You were stoked when the game began. The action was good, but it wasn’t great. All of your friends seem to be having a good time, but now the game is in overtime, and you don’t want it to look obvious that you are totally losing interest in the game. Here are 10 ways to stay interested when a game goes into overtime.
1. Watch the mascot. The mascot does all kinds of funny things the entire game, not just at half time. Try to find him in the crowd. Sometimes he is sitting with the fans. Sometimes he is dancing all by himself on the sidelines. Sometimes he is interacting with the players who are sidelined. Who do you think is inside?
2. Watch the cheerleaders. It is fun to watch them cheer, but it is also interesting to see what they are doing when they are not cheering. Some are eating or drinking. Some are flirting. Some are stretching. Some are taking a rest and look totally exhausted. Some are fluffing their hair.
3. Watch the coaches on both teams. Sometimes the camera is on the coach, and sometimes he has down time. It’s interesting to see what the coach does. There are moments he seems to be planning, and moments he seems to be just holding back just watching to see if his key players will do what he coached them to do. Sometimes he talks to players. Sometimes he makes a face as he looks at the scoreboard. Sometimes he looks around to see where the cameras are.
4. Watch the assistant coaches. This is even more interesting, because these guys are kind of on call. They don’t always have a key role, but they have to look like they are working for a living. Some look alert, and some look disengaged. You can see their emotions pretty easily. Some look longingly at the coach’s position, dreaming of the day they will be the head coach. Some look frustrated that their opinion does not seem to matter at the moment. Some try to interact with the sidelined players, and not all of the players welcome the interaction.
5. Focus on the fans. There is every kind of person at the game. There are parents and children. There are college buddies. There are business people. There are professional athletes from other sports. There are hollywood celebrities. There are politicians. Some people sleep. Some people read. Some people eat. Try to figure out their stories. Where are they from? Who is with them? What kind of job do they have?
6. Take a trip to the snack bar. If you think hot dogs are the only thing offered, think again. Many stadiums serve very elegant food. You can now get appetizers, gourmet coffee drinks and elaborate desserts. If you are hungry, you have a lot of fun options to get you through overtime. If you are at home, find something interesting in the kitchen.
7. Go buy a souvenir. You know you want to. You now have time to look at all of the shirt and sweatshirt designs. How about a keychain? That cup looks cool. How about a fan finger? You can come back to your seat and revive your whole section with your new fan merchandise. If you are at home, go make a sign on the computer to revive your friends on the couch. Start the wave when you get back.
8. Watch security. It’s interesting to see where security thinks the problems will be. See where they are stationed. Where do they think fans will run onto the field? What do you think they are saying into their headsets? Do you think they have met the players? Do you think they even want to?
9. Leave early. It’s not the end of the world to leave a game before it’s over. You have to work tomorrow anyway. You can still say you went to the game. You can always find out who won.
10. You could just follow the game to see who wins. That’s what you did for the first 2 or 3 hours, right?
