We’re flipping the script today. Sometimes a left turn when expecting a right can be a good thing and this was literally written an hour or so before you read this. Most articles you see here are not written and published this fresh. Stay with me until the end, then give your opinion in the comments, because maybe I’ve got this wrong. I like to say on the live streams from time to time that I’m about 60% right, 40% wrong. Maybe on this one I’ll be in the minority.
Today is Tuesday replay game day here at PGM, but instead of writing about replaying games, we need to break and talk about underdogs in games. Relax from the title, most of us aren’t Swifties here (or maybe we are, didn’t take a poll), and we have talked Tay before: Taylor Swift Pinball: Don’t Laugh, Swifties Will Buy, Would You?
Taylor Swift clearly is not an underdog.
She’s a billionaire. I actually like a lot of what she’s done in business, despite not being a fan of her music, not listening much to any of it (I mean, songs about jilted love are not exactly new, but weaponizing your songs has been done for a long time, a la Carly Simon in “You’re So Vain”), but appreciating her business accomplishments. Success typically is enough for most people to cheer instead of jeer, but she’s a billionaire celebrity and let’s face it, that isn’t popular in 2025. That isn’t an underdog in society and gaming. And before you bring up Elon Musk in the comments, he recently received a black gaming eye as pointed it out recently: Elon Musk is good at (paying others to boost) his gameplay
Let’s talk about the Super Bowl. The big game. It’s the one game in sports that gets played to a huge audience of people rooting for two teams. Fans of both teams are assembled and passionately want their team to win. Those watching at home have parties. Heck, on Sunday we showed you all kinds of games and activities: 161+ Free Games and Activities to play during the Super Bowl
So, yeah, the Super Bowl on Sunday, I watched almost all of it from home with the fam. When it was obvious the Eagles were going to win, we headed home from the kids’ house late in the 4th quarter. I don’t really follow either team playing: Kansas City or Philidelphia Eagles, but predicted on Sunday along with a few others during our Sunday Score Chasing Recap show that the Eagles would win. I didn’t root for the Eagles because I’m a fan of the Eagles, btw, I rooted for them because they were the underdog.
A part of me thought it would be cool if KC did something in sports that had never been done before in the NFL: won three championship games in a row. Wait, no, actually the Green Bay Packers did win three games, only one of them didn’t officially count, go look that up. The great Vince Lombardi!
Anyway, here’s the results from Sunday morning’s live stream, well before the game took place:
Can’t speak for the others that gave predictions above, but myself? It was purely a guess. The oddsmakers had KC has a very slight favorite, but the Eagles were definitely an underdog. The perception, at least, is that folks wanted to seek KC get the three-peat.
My newsreader crosses over from gaming to other topics but I always try and find the angle that brings it back to gaming. For me, upon further reflection that Taylor Swift boo wasn’t political at all. I know, some juxtapositioned it with the President of the United States receiving cheers and tried to make this political, I think it was much, much simpler than that.
Most of the fans in the Super Bowl were Eagles fans.
Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce plays for KC, the opposition. I think Eagles fans were booing the opposition. You know, that sort of fandom used to happen all the time in sports.
And, as long as it’s peaceful booing, that’s a good thing. As long as fans aren’t getting violent or physical, I miss that in sports. Fans booing can be healthy and refreshing. Just booing though, not throwing batteries and other stuff that can hurt others. Nobody was throwing anything at Taylor Swift, except their voices.
Rooting on your team, cheering for the great plays and booing bad official calls, bad gameplay and the opposition is good for sport. A boo is not bullying, it’s part of being a fan. When exercised passively it promotes spirited competition, which I think is healthy for gaming.
So, while Taylor Swift asked “What’s going on?” after getting booed, she should simply been told in her suite that costs millions to be sitting in, “you are rooting for the wrong team.” The majority of fans wanted the Eagles to win because they were the underdog.
Underdogs.
I like to root for those on the leaderboards that aren’t #1. I like to root for those that are beating their personal bests when score chasing. I’m a fan of getting better at skills on any game. That’s primarily our mission statement at Play Games More. It’s not about playing more games (something people often get wrong, mixing up our name), it’s about getting better at one or more games. Going from underdog to champion. Beating your personal best. You are the underdog.
Queen had it wrong, friendly reader, you are the champion. We root for you.
Chill Swifty readers, Taylor Swift will survive being booed at the Super Bowl. Heaven knows she has plenty of fans to get her past others not being a fan of the team she is rooting for. I’m a fan of Taylor Swift’s charity work, her generosity and hope on a personal level she gets married, starts a family and enjoys personal success, because she has achieved plenty of business success.
Would I have booed Taylor Swift on the Jumbotron if I was at the game? Doubtful, because I don’t really care about either of these teams enough to be a fan. However, I’m tired of seeing Taylor during these games. Show us other fans rooting on the game, the competition the teams. I don’t even think Taylor Swift wants the camera to pan on her during the game. Leave her alone in her suite. Leave her out of the coverage and show random fan shots, the team and the games. Nobody really should care what Taylor Swift thinks about her boyfriend who literally had two uneventful plays in the first half of the game.
Some of those boos might have been personal from fans, some might have in fact been mean-spirited, but I tend to think of the good in people and want to believe people simply were rooting for their team and Taylor wasn’t on their team at that moment in time.
The world won’t blow up over some fans booing the opposition. You know, we used to do that in games. Razzing the competition can be fun. Just don’t hurt anybody. Taylor Swift might have had her feelings hurt (doubtful, she was probably legitimately surprised, maybe a bit shocked), because she’s not used to being booed anywhere, but somebody in her circle should explain to her that booing the opposition in a game isn’t always a personal attack.
What think you, friendly readers? Is this the wrong perspective? Should fans never boo the opposition at a game? Is booing in professional sports showing a lack of class? I don’t think booing at a kids soccer match is the same thing, but this is professional sports. People paid thousands of dollars to be in attendance of this big game. Do you prefer cheers only? I look at positive-only cheers like saying all games are great and not pointing out games that suck. We need honesty and transparency in gaming. If everything is good, nothing is bad.