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This was a post from a few years ago, but it seemed appropriate for this occasion, especially on this of all days. Yes, this is the weekend of the biggest single annual sporting event, at least in North America. and today is the day! Yes, it is Super Bowl Sunday, the biggest single sports day in America. And so it seemed like a good idea to update and then repost this particular blog entry.
While the World Cup is bigger, and probably the Euro tournaments as well, possibly, as some of the South American tournaments, the Super Bowl stands out as one of the most viewed sporting events in the world, especially in North America. And, unlike most of those other tournaments, the Super Bowl is an annual tradition, and it takes place every winter. A new champion is crowned each year, and in the last couple of decades, we started getting some wild and unpredictable Super Bowl games. There was a time when this was not so, and so we should be appreciative of the highly entertaining games that we have been blessed with in recent years. It used to be that Super Bowl blowouts were the norm, and interesting games were the exception. Now, most of these games are close and enticing, and the blowouts seem to be the exception.
Still, the history of the Super Bowl is fascinating. There was the first one, which followed the script, with the mighty Packers crushing the upstart Chiefs. Then, two short years later, the then Baltimore Colts were trying to solidify their status as most dominant team in NFL history, but that ended forever when they were shocked by the New York Jets, behind Joe Namath's famous guarantee. That was the game that changed it all, and this big game immortalized the Super Bowl as an event where the unexpected could indeed happen, and that it was a must see.
The traditions have changed, even greatly, over the course of the years. The halftime shows used to be really lame and hokey, to the point that The Simpsons made fun of it.
That has changed greatly, as halftime at the Super Bowl is now a huge event, where some huge act gets to entertain not just the stadium, but the entire nation and, indeed, much of the world. Last year, we had Katy Perry with Lenny Kravitz. But there have been some huge names now to play during the Super Bowl halftime show, including Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, The Who, U2, Michael Jackson, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Madonna, and numerous others. On top of it, other huge acts have sung the National Anthem, although the most famous version will likely be Whitney Houston's 1991 version.
Another aspect that has changed was the postgame. It used to be, until the Cowboys won Super Bowl XXX over the Steelers, that the winners would get off the field and have their celebration in the locker room, privately. Oh, television viewers would see glimpses, but for the most part, the spectator sport championship would end with the champions celebrating in the privacy of their locker rooms. Dallas became the first team to celebrate before the crowd at the stadium, and this tradition has continued ever since. Even this has been modified, as nowadays, the presentation of the trophy itself has become a huge event itself, accompanied with a specific musical piece. Some past Super Bowl stars come out to present the new champions with the trophy, and then everyone is interviewed before the crowd.
Not surprisingly, the Super Bowl has gotten longer, too. All NFL games have.
Nowadays, though, everything about the Super Bowl seems to be bigger, and to take much longer. There is a big production about the pregames (they almost seem to run all day now), as well as the coin flip, the national anthem, the player introductions, and the kick off. Also, the halftime show is obviously so much bigger these days, as well.
Here is an interesting trend to keep in mind about Super Bowls: the team wearing the white (away) jerseys tends to be much, much better. In the prior 49 Super Bowls, the team wearing white holds a decisive 31-18 lead in terms of games won. Perhaps that is why the Denver Broncos this year, as the official "host team" of Super Bowl 50, made the relatively rare move to wear their white jerseys. It surely has to do with some measure of superstition or another, because the Carolina Panthers have a very strong record in their postseason history when wearing their white jerseys, although not so much when wearing their dark (black) home jerseys. Let's see if that all plays a factor in today's game.
Another thing to look at: which team score first. Whoever scores first has a decided advantage historically, as well. New England scored first last year, and ultimately won the game, joining the other 32 Super Bowl winners that scored first and went on to win. The teams scoring first who lost have, by way of comparison, only won 16 Super Bowls. The last time that a team scoring first in the big game lost would be all the way back in Super Bowl XLIV, when the Indianapolis Colts scored first and built a 10-0 lead, only to lose to the New Orleans Saints in that game.
Commercials have obviously become a huge part of the spectacle that nowadays is the Super Bowl, with a 30 second clip now running several millions of dollars. The commercials themselves now seem to generate discussion both inside and outside of the sports world, and some people find the commercials more entertaining than the game itself!
One generally underrated aspect of the Super Bowl would be how things look aesthetically. It seems that the NFL now prefers domed games and night games. But when I was growing up, it was wonderful to see the brilliantly green fields of sunny California or Florida. It really felt like a reward for the teams participating, especially when they were from cold weather areas. As a Giants fan, I remember being quite taken by their playing in the bright southern California sunshine as a sign that they had finally made it! It is hard to get quite the same feeling when it is a night game, or a game played inside of a dome. Aesthetically, it looks almost like any other game, really. When it is played in the California sunshine, as it will be today (and the weather is predicted to be sunny and pleasant for this game), it will be a break from the cold and overcast winter days that much of the country has experienced, which helps to make this game a pleasant excursion from every day worries. Without going too far with this, it is almost like a vacation for a couple of hours.
My hope is that, with this game being held in Los Angeles, the sun will be shining for the first half, like in so many Super Bowls of old that I can remember as a child. Yes, the stadium is indoors, so it is, technically, a dome. But the good thing about that dome is that there are many windows, so the sun shines nevertheless. To me, this makes a big difference aesthetically. I very much prefer Super Bowls with sunshine in the first half, even after all of these years. That is especially true when it is dark and cold and looks and feels grim here in northern New Jersey. As it is today, in fact. For a couple of hours, you almost get to enjoy the California sunshine, even if you are not literally, physically there.
I'm looking forward to it! Enjoy the big game, everybody!
In addition, I thought it might be fun to review my own past predictions and see how accurate I was. Yes, I have made predictions for the big game every year since January of 2012, when my favorite team, the New York Giants, wound up defeating the New England Patriots for a second Super Bowl in a five season span, and the fourth Super Bowl championship in franchise history. So let's see how I did with each of those predictions:
Super Bowl XLV: Packers versus Steelers
My pick: Accurate
https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2011/01/super-bowl-xlv.html
Super Bowl XLVI: Giants versus Patriots
My pick: Accurate
https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2012/01/super-bowl-xlvi-preview-new-york-giants.html
Super Bowl XLVII: Ravens versus 49ers
My pick: Accurate
https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2013/01/super-bowl-xlvii-preview-baltimore.html
Super Bowl XLVIII: Seahawks versus Broncos
My pick: Inaccurate
https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2014/01/super-bowl-xlviii-preview.html
Super Bowl XLIX: Patriots versus Seahawks
My pick: Inaccurate
https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2015/01/super-bowl-xlix-preview.html
Super Bowl L: Broncos versus Panthers
My pick: Inaccurate
https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2016/02/super-bowl-50-preview.html
Super Bowl LI: Patriots versus Falcons
My pick: Accurate
https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2017/01/super-bowl-li-preview.html
Super Bowl LII: Eagles versus Patriots
My pick: Inaccurate
https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2018/02/super-bowl-lii-preview-predictions.html
Super Bowl LIII: Patriots versus Rams
My pick: Accurate
https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2019/02/super-bowl-liii-preview-new-england.html
Super Bowl LIV: Chiefs versus 49ers
My pick: Accurate
https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2020/01/super-bowl-liv-preview.html
Super Bowl LV: Buccaneers versus Chiefs
My pick: Inaccurate
https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2021/02/super-bowl-lv-preview.html
So if you are keeping count, that means that out of the 11 Super Bowls dating back to Super Bowl XLV that I have made predictions for here on this blogger, I have been accurate when picking the winner six times, and inaccurate five times. Have to admit, thought my accuracy would have been better. Was a bit stunned and admittedly disappointed to see how often I got the picks wrong for the big game.
Now finally, even though I already gave this prediction earlier, in this year's Super Bowl LVI Preview blog entry, here it is again:
Super Bowl LVI:
My pick: Cincinnati
Accuracy? To be determined later today
https://charbor74.blogspot.com/2022/02/super-bowl-lvi-preview.html
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