The Super Bowl is one of the maybe four times a year that I tune into a sports game, generally because I know that if I do not, I will miss out on one of the most anticipated sporting events of the year.

Most years, I sit with my dad on our couch, watching the game and sharing popcorn while he re-explains the rules to me every time.

This year, however, my parents were out almost the whole night, leaving me to watch Super Bowl LIV on my own, which proved to be a problem very early on.

Despite hours of pre-game shows and analysis, the game itself did not start until around 6:30 p.m., after Demi Lovato beautifully sang the National Anthem.

Before discussing anything else, it is important to note that many singers mess up the anthem by trying to reconstruct it to fit their voices better, instead of singing the song as it is and matching their singing to the tune.

Lovato was not guilty of this and actually did a really good job while also managing to show her vocal range and talents.

After that, the “sports” part started and, without my dad there to explain it to me, I was lost.

I have watched football and basketball with him before, and I have attended baseball games — although, most of the game would be spent by me messing around with my friends instead of actually paying attention — but I am not a sports fan by any means.

I root for New York teams out of pure patriotism for my city and nothing else, so when I started watching the big men in their oddly coordinated colors — both teams’ uniforms were combinations of red, white and gold — I knew it was going to be a long night. After all, neither of the teams were from cities even close to New York.

A bit into the game, after calling my dad to ask about the rules again, I was actually starting to get into it.

I soon came to root for the Kansas City Chiefs against the San Francisco 49ers because Kansas City, Missouri is closer to New York, geographically speaking, and therefore is more closely aligned with New York teams, by my logic at least.

It occurred to me while watching that football is actually a pretty slow-moving game; the players run and jump and tackle, but the points get racked up very slowly as compared to in a basketball game, for example.

As the game went on, I came to identify Patrick Mahomes as the Chiefs’ quarterback and Jimmy Garoppolo as the 49ers’ quarterback, which I considered to be progress on my part.

From not even knowing which teams were playing until that afternoon and having to ask my dad if the yellow and blue lines projected on the field were actually, physically there or if they were just television graphics — the latter is the case — to knowing who plays for what team, it was definitely an improvement.

Eventually it was halftime and I wish I could say I was more impressed by it than I was.

Not only were both of the headlining acts female, but they were also women of color, which I really appreciated.

Despite that, I just did not enjoy watching it. I felt it was overly sexualized and I really was just not feeling the song selection. However, I was never much of a Jennifer Lopez or Shakira fan.

I found myself to be just waiting until the performance was over so I could get back to watching the game, which I was actually understanding by this point of the night.

Overall, I had a pretty good experience with this year’s Super Bowl, even though it did get off to a rocky start because of me not understanding how the game is played.

My favorite part, though, is after the Chiefs won, when Mahomes got to say his famous line: “I’m going to Disney World!”