The Super Bowl

With Super Bowl XLIII coming up this Sunday, I thought I'd spend some time reflecting on how a simple football game has turned into a world event. When the first Super Bowl was playing in 1968, no one thought it was going to turn into anything more than another professional sports championship game. In fact, the first one was such a lopsided game, that no one even thought it was a good idea to continue playing these "championship" games. Over the years because of marketing and the rise in popularity of the NFL, the Super Bowl has become the summit of all American sporting events. No matter who is playing in the game, on "Super Sunday" everyone crowds around the tv to watch the game. It truly has become an American tradition of the past 43 years, with the great names playing in the games and the always entertaining halftime shows. The Super Bowl is just as much about the pageantry as it is about the actual game. A few weeks after the game hardly anyone knows who played in it, but everyone can tell you about the commercials and multi-million dollar ads. A big aspect for me is a ton of summer movie previews are always unveiled during the "Big Game", which allows me to start getting exciting for the coming months of movies. Overall, the Super Bowl is the final game and last glimpse of football until the next Fall, so many salivate every moment of it. It is truly incredible how a simple game played in January has become not only a world event, but an American tradition.