"The Charbor Chronicles": Super Bowl XXXII Memories

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Super Bowl XXXII – Denver Broncos 31, Green Bay Packers 24. Played on January 25, 1998 at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California. John Elway vs Brett Favre. MVP Terrell Davis. Favorite Packers by 11. National anthem Jewel. Halftime show Boyz II Men, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, and The Four Tops. Attendance 68,912. Network NBC. Announcers Dick Enberg, Phil Simms, and Paul Maguire. Nielsen ratings 44.5. est. 90 million viewers. Market share 67. Cost of 30-second commercial US $1.3 million. Brett Favre 25/42 256 3 1, Antonio Freeman 9 126 2, John Elway12/22 123 0 1, Terrell Davis 30 157 3

It was a good game, and apparently underrated, as many people now view this as somehow a decent Super Bowl at best. What I remember was that for weeks afterwards, people were discussing this as possibly the finest Super Bowl ever.

In the bright and beautiful sunshine of southern California, Green Bay took the opening drive and moved the ball incredibly well down the field in a perfect drive that culminated in a touchdown, when Brett Favre found Antonio Freeman in the end zone. But the Broncos immediately responded with a touchdown drive of their own to nod the game up at 7-7. Denver then began to take over the game a bit, opening up a 17-7 lead, until Green Bay struck against just before halftime with Favre hitting Mark Chmura for a touchdown that closed it to 17-14 just before halftime.

Terrell Davis, who would eventually be named this game's MVP, ran brilliantly, and the Broncos vaunted offensive line wore down the Packers highly rated defense, to the surprise of many. Denver's running game kept scoring touchdowns, including one iconic play when Denver quarterback John Elway ran for a first down in the second half and kept the drive alive, albeit while sacrificing his body and getting very roughly tackled in the process. It underscored just how determined Elway and the Broncos were to win this game.

With the scored tied at 24-24, Denver was able to get deep into Green Bay territory late in the fourth quarter. The Packers responded by simply allowing the Broncos to score the go ahead touchdown, in order to get the ball back in the hands of Favre and the offense. Down 31-24, Green Bay enjoyed some early success on the drive but, when they stalled and were forced into a fourth down attempt with less than a minute left in the game, the Broncos defense came up with the play to ice the game, cementing what was, at that point, a huge upset in the Super Bowl, and finally ending the long NFC dominance of the big game, with 13 straight wins. John Elway and the Broncos finally enjoyed their first Super Bowl win.

Personal Memories: This was the first Super Bowl that I was working during. Fortunately, I was working at a mall with a popular restaurant, Houlihan's, that was showing the game. So, I could walk by and take a look a little at what was going on. I had to be on the road driving for the job as well, and so I listened to the end of the game live, which was a different experience.

When I think of 1998 personally, I think of the big trip to France that I took in the summer, and was saving up for months before. I also remember the France-Croatia game that my brother and I went to (still not sure how he managed, against all odds, to get these tickets), and then days later, how the entire nation, and the city of Paris, completely shut down in order to celebrate all night after France clinched the world title. Unbelievable memories!

In the spring, I was finishing my time at Bergen Community College, and was accepted into Rutgers University, where I would attend school in the fall. I read a lot of Stephen King this year (had started getting into him the previous year), and read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as The Hobbit. I was working hard to lower my debts and save for the big trip to France, and for the first time in my life at that point, felt that I was actually doing some very positive things financially.

In sports, the Chicago Bulls won the last of their six NBA titles of the 1990's, with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and current Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr (among others) beating the Utah Jazz in six games in that year's NBA Finals. Frankly, Jordan should have stayed retired after this season, so that his clutch, game-winning shot to ice the series would be the final memory of his playing days. The Yankees enjoyed a dominant season sometimes seen as the finest that baseball has ever seen. The Red Wings captured their second straight Stanley Cup title.

http://www.infoplease.com/year/1998.html

Here are some of the major events that took place in 1998, the year this Super Bowl was played. The world's population was 5.918 billion people. This year, France won the World Cup that it hosted, beating the defending champions Brazil in the final, 3-0, to clinch their first World Cup title ever. During the week of the Super Bowl, the Monica Lewinsky scandal that would dominate headlines for months came out. Later in the year, Kenneth Starr outlined how Clinton could be impeached, and the House of Representatives voted in favor of impeachment, although the Senate rejected the impeachment and ended the threat, ultimately. Also, the first balanced budget in three decades is passed in the United States. Serbs battled ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. Serbs renewed their attack on Kosovo rebels. NATO, which had been on the verge of air strikes, reached a settlement with Milosevic on Kosovo. Good Friday Accord is reached in Northern Ireland. Irish Parliament backs peace agreement. Europeans agreed on a single currency, the euro. India conducted three atomic tests despite worldwide disapproval. Pakistan staged five nuclear tests in response. Indonesian dictator Suharto steps down after 32 years in power. Iraq ended cooperation with UN arms inspectors, Clinton ordered air strikes in response. US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania bombed. United States cruise missiles hit suspected terrorist bases in Sudan and Afghanistan. Russia fights to avert financial collapse (Aug. 17). Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was arrested in London. The Wye Mills Agreement between Netanyahu and Arafat moved Middle East peace talks forward.

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