Here are 15 things sailors know all too well about shipboard life around Super Bowl Sunday:
1. For the week or so leading up to the game you challenge your buddies to “Madden” every day after work
EA Sports, YouTube
2. But you can only choose two teams: the ones going to the big game
3. You play in your work center …
Sailors play video games in a supply office after flight operations on the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4). (U.S. Navy photo by Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) Joni Bills)
4. … the galley …
Sailors compete in a video game tournament aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Torrian Neeman)
5. … and even the hangar bay
Nimitz Sailors participate in a video game tournament during Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) events in the hangar bay of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Mark Sashegyi)
6. You create obnoxious over-the-top touchdown celebrations just to get under your buddy’s skin
7. And then you find out your duty day is on Super Bowl Sunday
Giphy
8. So, you ask a buddy to swap your watch
The Interview, Columbia Pictures
9. He’s no dummy; it’s not every day you get pizza, wings, and other ship rarities
Sailors watch Super Bowl XLVII in the hangar bay aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jacob G. Kaucher)
10. Nothing left but to improvise, so you visit crowded work stations to catch some highlights
Sailors watch Super Bowl XLVII in a work space aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Kristopher S. Haley)
11. Maybe you’ll have better luck with the Marines
U.S. Navy Photo
Nope!
12. You do whatever you can to get closer to the game
Sailors watch Super Bowl XLVII in the hangar bay aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Giovanni Squadrito)
13. Super Bowl fever is in the air
Sailors watch Super Bowl XLVII in the hangar bay aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jacob G. Kaucher)
14. It’s around this time that it hits you that being part of the a color guard might be a good deal — after all, they get to go to the Super Bowl
Members of the Joint Armed Forces Color Guard perform during opening ceremonies for the Super Bowl XLIX at the University of Phoenix Stadium, Feb. 1, 2015. Entertainer Idina Menzel sang the national anthem. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Staci Miller)
15. As it turns out, you can get selected
(Jan. 20, 2013) Culinary Specialist 1st Class Michael Farmer and Aviation Structural Mechanic Airman Presley Whitworth were selected to attend the Super Bowl and will depart from the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) in the middle of the ship’s deployment. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Lex T. Wenberg)