I recently watched the television broadcast of the 1986 Super Bowl. I had not seen it because I’d been at the game—you actually see a great deal less in person than on TV, which is a predicament for experience collectors. Would you rather know how it feels, or what happened? What struck me, all these years later, was the tremendous silliness of the production: the regal pomp of introductions, old heroes paraded out, officials in golden jackets, smoke machines, plastic grass, and sparkly things. It’s one of the reasons the Super Bowl is often a letdown—it’s lost in its own ribbons and wrapping. In the end, it’s still just a football game.

-Rich Cohen, Monsters