“Holy s***! Can you believe he caught that?!” — me to my brother during Super Bowl XLII.

Super Bowl XLVIII is here. I’ve watched plenty of Super Bowls. The funny thing is, for all the ga-jillions of dollars spent on advertising and hype during the two weeks leading up-to and during the game, I only remember a handful of them. I don’t know if that means advertisers are not doing a good job or if I just have a rotten memory. I think it means there are more important things than the game itself, at least to me.

Both my wife and sister-in-law were pregnant with our first kids. We were all watching Super Bowl XLII together at my apartment. Even my mom too. I don’t recall watching a Super Bowl with my brother prior to that. I watched sports more than he did; in fact, he rarely watched sports at all. So it was a bit of an anomaly that we were watching sports on TV together. I had asked him once, when we were younger, why. He said something along the lines of:

“Because I’d rather play the game than watch a bunch of millionaires play.”

Classic Louie. I don’t watch sports that much anymore either. But that didn’t mean we couldn’t appreciate watching a game on TV.

He was a good athlete, in all the sports we played growing up. In the fall and winter we’d go out and he’d show me how to throw and catch a football, and all the other facets of the game. (When we got older, even as recently as a few years ago in my backyard, we’d enjoy a little catch together.) Youngsters learn ya gotta lead the receiver to the ball and throw it in front of them. Probably one of the harder things to learn about the game, especially since in sports like Baseball and Basketball you throw or pass the ball directly to someone, usually. I was never much of a quarterback, but did develop an appreciation for catching the ball.

I remember my brother teaching me and a few of my friends how to tackle:

“Hit ’em low; go for the legs!” He’d say.

Not a pleasant idea, when you think about it. I was always concerned about getting kicked in the face. But he was right, that’s the proper technique.

Hard to believe Super Bowl XLII was six years ago. When in years past I’d have probably gone to some party to watch the game with friends, that year I was content to watch it with my family. It wasn’t a big plan or anything, it just worked-out that way. I’m glad it did. Some folks will remember the game because of David Tyree’s spectacular catch. I remember it because I enjoyed watching it with my brother.