Take the Preakness, for example, the annual horse race in Baltimore which forms the second leg of the Triple Crown, the sport’s top achievement. The Preakness also is known for the tremendous partying that accompanies the race each May. In fact, I knew a guy from Northern Virginia who told me that he attended the Preakness three years in a row, and never saw one horse.
The Super Bowl, the 44th edition of which will be unveiled Sunday night, is another of those events in which the celebration and hype have become so much bigger than a mere football game.
I have found this to be true on two levels. One is the way in which regular folks experience the Super Bowl, and the other involves how it is presented on television — as a star-studded, made-for-TV extravaganza that has become more of an entertainment phenomenon than a sports contest.
Many people will be attending Super Bowl parties, of course, but it’s the scope of a party that’s important — meaning big or small. I remember going to a HUGE Super Bowl party in 2005 when the Philadelphia Eagles played the New England Patriots.
The gathering was held in a small house that was perfectly fine for normal, everyday living. But for a big Super Bowl party with about 30 people on hand, there was barely room to move or even breathe. Folks were crowded into the kitchen, where terrific chili to-die-for and other great food was available, and also the living room where serious football fans including me were trying to watch the game despite all the hubbub.
Thankfully, there was a wide-screen TV in that room, which was the only way I could follow the action at all due to the large number of bodies present. Through some maneuvering that would have made any contortionist proud, I at least managed to get a great close-up view from time to time of the elbow pad Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was wearing.
At the end of the day, as they say, I didn’t feel as if I had really experienced the Super Bowl because of the various distractions. But a good time WAS had by all, as others say.
Yet I have determined that the best way to watch the Biggest Game of the Year is with a small gathering of serious football fans (three or four), with plenty of food and beverages still on hand, of course. That way, the best of both worlds can be had.
Along with the parties that obscure the game itself is the TV network coverage of the Super Bowl which seems to become more expansive each year.
The game is slated to kick off at 6:25 p.m. and probably will last between three and three and a half hours — not counting the protracted halftime show that has become a gala production with top-drawer entertainers. This year, the rock band The Who will perform.
However, the game-day coverage by CBS actually begins at noon Sunday with its presentation of “The Road to the Super Bowl,” and a mighty long road that will be.
I’m sure the more than six hours of programming leading up to the game will be filled with all kinds of useful information for us football fans — such as the outlook from concession officials on whether hot dog sales in the stadium are expected to exceed those of last year.
Of course, the emphasis is on ratings, with all kinds of pre-game festivities and entertainment that is meant to draw in viewers of every persuasion while having little or nothing to do with football. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised one day to learn that after all the performances and other rituals have been scheduled into the day’s time frame, a network has forgotten to actually televise the game.
Even when a good matchup is in store, as Sunday’s Colts vs. Saints showdown promises to be with two offensive-minded teams that have the best records in football, the action on the field can get lost in the hype. That’s even more the case when the Super Bowl turns out to be a big bow-wow with a 50-7 blowout.
The good news is that the Super Bowl is one of the few remaining events in the country that everyone seems to do together, as I’ve observed before in this space. Last year, roughly a third of the country, 95 million viewers, was tuned in to the game.
But that doesn’t mean we all have to be in the same living room.
Tom Joyce is a staff reporter for The Mount Airy News. He can be reached at tjoyce@mtairynews.com or 719-1924.
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