Whenever I take the time to set my laptop to hulu and catch an episode of Stephen Colbert, I smile the entire segment—I’m a huge Colbert fan and am always prepared for his dry witty humor to take away any writer’s block or grittiness that comes up in the minutes of the day.

And now, his take on what surrounds this madness on Sunday will be another memorable notch on the Emmy-winning comedian/pseudo news reporters’ belt.

I am a devout football fan and have been since I was a kid growing up with older brothers.

Often times I would have to take football quizzes prior to dinner time to ensure that I knew all the names of the players seated on the posters decorating their beloved boy-themed rooms. My brothers gave me a nickname after the old Dallas Cowboys wide receiver, Bob Hayes.

It dates back to the good old days of football, but I was a wide receiver in our neighborhood games nonetheless and “Roberta Hayes” as I was called, showed up every Sunday. It was only when I took my eye off a pass being thrown while running for the long bomb in the streets that the pigskin hit me in the ear knocking my large hooped earring out and ripped my earlobe.  I was such a tomboy girl.

Those were the days.

There’s nothing a small trip to the plastic surgeon to repair my ear wouldn’t fix and I was back at it the following weekend.

I also played intramural football in college. It didn’t last long, as the coed aspect of it got a bit rough, and was nothing like playing wide receiver when I was young, but it served a purpose in those days. I love a good game of football.

Lately though, the game has gotten too weird for me, my team never seems to get very far in their quest for the trophy, and I get bored with scores that aren’t close in number. But I show up every autumn/winter season to see what’s going on.

Imagine my delight when I caught Colbert’s recent take on the upcoming Super Bowl.

Not only did his moniker for the event “Superb Owl” strike me as clever as hell, but he transitioned to a topic on the elusive spotted bard owl to give his new football name game something more to think about.

He rolls into their habitat problems and whatnot, and I totally forgot his football segment. This guy is just too good.

The Super Bowl is headed our way.

Commercial ad snippets are beginning to lure us into the millions of dollars spent on this insanely big day—only in America. But, it is Colbert and his craft that can take your mind into some funny place and give you the sense to never take yourself or football too seriously.

I’ll remember that the next time I am perched at some sports bar watching multiple games with seriously tricked out football dudes everywhere, men boozing it and acting harsh and yelling to the top of their lungs. It hurts my ears to say the least, but sometimes it is the price I pay to witness a game that was a poignant piece of my childhood.

I would have to say though, my football-loving days are waning somewhat, as evidenced by my team that never gets anywhere, the rules and regulations that continue to change, the actual players who are becoming so narcissistic and overpaid, and my own missing of being Roberta Hayes.

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Editor: Catherine Monkman

Image: Colbert Nation