Henry Wilson (junior), a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, said he was surprised by the lopsided nature of the game itself.
“Being a Chiefs fan for the past six years, that’s the worst I’ve ever seen us play on a big stage,” Wilson said. “I’ve never seen this team be dominated like that.”
Wilson, who watches the Super Bowl annually with his men’s basketball teammates, said he was the lone Chiefs fan in the group.
“Everyone I was watching with was rooting for the Eagles,” Wilson said.
According to Wilson, there are few Chiefs fans at Occidental, but expressed pleasure in being part of a rare group.
“I enjoy being the only Chiefs fan around,” Wilson said. “Especially last year, the Super Bowl against the 49ers […] there are so many Niners fans out here, so it was fun to have that back and forth.”
Wilson expressed support for Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show, which has generated controversy due to perceived political messaging. Super Bowl LIX garnered an average television audience of 127.7 million, according to AP. Lamar’s halftime show performance currently has over 70 million views on Youtube.
“It felt like something that couldn’t have been done in the past,” Wilson said. “Kendrick Lamar got the license to do what he wanted […] he didn’t even play a lot of his hits, and I thought it was cool.”
As for the Chiefs’ chances next year, Wilson said he was confident.
“People have been making fun of me, but I know we will be back soon,” Wilson said.
On the Eagles side, two student fans from Occidental’s Alpha Lambda Phi Alpha sorority described how the scene unfolded as they watched along with their sisters.
Isabella Villagomez* (junior) watched the first half of the game on Zoom with some friends before heading over to the Alpha sorority house for a chapter meeting where the game was on in the background.
“It was really cool to see a bunch of women coming together to watch this game that’s been historically seen as men’s entertainment,” Villagomez said.
As an Eagles fan, Villagomez said she was pleased with the teams’ rout of the Chiefs.
“I’m very happy about it. I don’t know a bunch about football but I did do cheer, so I have a bit of an idea,” Villagomez said. “Honestly, I’m still shocked that the Chiefs lost as bad as they did. I couldn’t help but feel a little bit bad.”
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift’s romance was a factor on the big stage, as we discussed in a previous column. Though not as much attention was divided to Swift’s reaction as it has been at past games, it was still a talking point for viewers.
According to Villagomez, Swift should be partially accountable for Kelce’s comments respecting President Trump for attending the Super Bowl — but not Kelce’s performance.
“For her to get so much slack over Kelce doing poorly since they started dating is unfair,” Villagomez said.
Villagomez said she was also a huge fan of Lamar’s halftime performance overall.
“I really liked the stage setting — of it being shaped like a video game controller,” Villagomez said. “That symbolism of the ‘American Game’ was really true for a lot of Black people in America. Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam was also great […] If you thought it was boring, you didn’t get it.”
According to Lucy Roberts (junior), Kendrick’s halftime show was enjoyable for its authenticity, even if it was minimalist in nature.
“I loved the halftime show, because I think it was so authentically Kendrick Lamar,” Roberts said. “I’ve seen him before at Outside Lands two years ago, and he’s more minimalist. He’s not super commercial about it, he was there to make a point, especially with Trump being the first president to attend the Super Bowl.”
Villagomez said she attempts to bring sports talk back into campus conversation following Super Bowl LIX.
“Now that I’ve joined my sorority, I’ve been talking about sports a lot more,” Villagomez said. “I would like to see more of a sports culture here. I think sports are a great way to bring the community together.”
According to Roberts, it would be nice to have a little more school spirit about sports on campus and beyond.
“I do wish we had more of that community, because it has such a power to bring people together,” Roberts said. “It’s how I bond with my dad. I think it’s interesting because Oxy is more of an artsy school so we don’t find many sports people — I just think it would really help bring the campus together.”
*Villagomez is a former staff writer for The Occidental.
Contact Mac Ribner and Ben Petteruti at ribner@oxy.edu and petteruti@oxy.edu.
