TOOK son for lunch.

It was, frankly, an unfair swop.

No, he said he wanted a pow-wow so we went for an Indian. I noticed there were baby-changing facilities but I decided to keep him for two reasons. One, I have grown to like him and, two, he is 29.

He went for what he described as the "healthy chicken" option, though the poor bird looked dead to me. I opted for a businessman's lunch. And, trust me, he was not pleased.

The choice of topic was simple. "Superbowl or Superbawl?" I inquired. He opted for the New England Patriots v Seattle Sounders over the Old Firm. The basic difference between the Superbowl and the Superbawl is that in the latter it is the spectators who should wear helmets.

More than 100 million people will watch the Superbowl, which -considering the venue holds 63,000 - is a lot of people standing on a crate and keeking over a wall. Another statistic is that a 30-second TV advert spot at the Superbowl will cost £3m. It would take any champions of the SPFL Premiership about a year to earn that from a domestic TV deal.

So the gap in cash between American sport and the Scottish game makes the Grand Canyon look like a crack in the ceiling. This is about as surprising as the notion that a politician might just not be frank in an election year.

But it is not the hype and financial power of US sport that attracts me and my son but the way it presents itself and the approach both spectators and teams take to the idea of afternoon in the stands or bleachers.

The Superbawl at Hampden today will be the subject of such police activity that one would be forgiven for believing there was a missile heading for the West of Scotland rather than just a football match. Many of the lieges will be in a state of fear. Those not going to the match will be in a similar state.

There may be some souls who will head to Hampden hoping to sup deeply of a sporting nectar. But they will have already drunk unwisely.

In the US, sport is presented as entertainment. There have been outbreaks of violence, there have been drunken idiots and, yes, some of the stars have the morals of a heavily medicated alley cat.

The NFL has become bloated and easy to criticise but it knows the punter must be kept onside. A match that is not sold out will not be screened in the immediate area. A spectator will be served the drink of his choice, alcoholic or otherwise, with whatever snack he chooses to clog up his arteries.

Baseball, basketball and ice hockey follow the same rule. The punter is fleeced with a delicacy. He is offered top-class sport, in top-class surroundings and the drink and snacks are priced at a slight premium.

The experience, though, is worth it. I have watched ice hockey in Madison Square Garden and Boston and have been amazed at how the organisers adorn what is basically a bunch of guys hitting each other with sticks on the big slide outside the school gates.

The traditions and intrinsic beauty of baseball is easier to appreciate. Fenway Park in Boston is a very cathedral of sporting aesthetics, with a licence, of course.

A night at the basketball - with blooper films, inter-action with the audience, and a soundtrack that can clever and funny - is so entertaining that one forgets one is watching big guys through balls through a hoop. Repeatedly.

American sports seek to ensure that the fan has a good night. Their enlightened approach to both media and punter is typical of an industry that knows it exists purely at the behest of the public, whether through attendance or TV subscription. It wants the public to leave happy, or at least content enough to consider a return in the immediate future.

The baying mob will, at least, fill Hampden tomorrow but Scottish football needs more than an Old Firm match to revitalise its fortunes.

It would be absurd to pretend that the riches of America are on offer but there is more to be done in football in marketing and in securing a future for the national game.

The Superbowl controversy this week was over the alleged deflation of balls in the Patriots' championship game. Scottish football is grappling with a ba' that is burst.