Tuesday
Apr122011
Superbowl- A Super Day
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 3:00PM
Another long overdue post, but hey, who's counting!
Given that the new NFL season is currently in purgatory, bogged down with arguments over-as usual-money, it seemed fitting to reflect on the last season.
In particular, the final game of the last season, the championship match between the winner of the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference (NFC and AFC), known to every, single American as The Superbowl.
The name is even known outside of the American Football sphere, even it its association isn't clear.
Full disclosure first- I do not profess to know very much about Football, or about the Superbowl tradition, and I think the titles of the two conferences (NFC and AFC) are very silly. However, I have fully adopted American culture, and embraced the football craze, if you didn't already know. I have watched a number of full games now, could probably do a reasonable job explaining the main rules, and officially follow two teams- the Wisconsin Badgers, and the Green Bay Packers.
The Packers, the professional football team playing in the NFL out of Wisconsin, are awesome: Not just because their fans are the craziest in the league, sitting through numerous negative degree, snow falling games; nor because they are a franchise owned entirely by their fans; not even because you get to wear a cheesehead when watching them. No, they are awesome for all of these reasons and many more, and because they hold the most national league titles in history.
They added a 13th to that number by winning the Superbowl this year, an experience I shared with them (even if I was in Madison and they were in Texas). This despite a team plagued by injuries, and the least favourite to advance through the playoffs. But they did it, and played an exciting game in the Superbowl to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to victory.
I digress, for this blog is about the Superbowl day itself, and not the actual purpose of the Superbowl- strange as that may sound- but here are some highlights from the game.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLbiROT220]
I'll happily explain the game to anyone in England who is interested-- also check out 4.28- when a camera man goes flying!
OK- back to original blog post purpose- Super Bowl Day.
As I said earlier, every American knows what the Super Bowl is, and a huge percentage of the population takes the time to participate in a Super Bowl party. It isn't just about the football you see; it's about the atmosphere, it's about the family and friend get-togethers, the relaxing day before work, the food (traditional Wisconsin Brats) and the drink and the all-around merriment. Almost regardless of whether your team makes it to the final, or if they win or lose. Of course, a win does add an extra intensity to the celebrations.
There is nothing like it at all in the UK. 111 million viewers, tuning in to watch a sporting match. I doubt even England in the World Cup Final could draw that kind of (proportionate) response from the population.
Because the thing is, many people don't tune in to watch the football, they are here for the entertainment: the half-time show, the trailers and the commercials.
Each year a "super act" performs at the stadium, broadcast live to a hundred million viewers. This year, aiming to please the younger viewers, organizers showcased the Black Eyed Peas. While they had a spectacular show in terms of dancers and flashing lights etc., they largely disappointed.
Again however, the half-time show isn't necessarily why a lot of people watch the Super Bowl. Many people simply wait for the show to cut to commercials.
That's because ad companies put their very best work into creating and debuting new, hilarious, inspiring, clever and downright silly adverts during the Super Bowl. These ads haven't been seen on TV before, and are often kept tightly under wrap. Party goers sit around discussing the ads; websites reblog and analyze them afterwards. It is an ad companies dream to showcase their work during this time.
And the time doesn't come cheap either. At the halftime mark, a 30second ad costs $13 million. Better make sure it's good, and brings in new revenue!
These were two of my favourites;
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0&feature=player_embedded]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-STkFCCrus&feature=player_embedded]
For a full list of all the ads debuted, check out this link here
Along with the commercials, film studios debut new trailers for their upcoming blockbusters; this year we had previews of Captain America, Thor, Transformers 3, Super 8, the new Pirates movie and Cowboys and Aliens. Check out some of them here
With the game over, it was time for all the post-game analysis. And here was the one thing which bothered me- everyone was calling the Packers "World Champions". Granted, they had beaten everyone there was to beat, made it to the finale of the football season and won. But world champions? There was not a single game that featured a non-American team.
Again, granted no other country really plays "American Football" but that's no excuse. The answer is to simply encourage other countries to play, then perhaps eventually there can be a world championship, and the winners can be crowned world champions.
There's one international convert in me already!
Given that the new NFL season is currently in purgatory, bogged down with arguments over-as usual-money, it seemed fitting to reflect on the last season.
In particular, the final game of the last season, the championship match between the winner of the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference (NFC and AFC), known to every, single American as The Superbowl.
The name is even known outside of the American Football sphere, even it its association isn't clear.
Full disclosure first- I do not profess to know very much about Football, or about the Superbowl tradition, and I think the titles of the two conferences (NFC and AFC) are very silly. However, I have fully adopted American culture, and embraced the football craze, if you didn't already know. I have watched a number of full games now, could probably do a reasonable job explaining the main rules, and officially follow two teams- the Wisconsin Badgers, and the Green Bay Packers.
The Packers, the professional football team playing in the NFL out of Wisconsin, are awesome: Not just because their fans are the craziest in the league, sitting through numerous negative degree, snow falling games; nor because they are a franchise owned entirely by their fans; not even because you get to wear a cheesehead when watching them. No, they are awesome for all of these reasons and many more, and because they hold the most national league titles in history.
They added a 13th to that number by winning the Superbowl this year, an experience I shared with them (even if I was in Madison and they were in Texas). This despite a team plagued by injuries, and the least favourite to advance through the playoffs. But they did it, and played an exciting game in the Superbowl to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to victory.
I digress, for this blog is about the Superbowl day itself, and not the actual purpose of the Superbowl- strange as that may sound- but here are some highlights from the game.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLbiROT220]
I'll happily explain the game to anyone in England who is interested-- also check out 4.28- when a camera man goes flying!
OK- back to original blog post purpose- Super Bowl Day.
As I said earlier, every American knows what the Super Bowl is, and a huge percentage of the population takes the time to participate in a Super Bowl party. It isn't just about the football you see; it's about the atmosphere, it's about the family and friend get-togethers, the relaxing day before work, the food (traditional Wisconsin Brats) and the drink and the all-around merriment. Almost regardless of whether your team makes it to the final, or if they win or lose. Of course, a win does add an extra intensity to the celebrations.
There is nothing like it at all in the UK. 111 million viewers, tuning in to watch a sporting match. I doubt even England in the World Cup Final could draw that kind of (proportionate) response from the population.
Because the thing is, many people don't tune in to watch the football, they are here for the entertainment: the half-time show, the trailers and the commercials.
Each year a "super act" performs at the stadium, broadcast live to a hundred million viewers. This year, aiming to please the younger viewers, organizers showcased the Black Eyed Peas. While they had a spectacular show in terms of dancers and flashing lights etc., they largely disappointed.
Again however, the half-time show isn't necessarily why a lot of people watch the Super Bowl. Many people simply wait for the show to cut to commercials.
That's because ad companies put their very best work into creating and debuting new, hilarious, inspiring, clever and downright silly adverts during the Super Bowl. These ads haven't been seen on TV before, and are often kept tightly under wrap. Party goers sit around discussing the ads; websites reblog and analyze them afterwards. It is an ad companies dream to showcase their work during this time.
And the time doesn't come cheap either. At the halftime mark, a 30second ad costs $13 million. Better make sure it's good, and brings in new revenue!
These were two of my favourites;
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0&feature=player_embedded]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-STkFCCrus&feature=player_embedded]
For a full list of all the ads debuted, check out this link here
Along with the commercials, film studios debut new trailers for their upcoming blockbusters; this year we had previews of Captain America, Thor, Transformers 3, Super 8, the new Pirates movie and Cowboys and Aliens. Check out some of them here
With the game over, it was time for all the post-game analysis. And here was the one thing which bothered me- everyone was calling the Packers "World Champions". Granted, they had beaten everyone there was to beat, made it to the finale of the football season and won. But world champions? There was not a single game that featured a non-American team.
Again, granted no other country really plays "American Football" but that's no excuse. The answer is to simply encourage other countries to play, then perhaps eventually there can be a world championship, and the winners can be crowned world champions.
There's one international convert in me already!
Reader Comments (1)
"Full disclosure first- I do not profess to know very much about Football, or about the Superbowl tradition, and I think the titles of the two conferences (NFC and AFC) are very silly."
They might seem silly at first glance, but they are actually steeped in history and tradition. In the early 1960s there were two major football leagues, the AFL and the NFL. Eventually the two merged, with the AFL becoming the AFC, and the NFL becoming the NFC. The trophy for the AFC, the Lamar Hunt trophy, is named after the legendary AFL coach/founder of the same name. Likewise, the NFC trophy, the George Halas trophy, is named after a legendary coach for the Chicago Bears before the merger happened.
It also continues the tradition of what the original purpose of the Super Bowl was: a matchup between the champions of the two separate leagues.
"And here was the one thing which bothered me- everyone was calling the Packers “World Champions”. Granted, they had beaten everyone there was to beat, made it to the finale of the football season and won. But world champions? There was not a single game that featured a non-American team.
Again, granted no other country really plays “American Football” but that’s no excuse. The answer is to simply encourage other countries to play, then perhaps eventually there can be a world championship, and the winners can be crowned world champions."
It's arrogant, to be sure, but is it wrong? Could any other organized American football team outside of the U.S. even dream of defeating the Super Bowl champion in a game? If you're a non American football team out there that thinks otherwise, make a claim to the contrary.
I also think this encourages other countries to play. The original Olympic Dream Team of 1992 obliterated all of its opponents so completely and artfully that I think it led to an increase in interest, as in, how can we beat these guys? Sure enough, even though international American basketball teams remain probably the best in the world, teams like Greece and Spain have succeeded at times in knocking America off its perch, in particular in 2004 when Argentina won the Gold Model and the U.S. took third.