America Loves an Underdog - Especially in Sports
Everybody in the country was hoping for underdog New Orleans to win the Super Bowl.
At least it seemed that way.
The only ones not cheering for the Saints were folks from Indiana (the Indianapolis Colts was the team they played) and serious bettors (on paper league MVP Payton Manning and his team had already won the game).
But in sports, as in life, there's no such thing as a lead-pipe cinch.
When it comes to the Super Bowl it's not necessary to be a sports fan, understand the game or even be from or associated with the region or city where the teams play during the regular season.
To the uninformed it's another football game, to the sports aficionado it's for supremacy in one of many sports, but to most folks it's a time to get together with friends and have some fun.
So we eat and drink a little too much on the big day.
Participate in a pool to win some money by investing a couple of bucks.
Holler and scream too much for a team we didn't follow the entire season.
Watch a half-time show performed by groups that are much too old and tired to be entertaining.
See a bunch of overproduced TV commercials whose sponsors paid much too much for the time, hoping we remember their names in the morning.
The event, spectacular in every way, is a tribute to what happens when an idea excites the American public and we claim it as our own.
We've come a long way from the first Super Bowl (although it wasn't officially named that yet), played in January 1967 at the Los Angeles Coliseum between the NFL Green Bay Packers and the AFL Kansas City Chiefs.
Pre-boomers will remember that game as the beginning of a new sports era.
Two networks covered the game and delivered a combined audience of 51 million viewers and advertisers paid $43,000 for a 30-second spot.
The third championship game between the leagues was dubbed the Super Bowl and the prediction of one Broadway Joe Namath proved true as the New York Jet upset the then Baltimore Colts for the bragging rights of football.
And the rivalry between the leagues which later merged propelled the event into its super status.
This tipping point game only generated an audience of 41 million viewers, and spots cost $55,000.
Fast forward to Super Bowl XLIV (44) with weeks of hype, hours of pre-game analysis and countless predictions.
The television audience was over 106 million (the highest rated TV show in history) with a cost per 30-second spot in excess of $2.
5 million.
This is more than a game.
This is an event of monumental proportions.
Its name says it all.
And this year's event lived up to all the publicity.
It wasn't long ago that New Orleans's team was called the "Ain'ts" by the locals.
They had to play games in San Antonio, Texas after Hurricane Katrina devastated their stadium, along with most of the city.
The team had never made a Super Bowl appearance.
They had a good season, but how could they stop the colts and the super-star Manning? After falling behind the Saints gained their balance and fought their way to an impressive victory.
What could be more exciting? What could be more heart-warming? What could be more American?
At least it seemed that way.
The only ones not cheering for the Saints were folks from Indiana (the Indianapolis Colts was the team they played) and serious bettors (on paper league MVP Payton Manning and his team had already won the game).
But in sports, as in life, there's no such thing as a lead-pipe cinch.
When it comes to the Super Bowl it's not necessary to be a sports fan, understand the game or even be from or associated with the region or city where the teams play during the regular season.
To the uninformed it's another football game, to the sports aficionado it's for supremacy in one of many sports, but to most folks it's a time to get together with friends and have some fun.
So we eat and drink a little too much on the big day.
Participate in a pool to win some money by investing a couple of bucks.
Holler and scream too much for a team we didn't follow the entire season.
Watch a half-time show performed by groups that are much too old and tired to be entertaining.
See a bunch of overproduced TV commercials whose sponsors paid much too much for the time, hoping we remember their names in the morning.
The event, spectacular in every way, is a tribute to what happens when an idea excites the American public and we claim it as our own.
We've come a long way from the first Super Bowl (although it wasn't officially named that yet), played in January 1967 at the Los Angeles Coliseum between the NFL Green Bay Packers and the AFL Kansas City Chiefs.
Pre-boomers will remember that game as the beginning of a new sports era.
Two networks covered the game and delivered a combined audience of 51 million viewers and advertisers paid $43,000 for a 30-second spot.
The third championship game between the leagues was dubbed the Super Bowl and the prediction of one Broadway Joe Namath proved true as the New York Jet upset the then Baltimore Colts for the bragging rights of football.
And the rivalry between the leagues which later merged propelled the event into its super status.
This tipping point game only generated an audience of 41 million viewers, and spots cost $55,000.
Fast forward to Super Bowl XLIV (44) with weeks of hype, hours of pre-game analysis and countless predictions.
The television audience was over 106 million (the highest rated TV show in history) with a cost per 30-second spot in excess of $2.
5 million.
This is more than a game.
This is an event of monumental proportions.
Its name says it all.
And this year's event lived up to all the publicity.
It wasn't long ago that New Orleans's team was called the "Ain'ts" by the locals.
They had to play games in San Antonio, Texas after Hurricane Katrina devastated their stadium, along with most of the city.
The team had never made a Super Bowl appearance.
They had a good season, but how could they stop the colts and the super-star Manning? After falling behind the Saints gained their balance and fought their way to an impressive victory.
What could be more exciting? What could be more heart-warming? What could be more American?
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