Super Bowl Oversaturation

Wojo, I don't think you're as much of an outlier on music as you think. Those awesome record stores where the "music community" existed? Not real. No one's best friend was actually the guy behind the counter at a music shop, except maybe rock writers (who were there constantly). Listening to music was a solo endeavor that people mostly did in their rooms. People talk about music as much now as we used to - in fact, we're forced to talk about it more to find out about new bands.

Honest question: am I alone in feeling that the "Super Bowl is overhyped" meme is overhyped? Already, there's been stories, as there are every year, that all the stories have been overdone. And I guess this is true if you watch ESPN all day, because the Super Bowl is, naturally, a top story. But there's where the internet comes in, right? If you work, or are on the move, you get your sports news on the internet; this in turn means you can tailor your consumption on stories. For the Super Bowl, I've read the columns from the football writers I usually read (and they tend to avoid the cliched storylines at all times). I'm not burned out on the Super Bowl - I'm getting excited for the game.

This perhaps an unexpected change in the way we consume media: the things that get "shoved down our throats" are less overwhelming because they're easier to avoid. The #1 song in the country (I had to look it up - its something called Tik Tok by Ke$ha) isn't everywhere, because there's so many entertainment options that don't feature it. So if you hear it and do enjoy it, you're less likely to burn out on it (easy comparison: I completely burned out on Coldplay's "Clocks" in 2003; I didn't burn out on "Viva La Vida" at all). It improves our enjoyment of the big things.