Your questions have been pouring in, so it’s only fair that I hit y’all with another “Mail Call.” Without your continuous support and engagement, “On the Fence Line” would not be possible. So thank you to all our readers, and I hope y’all enjoy the stories from inside as much as all of us appreciate your love.
So without further delay, y’all know what it is! It’s that special time of year where all of us come together to celebrate our competitive spirit. And for a lucky few, the stakes can mean nothing less than immortality. Yes, I said it — immortality! Okay, I may be exaggerating just a teeny bit. But whatever. Still lost?
It’s time for the Super Bowl! Duh!
And although my beloved Seahawks went home early this season, I will never turn my back on The Town. I bleed Seahawks BLUE! I mean it hurts a bit, but there’s always next season, right? Riiight. But this ain’t about me… it’s about who’s actually in the Super Bowl this year.
In one corner, we have the Philadelphia Eagles playing for a second Super Bowl trophy (although many of their fans like to believe they actually have more by counting older “championships” as old as the Bible… but who am I to judge?). And since they may just have the most talented team playing on Sunday, they should definitely be considered the favorites to win another Lombardi trophy.
And in the other corner, we have the two-time defending champions playing for an unprecedented third Super Bowl championship in a row in the Kansas City Chiefs, with the best quarterback on the planet playing under center, a genius coaching on the sidelines, and Swifties worldwide rooting for them — it’s tough to bet against this dynasty.
So for Mail Call #4, it’s only appropriate that the guys on the fence line answer a reader question that’s near and dear to football fans all around: What type of festivities do y’all do inside for the Super Bowl? And what are you most excited about for this year’s game?
I hope y’all enjoy, and as always… until next time… keep dreaming!
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“The last NFL game of the year while incarcerated is definitely a day of celebration. For example, the food where it takes a village to make a nice bowl of nachos. It’s like another Christmas except one where we point out problems of a play or how hard a player gets hit, and often the loud jeers and cheers throughout the game as if we were there on the sidelines.
One thing for sure is people getting along with others and looking forward to the same thing. I’m excited about the smack talking and laughter that comes along with the Super Bowl. The tier I’m on is for sure gonna go down!”
— Tony Rem #324325. 10 years served. Earliest release: October 2026.
“The festivities during this year’s Super Bowl I’m looking forward to is making a meal with friends, which would probably consist of nachos or burritos. What would be different from [the past] years is we now have a TV in the dayroom. In the past we would have to bring a personal TV out of the cell, and usually have a long cable cord connected to the nearest cell. It will be so much better having the TV we have now, and make watching the game so much more enjoyable.”
— Darrell Jackson #329268. 17 years served. Earliest release: Life without parole.
“The type of festivities that are in store for this year’s Super Bowl are… Well, I have to work again for Super Bowl so this year just going to be low key and make nachos. These nachos will have four types of chips, two boats, different kinds of meat, and some love of the game that will come when watching the Super Bowl. What I’m most excited about is always the commercials and seeing the new movie premiers that drop at the Super Bowl.”
— Dwuan Conroy #368332. 12 years served. Earliest release: 2033.
“As someone who has watched football since childhood, I’ve always considered the Super Bowl to be a big deal. This year will be no different. Although watching the game while in prison will be nothing like watching the game at home (where the kitchen table is full of food and the living room is full of excitement), a few of us incarcerated individuals plan on trying to emulate the experience.
I’ll be putting together a breakfast meal consisting of waffles, cheesy eggs, grits, bacon, and sausage — along with a tall glass of sparkling water over ice. To those in the free world, there may be nothing extravagant about this meal. But to us in prison, this meal can make other incarcerated individuals eyeball your food with envy.
Despite my excitement around this gourmet prison meal, I really look forward to hanging out with the fellas, and watching the game together. In this space, everyone’s a sports analyst — everyone knows who will win the game! These differing opinions typically produce friendly debates that lead to much laughter. These moments are fun, engaging, and heartwarming… reminding me of what it was like watching the Super Bowl with my family back home.”
— Antoine Davis #330662. 16 years served. Earliest release: 2070.
“Super Bowl is a day filled with many of my close friends and the best food we can muster up given the prison store limitations. This often consists of nachos made to the max — packed and stacked — with everything we can find to dawn the tower of excessive calories. Then there’s the ungodly amount of coffee I’ll consume to keep my energy where it needs to be for full participation in the festivities. Things like unlimited amount of trash talk with friends who will quickly adopt whatever team is playing mine — the Philadelphia Eagles. This year that means there will be Chiefs fans that rise from the ashes like a Phoenix, and they’ll be looking to pick my Eagles apart on all fronts. And if the trash talk isn’t enough, I’ll defiantly find myself yelling at players, referees, and coaches that won’t hear me no matter how loud I yell at the TV in the prison dayroom. But in the end, it’s all worth it, because it offers us a day to chill and enjoy each other’s company. And after 22 years in prison, having a day like this is quite rare. So I’ll remind myself to enjoy it, and if only for a few hours I’ll have a chance to forget where I am and just be in the world with friends and more junk food than I need. Fly, Eagles, fly!”
— Christopher Blackwell #813709. 22 years served. Earliest release: 2043.
“As soon as I became comfortable enough in prison to relax and interact with my surroundings, I realized that there was competition everywhere. It begins with how much commissary you have and swiftly moves into workouts and who can be the most aggressive. This also encompasses your favorite sports team, which usually is the one from the state you are from. Mine of course is the Seattle Seahawks football team. As soon as preseason begins, the ‘kawing’ starts and the posturing and crap talking are soon to follow.
The ultimate goal of any football fan is to get to the Super Bowl. The bad news for Seattle fans is we rarely make it even close, but the good news is that means we get to become bandwagon fans and pick the team that we hope beats up on the favorite teams of those around us. This includes many hoots and hollers, many hand claps, and of course the most important “friendly wager.” This gives me something to look forward to every year. My favorite part of the Super Bowl is all the groups celebrating like it’s a holiday. We watch, we critique, and we always debate like we are the professional getting paid. But above all, the best part about the Super Bowl is making a huge button-popping meal with your friends. All of us coming together early in the morning prepping, planning, and getting it all together. Hoping that you begin cooking at the perfect time so when it’s game time the nacho chips are still crunchy, the pork rinds are not soggy, and the carbonation to my favorite fruit flavored sparkling water is still popping. The camaraderie is something amazing and nothing brings the people you care about closer than a good ol’ fashioned competition on a full stomach such as the Super Bowl.”
— Bud Fraser #345509. 15 years served. Earliest release: 2039.
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Felix Sitthivong is a journalist, organizer, member of Empowerment Avenue, and advisor for the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Awareness Group (APICAG). Through APICAG, Sitthivong has organized immigration, social justice and youth outreach forums and has designed Asian American studies courses, an intersectional feminism 101 class and an anti-domestic violence program. Reach him with questions for “On the Fence Line” via Securus (WA #354579) or write to him at Felix Sitthivong #354579, PO Box 900, Shelton, WA 98584.
Felix Sitthivong is an incarcerated storyteller, community organizer, and founding member of the Peoples’ Empowerment Assembly for Collective Equity (PEACE). Sitthivong is also the former president and senior advisor for the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Awareness Group (APICAG). He is currently serving a 66-year sentence at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, WA. Reach him with questions for “On the Fence Line” via Securus (WA #354579) or write to him at Felix Sitthivong #354579, PO BOX 900, Shelton, WA 98584.
