure you brush up on the football basics so you can obnoxiously scream things at the TV during the appropriate times with everyone else.
3. Halftime fun: Play off how excited you actually are for the halftime show. The show this year stars the great Madonna, as well as Nicki Minaj, M.I.A, LMFAO and Cee Lo Green, so it might be difficult to contain your excitement. But be discrete and say something like, “Gosh, I was so into the football action that I totally forgot that these amazing artists are singing a collaboration of their greatest hits.”
4. Be early, not on time: This isn’t the time to uphold your “fashionably late” arrival time. The game starts at 6:30 p.m., so don’t be that person who straggles in after kick-off and awkwardly walks past the television to hang up their jacket.
5. Plan how you’ll eat: A table full of Buffalo wings, nachos, potato skins and three layer dips can be an intimidating place. It might seem like a good idea to stack your plate before the game even begins, just remember that a football game lasts three hours. Nobody wants to step over the girl or guy in the food coma passed out on the ground by the fourth quarter. It’s bad taste.
6. Social media cravings: Please PLEASE refrain from being one of those people who tweets and makes Facebook status updates more than they actually watch the game. Additionally, don’t be that person who makes their status something along the lines of, “is there a football game on today? I couldn’t tell.” Nobody will like you.
7. If all else fails, watch the puppy bowl: There has to be a secret TV around somewhere that no one is watching. If the whole “pretending like you are actually enjoying the game” act is failing, grab a drink and turn on Animal Planet. People will only slightly judge you.