The Super Bowl and American Football

Here's the question:

Do you know of any sports bars in Korea that play football games OR if any will play the Super Bowl? I know American football isn't as popular as soccer so this is a long shot - The former question is the more pressing one but I'd love to know the answer to the second as well for next season. 

This is typically one that all Americans are concerned about. Canadians go through the same thing with hockey, but no one really cares about hockey anyways, so it doesn't matter. Last May I briefly discussed this issue, but I'll just go over a few things from that post.

Watching sports in Korea is easy if you like Manchester United, Hines Ward, Asian baseball, MMA, figure skating, short track, one swimming event, or archery. Since, however, many expats are not interested in most of those, finding a dependable place is tricky. It's odd, too. For a country that has a TV in every fucking place imaginable, you'd think that a wide array of sports would be shown. Well, that's not yet the case...unless you're this guy. He makes sure his games are shown.

                                                                                                                    First Korean-American Football Player

So let's talk American football. The most dependable option is to take care of it yourself. You can buy a subscription on Yahoo Sports! or you can go the myp2p route. As far as college ball goes, your Uni should offer a service where you can subscribe for the entire season. GI Korea threw in the idea that climate change is a myth you can befriend some hired guns or sneak into get invited onto an American military base and watch AFN.

If you want to be more social than rubbing sitting in front of your computer, then you've got a few options. RMT is always a good, dependable option. Sometimes they're live and sometimes they're not, so if you can handle being around obnoxious smashed normal Canadians, then I'd check out their viewing schedule. You can also try Geckos, Hooters and Big Rock. They try their best with the games. Big Rock looks like it's picked up a lot of the Gangnam-based -American-sports-viewing slack recently.

The only trick to watching North American sports in Korea is the time change. Unless you record it somehow, you pretty much have stay up super late and avoid the Internet until it's time for the game. That gets tricky. You might be harmlessly logging on to Facebook, when BAM!, your old middle-school friend made a ever-so-slight comment about how bad your quarterback did. First of all, fuck him for being such a douchey armchair quarterback, but you should know the risk when you get on site like that. I'd recommend Cracked if you're looking for a time killer.

Now, there is another way to battle the fall season blues: go watch the Korean American Football Association (KAFA). These guys have no fucking clue and they play like it's prepubescent flag football on the old practice field, but it does put you in the mood to listen to a little Hank Williams Jr.. The weather's cool and the beer is, well, Korean, but it's there and you'll drink it either way. Aside from the sissy hitting and lack of defense, the best part is that each team allows a couple foreign players, so if you're bulky, hot-headed and never got to be a part of the jock clique in high school, then this is your time to push around some lanky Korean dudes and build your self-confidence. Sure, the non-Korean fans might shit all over you when if you lose, but I'm sure it'd be fun.

So don't worry. You can find American football being shown somewhere, but I should tell you that no matter how much you try, you're going to miss games and you're going to be somewhat out of the football loop while you're here. I tried my best and still go on and on to my wife about how much I love the game and how great fall is because of it, but there's no way to be a die-hard fan when no else seems to care.

Just remember, anonymous questioner: I care.