Football vs Football on ESPN Super Bowl cruise

André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

Besides the multibillion-dollar Cowboys Stadium in Texas, the best place to watch Sunday's Super Bowl game and capture all the excitement leading up to the big show is, without doubt, aboard Royal Caribbean's impressive voyageur-class vessel, the Navigator of the Seas.

With international sports media giants ESPN basically taking over command of the ship with their annual 'Super Bowl at Sea' cruise, things are already shaping up to be a most memorable experience aboard the massive ship. Even if you have absolutely no interest in the National Football League (NFL), you could tell from the very outset that this was not an ordinary cruise, as NFL enthusiasts made their way up and down the corridors decked out in their favourite team's garb.

However, it's not all about the NFL this weekend, as ESPN is chipping in on the age-old debate on which is the 'real' football: the National Football League's 'football' or the football that we all love and know in Jamaica and across 99 per cent of the globe.

Taken along for the ride are a string of former and present professional NFL and football players, such as former Pittsburgh Steelers running back and current free agent Veron Haynes and former Oakland Raiders Pro Bowler Roderick Coleman.

Former Reggae Boy Robbie Earle, the man who scored Jamaica's first goal at the FIFA World Cup in 1998, now an analyst on ESPN's Soccernet Press Pass, former Trinidad and Tobago captain and outstanding shot-stopper Shaka Hislop, who is also an ESPN analyst these days, and former England-based player Michael Thompson, have all been drafted by ESPN to add to the excitement and to defend the football ranks.

interactive activities

The idea is to pit the NFL and football guest athletes and commentators against each other and against fellow cruisers all weekend, in an impressive list of interactive activities such as rock climbing, ice-skating challenge, swimming challenge, tag football and miniature golf, just to name a few.

But the hard-talking started as early as yesterday morning during a taping of ESPN's Soccernet Press Pass inside the ship's main promenade.

Popular ESPN colour commentator and analyst Tommy Smyth, acting as a referee of sorts, laid down the gauntlet to both set of players and sort of set the tone for the rivalry when he asked the NFL's Coleman about his thoughts on football players and the sport in general.

"They are just a bunch of skinny guys running around with very little contact," offered Coleman.

"I know a lot about the sport (football)," said Haynes, who actually grew up in Trinidad and Tobago. "In fact, it's so easy I could have taken Shaka's (Hislop) job."

Not to be outdone, Hislop replied, "Our football is the real men's sport. These NFL guys are just a bunch of big guys running around in tights and shoulder pads."

"Yea, they don't want to hurt themselves," Earle chipped in to a huge eruption of laughter.

Truth is, for most Jamaicans, American football - as we call it on the rock - serves nothing more than a mere curiosity at best. But for most on board the Navigator of the Seas, nothing else seems to matter.

"I really don't care much about that type of football anyway," scoffed EPLTalk.com's Christopher Harris, minutes before engaging me in an interesting discussion about English Premier League outfit Arsenal's transfer policy and the dominance of Manchester United. Seemed Harris isn't too keen on the NFL himself.

"Why do they even call it football anyway, most of the time they are running around with the ball in their hands," added Jeff, a devoted Liverpool fan, who was cruising with his family and had absolutely no care in the world for the NFL. But Jeff, like Harris and a few others, was among the minority on this cruise.

Six-time champions the Pittsburgh Steelers and three-time victors the Green Bay Packers, the team that I believe will lift the coveted Lombardi Trophy tomorrow, have already drawn battle lines, and so have a host of cruisers. It's interesting to see what the environment is going to be like at the three on- board sites where the game will be beamed live.

"Go Packs" - a reference to the Aaron Rodgers-led Green Bay team, and "Black and yellow", a rallying call from those within the 'Steelers Nation', have been the battle cries of the opposing fans, and with the big day fast approaching, it's not clear if the azure carpet of ocean will be able to cool the expected emotions on game day.