A Buddhist Super Bowl

John Elkin — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 19:54:20 -0500

When I think Super Bowl, I am immediately transported to January 28, 1990.

While the Denver Broncos and the San Francisco 49ers were getting ready to battle for Super Bowl XXIV superiority, my friend Mark and I were on our way to Long Beach, California, for our first Super Bowl party away from our usual Los Angeles location.

Some background is necessary.

Mark and I have been life-long friends, sometime after 1981 we started getting together at his Los Angeles apartment for Super Bowls and bowl games featuring the Michigan Wolverines—our two passions. Shortly after this tradition started my very good friend Scott started joining us for Super Bowls. They were small gatherings; however they were always high energy with plenty of good food and drink.

Flash-forward to about 1989 and Scott had converted to Buddhism, met a woman in his temple and married her in an interesting, but repetitive ceremony. For the 1990 Super Bowl Mark and I were invited to Long Beach to do Super Bowl with Scott and his wife and a gathering of fellow Buddhists from their temple.

It all started out very well, food was displayed and then summarily eaten and overly long pregame shows with game prophecies were cheered or jeered. As people started to arrive, Mark and I realized that we Denver fans were greatly outnumbered by 49ers fanatics.

We had joked on the drive down about being the only ones not in a robe or with a single ponytail adorning a bald head and other Buddhist misconceptions. As the last people to arrive were greeted at the door we realized they all looked just like anyone you would see on the street.

We relaxed and hoped that Denver would quiet the pro-“Frisco” shouts.

As the first quarter came to a close, we expected the 20-yard touchdown from Montana to Rice, they were too good not to expect some scores. Eight minutes into the game Treadwell kicked a 42-yard field goal to boost our spirits and slightly quell the crowd.

In Buddhism there are the Four Truths. Mark and I were experiencing all four at the hands of Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and a roomful of Buddhists.

1. There is suffering. (Certainly, the Broncos and we were.)

2. There is a cause for suffering. (In our case, it was the 49ers and these Buddhists.)

3. There is a cessation of suffering. (The game couldn’t end fast enough!)

4. There is a way to the cessation of suffering. (We were thinking of leaving early.)

Suddenly, in the middle of the game—I think it was four o’clock, (time and therapy have washed many aspects of this day away)—every Buddhist in the room got up, went into another room, bowed down (to the west, I presume) and started chanted and banging a little gong.

Mark and I peered around the corner to see them all radiating loving-kindness and merit to all living beings, which is believed to benefit those beings. The sharing of merit is a practice where one dedicates the goodness of one’s life to the benefit of all living beings, as well as praying for a particular person.

For a group of people who look for a life of enlightenment, loving-kindness and merit, they sure could grind their heels into Mark and my collective spirit as the ill tidings and torrents of hate came out about John Elway and the entire city of Denver as a whole.

It was starting to grate on us a lot and we both made a hasty exit at the end of the game to escape this ribbing we were taking. We drove north on the 405 freeway, slightly weaving in traffic, punch-drunk from the verbal pounding we received for four quarters.

We vowed never to not only support anything Buddhist but pinky-swore that we would never set foot in the city of Long Beach again.

As a postscript, I’d like to offer that our views on Buddhists have mellowed over the years. Scott (still a Buddhist) and I are once again good friends and are thinking about another Super Bowl gathering soon.

I do miss Long Beach though...

Best of 2007: Peyton Manning Leads the Indianapolis Colts to Victory

John Elkin — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 10:01:55 -0500

When thinking back on the past year in sports, it is unfortunate that the first things that leap to mind are scandals, steroids, and asterisks.

The dark side of sports should never be the highlight of any year. For me, the shining accomplishment of 2007 was Peyton Manning getting the monkey off his back and finally winning a Super Bowl.

Manning had endured a world of weight on his shoulders for not winning a championship, from his days at Tennessee through a string of NFL playoff loses. As 2006 unfolded, the Indianapolis Colts rolled through the regular season at 12-4. But once the calendar turned to 2007, the pundits all started heaping their doubts on Manning's ability to win the "big one."

The postseason road to Miami started with an home game against the Kansas City Chiefs, which Manning easily controlled, as the Colts rolled, 23-8.

The Colts then traveled to Baltimore and a date with the Ravens for the divisional playoffs. This game had more than Super Bowl implications—it was a battle, as unforgiving Baltimoreans clamored for victory over their former team.

In Manning’s least impressive performance of the postseason, Adam Vinatieri lifted the Colts to victory with five field goals in a 15-6 win that has to be the most frustrating playoff game to watch of all time.

If the weight of the sports world was not pressing down on Manning enough before the victory in Baltimore, the upcoming AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots added even more weight. All week before the game, the sports world asked: Could Manning get the monkey off his back? That monkey was named Tom Brady.

Outside, three-and-a-half inches of fresh snowfall blanketed Indianapolis, but conditions were perfect inside the RCA Dome. Early in the game, the Patriots offensive linemen Logan Mankins recovered a fumble for a touchdown. Later, Colts center Jeff Saturday would even the score by recovering a fumble for a touchdown.

Finally, with one minute left in the game and the Colts trailing New England 34-31, Joseph Addai bulled three yards into the end zone, and punched the Colts golden ticket for the trip to Miami.

This Super Bowl was ripe with headlines for the media: Could Manning win the big one? For the first time, two African American head coaches were in a Super Bowl. It also was not overlooked that Tony Dungy was still getting over the 2005 suicide of his son James.

After a record-breaking opening kickoff return, and consistent play early from Chicago's Rex Grossman and the Bears it didn’t look good for the Colts during the first quarter in a rain-soaked Miami. However, in the second quarter Manning got his footing down and directed the Colts to a 16-14 halftime lead.

As Prince wailed on his guitar, the Colts made adjustments in the locker room, and came out to dominate the second half. As the final moments of the game ticked off the clock, it was clear that Peyton Manning had overcame the scrutiny and pressure to show that he is not only a premier NFL Quarterback, but also one that will be no stranger to Super Bowl wins.

Bleacher Report - Articles by John Elkin

A Buddhist Super Bowl

Best of 2007: Peyton Manning Leads the Indianapolis Colts to Victory