Super Bowl A Get-together Chance For Latino Students

 Dozens of Trinity students gather at City Vista
to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday.
Photo by Nicolas Echeverria

By Juan Pineda

Dozens of Latino students at Trinity University gathered on Sunday to watch the Super Bowl. Or not.

Football is not the biggest sport for Latino students, and therefore the reason for them to watch the game was rather different.

“I only watch the game because of the ads and the halftime show,” said Gabriel Mendez, a junior from Honduras. He tried to name players from the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos, “Peyton Manning, Cam Newton, and #73, the guy from the ‘Blind Side’ movie, and that's it.”

At a Super Bowl watching party at City Vista, the new apartment complex right next to the Trinity campus, dozens of Trinity Latino students gathered around a bonfire, chatting, having barbecue and drinking beer, while the game was shown on giant television screens behind the grillers.

People seemed to be more interested in catching up with each other than the game, and whether or not it was Peyton Manning or Cam Newton putting on the Super Bowl ring didn’t really matter.

The time when people all paid attention to the TV was during the commercials and of course, the half time show, when the crowd sang along with Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.”

Not every Latino student cared enough to actually watch the game. Lucas Maldonado and Emilio Vernaza, from Ecuador and Colombia, respectively, said they didn’t watch the game because they had to study for upcoming tests. Also, they said they didn’t like to watch “that” football.

Gabriel Mendez, junior.
Photo by Juan Pineda

Among nearly 2,300 students enrolled at Trinity, 18% are Latino, many of them from outside the US.

“Latinos who come from Mexico, Central America and South America usually are not accustomed to the sport,” said Jose Martinez, a senior from Mexico. “They are more used to watching soccer that is a more popular sport worldwide or perhaps they have never really understand the essence of the game.”

Nevertheless, many Latinos found the Super Bowl a good occasion to get together and enjoy the company of friends. Still, like soccer star Neymar Jr. said in that Taco Bell commercial, Latinos like watching the “real fútbol."