On the outside looking in as many of us do in Ireland and Europe generally, American football is a deeply strange game.
The rules seem bizarrely arcane, yet they're pummeling each other and getting all kinds of concussions from playing it. Couple in all of the over-the-top celebrations, the barrage of advertising that Americans never seem to clock, and it's a lot to take in.
Now try and take American football on its own and place the chaotic energy of Nickelodeon on top of that and it gets even stranger. Well, that's what happened last night when the NFL Wild Card game took place - no idea what that is, assume it's something to do with cards? - and was hosted on Nickelodeon, home of among other shows, 'Spongebob Squarepants'.
How did it go down? Well, see some of the clips and judge for yourself.
Today's NFL Wild Card game between the Bears and Saints is being broadcast on CBS and Nickelodeon.
Here's a look at what happens on the Nickelodeon broadcast when a team scores a touchdown.
pic.twitter.com/FgmuyQ1ApQ— Front Office Sports (@FOS) January 10, 2021
*SpongeBob voice* Just go like thiiiis...spin around STOP double take 3 times. 1,2,3 annnnddd IT'S GOOD FOR THREE!
📺: #CHIvsNO on @Nickelodeon pic.twitter.com/Rmb7JOk5eN— NFL Up (@NFLUpOfficial) January 10, 2021
Sandy's ready for some football 🏈 pic.twitter.com/NfKEpNZJBv
— SpongeBob (@SpongeBob) January 10, 2021
A reminder as well that the final clip you just saw was actually a part of the game. Imagine, if you will, the All-Ireland Hurling Final was intercut with Dustin the Turkey or the Morbegs. That's the kind of weirdness you're dealing with.
All that said, however, it seemed like a lot of die-hard football fans just seemed to roll with it, although you've got to wonder if kids watching it even remotely cared about what was going on.
Here's some of the tweets during the match.
Me watching the NFL on Nick and the Spongebob pregame show pic.twitter.com/I882kHXsXF
— easy mac (@_easy_mac_) January 10, 2021
Great breakdown of the dropped TD by Nickelodeon. pic.twitter.com/XFrFIPeOXA
— Will Manso (@WillManso) January 10, 2021
Kids having to watch football instead of spongebob: pic.twitter.com/a8Q82QTK8V
— jaxson (@lefart2point0) January 10, 2021