2/4/2013
Super Bowl Sunday History and (animated) "Doing the Wave" Cartoon Fun A Genuine American Tradition!
All Fans do "The Wave" in the Bleachers. See Brownielocks and The 3 Bears do their version below.
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Another Football cartoon we have is part of our Weekly Cartoons. Take a peek at our Guards & Tackles Cartoon.
All about the "Super Bowl"
Super Bowl Sunday has always been on a Sunday and is usually the last Sunday in January. However, for the first time in it's history, it was held in February = February 3, 2002. The reason is, due to the September 11, 2001 attacks, the television schedules were all delayed by one week. The super bowl was shown on the Fox network and not on one of the main television stations ABC, CBS or NBC also. It was also held on Sunday, February 1st for 2004. And, on Sunday, February 6, 2005. I see a new pattern!
So, I'm not sure why, but it now seems that the Super Bowl has been set for the first Sunday in February now for the next several years as follows: February 3, 2013 (New Orleans, LA) February 2, 2014 ( E. Rutherford, NJ) February 1, 2015 (Phoenix, AZ) February 7, 2016 (50th Superbowl!) (?)
It is solely a United States celebration. Just like in the old old days when the old king was dethroned and a new king crowned at the start of the new year, the Super Bowl determines who wears the crown in football after a long series of elimination games.
The opponents are the winning teams from the AFL (American Football League) and the NFL (National Football League) that play each other at a pre-selected city (usually in a warmer climate or one with a covered stadium).
Super Bowl Sunday has become more than just a championship play-off event. In some cases, it is a national holiday. It is said that even the criminals take Super Bowl Sunday off. LOL :) In 1985, when the San Francisco 49ers played the Super Bowl in Palo Alto, CA, the crime rate in San Francisco dropped 75%.
For some wives, it seems that the Super Bowl has gone on forever! But, it actually all began on January 15, 1967 in the Los Angeles Coliseum with the Green Bay Packers beating the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10.
How the Super Bowl got started?
How did the name "Super Bowl" get started? Originally, many suggested it be titled, "The Big One" or "The Final Game." But a Texas financier and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, Lamar Hunt, came up with the idea of calling it "The Super Bowl" after watching his daughter play with a Super Ball - a small, high-bouncing ball very popular at that time. Ironic, that it's a woman that was responsible for naming this well-loved, beloved male annual event!
The games have always been identified with Roman numerals rather than numbers. It wasn't until Super Bowl IV in 1970 that the title, "Super Bowl" actually appeared on tickets.
Pre-game Shows
It took a few years before the pre-game show became a tradition. In 1976, Super Bowl X broadcasted it on television. And Super Bowl XII in 1978 was the first indoor game and drew the largest crowd at that time to have ever watched a sporting event on television also. Super Bowl XV in 1981, displayed a huge yellow ribbon (bow) over the main entrance of the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans to commemorate the 52 American hostages who had just been released by Iran after 444 days in captivity.
It was NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle who made sure that the Super Bowl provided entertainment on a big razzle dazzle scale. The first pre-game show released 4,000 pigeons and continuing pre-game shows have featured top Hollywood celebrities, jets with tailing plumes of dyed smoke of red, white and blue.
Another tradition of the pre-game show is who will sing the "Star Spangled Banner"? It is usually sung by a well-known American pop singer. Usually, but there have been exceptions. (Scroll down and we have more about the singers of our national anthem.)
Winners, Losers & Gamblers
The NFL's Green Bay Packers dominated winning the Super Bowl for the few years. Then, the New York Jets and their infamous star quarterback, Joe Namath aka "Broadway Joe" for his celebrity status, won Super Bowl III, proving that the NFL and AFL could compete equally and increasing it's popularity even more.
More popular = more money! The price of television advertising during the Super Bowl went from $85,000 a minute to $200,000. And by Super Bowl XIX, advertising was around $1 million. Today a Super Bowl ad will run $2 million or more, depending on how long, and what time slot of the game it's shown. As of 2012, a 30-second ad cost $3.5 million.
It is estimated that 45% of all US homes have TV sets and tune in to watch the Super Bowl. Today, the ads and even the half-time show entertainment has become just as important as the game itself. (For more on the Super Bowl ads, scroll down.) Ironically, some advertisers start running promos of their ads days before the Super Bowl to promote their ads because they paid so much! One example is Apple Computer during Super Bowl XVIII, with a memorable commercial introducing it's Macintosh. And, if companies aren't buying commercials, well there is still the subtle approach to getting yourself seen during the Super Bowl. Companies put their logos on seat cushions, hats, mugs, to as high in the sky as the Goodyear Blimp! In some cases, the US government has used the Super Bowl as a kickoff event for it's bicentennial celebration in 1976.
Super Bowl Sunday is because it is always held on a Sunday. Ironically, religious leaders have never complained about it. Norman Vincent Peale is quoted as saying, "If Jesus were alive today, He would be at the Super Bowl." Even some of the US Presidents get involved in the game, recommending plays before hand, and sending congratulations to the winning team by telephone.
It has become a tradition in many groups such as clubs, bars, offices and schools (colleges) to place bets on the Super Bowl. How the betting is done varies. Some do it on a "point spread" between the two scores. Sometimes people draw slips of paper with numerical outcomes and the owner of the correct score will win. This is popular because it gives everyone a chance to win and it's not necessarily based on knowledge of any team. There are also "Football Boards" in which there is a huge board with numbers along the top from 0 to 9 and along the side 0 to 9.
However, they are covered up and they aren't sequential. Betters write their names in a square they feel is lucky not knowing the co-ordinates of that square until all bets are placed. Once the card is filled with bets, the side numbers are exposed (usually taped up) and then players can see their co-ordinates. An example is if you picked a square with 0 on top and 7 at bottom. The winners are determined by the score and who has the matching numbers with the scores for the 1st half, halftime, 3rd quarter and final. If you had 0-7 well you could win say twice? You could win with 0-7 for the first quarter and by the end of the game it could be 10-7 or even 20-17. They key is that the numbers end 0-7. Now someone else might have 7-0 as their co-ordinates. Some people feel that 0-0 is the best number because you start out a winner when the game begins! :)
Super Bowl Tickets! Just how does a husband validate the cost of a Super Bowl ticket to his wife? Answer: He can't. He just must grovel and be nice! :D Tickets to the Super Bowl weren't always pricey. The cost of tickets to the very first game was around $6. But, each year they seem to get more and more outrageous. Just keep adding zeros and more digits and well...OUCH! A big financial OUCH!
$9,850 was the highest price paid for a ticket. This was for the 2008 XLII game.
Tickets prices can be competitive, depending on where you buy them and when you buy them. Sometimes waiting for the last minute "might" get you a cheaper ticket.
However, there is a major difference between the "face value" of a ticket and the "demand value." For example, tickets for Super Bowl XLV (2011) had a face value of $900. But, the actual demand value (depending on where the seat was) ranged from $5,500 to $11,000! As of 2012, the face value is about $1,200. But the demand is around $3000. So, ticket prices are flexible depending on the game, teams, location and also the economy. Did you know that every year the NFL has a lottery in which 500 names are drawn out of hat for a chance to buy a pair of Super Bowl tickets at their face value? This happens sometimes between February 1 and June 1st. The details for this are posted on the NFC's official website in advance. So check it out!
Below is a list of ticket prices through the years:
YEAR
1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Also, when it comes to the tickets, it's obvious that the prices vary by the seat location. For example, for the 2013 tickets, the cheap seats are around $1,300. But, if you want a good seat by the 40-yard line, those are running $4,056. And, as the game gets closer, ticket prices also change based on the demand.
Super Bowl Commercials
The Super Bowl is the most watched American TV show. That means a lot of viewers for those commercials. Today, there is approximately 45 minutes of commercials compared to 60 minutes of actual game time. The Super Bowl, it seems, has gotten to be the premiere event for TV commercials. Many products will wait to present their latest and best commercial during the game because they know that this is when they'll get the most viewers. Super Bowl XLV had 111 million viewers and was the most watched (as of 2011.) However, this also means that the cost for this captured audience attention is also very pricey for a 30 second commercial. For 2012, the cost has now risen 17% from 2011 and so a commercial is now $3.5 million for 30 seconds. This is double what the commercial ads cost for the Oscars even! And, the ad agencies that create these commercials also look forward to the Super Bowl, when people vote for the best one. This seems to be the time when the ad people compete on TV, while the football players compete on the field.
The 2012 Super Bowl Game will be broadcast to 185 countries around the world in 35 different languages.
Below is a chart showing the Super Bowl ad costs through the years and how they've increased.
Information by Ocean Media, Inc.
These commercials live on long after the Super Bowl they premiere in. Some stick in our memories and many can be seen over and over on-line as You Tube videos, and on other websites as well.
Super Bowl National Anthem Singers Every Super Bowl has had the national anthem performed at it, except Super Bowl XI, when "America The Beautiful" was sung by Vicki Carr. The person(s) who performs the national anthem will create a reputation, good or bad. Whitney Houston's version in 1991 at Super Bowl XXV is considered the best (or one of the best) ever done. I have a page with her performance on it here. However, a few days after her performance it was said that she lip-synched. Apparently her mic was dead and so they broadcast a prerecorded version. This still didn't diminish her version heard by millions. All performers are required to have a back-up take since 1993. (Before that no tape was required.) The reason is due to Garth Brooks having a fight with NBC prior to the game and walking out. They almost got Jon Bon Jovi to perform (who was in the audience.) But then NBC agreed to air "We Shall Be Free" video by Garth Brooks during the game and so he came back and performed.
Five performers have sung at the Super Bowl twice. They are: Grambling State University Marching Band (II, IX); US Air Force Academy Chorale (VI, XXXIX); Aaron Neville (XXIV, XL); Billy Joel (XXIII,XLI) and Marlee Matlin in sign language (XXVII, XLI).
Here is a list of all performers at the Super Bowl who have performed the "Star Spangled Banner" throughout the years:
The "Star Spangled Banner" is a song that most of us can't sing very well. But, in 2011, Christina Aguilera got noticed not for her voice, but for the fact she forgot the words!
Having the "Star Spangled Banner" performed in sign language began in 1992 for Super Bowl XXVI. Lori Hilary was the signer. Since then, there has been a sign language performer as well as a vocal performer to do the national anthem at the Super Bowl every year.
Super Bowl Halftime Show The halftime show for the first ten years was pretty mediocre. It consisted of marching bands. Then the entertainment grew with a group called "Up With People" which featured talented students (18-29) from all over the world performing, as well as Walt Disney produced entertainment. But, slowly single performers became the halftime show, with one of the most talked about events being Super Bowl XXVII (1993) with Michael Jackson performing. Ever since, top performers from pop, country, jazz, rock, etc. have all performed during Super Bowl halftime. The most memorable half-time show was in 2004 at Super Bowl XXXVIII when Janet Jackson's top exposed on of her breasts during a "wardrobe malfunction" during a performance with Justin Timberlake. Even though the nipple was covered, this situation caused the FCC to change its rules and the nature of live television events ever since. Previously, fines were as high as $27,500. But, due to the outcry of this 30 second exposed breast on national television, the FCC raised its fine to $325,000. However, the FCC fined CBS which broadcast the Super Bowl that year $550,000. This was an all-time record. CBS challenged this fine and in 2008 the Third Circuit US Court of Appeals voided the fine. But, the Supreme Court in 2009 overruled it and sent the case back to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals for reconsideration. So, in November of 2011, the court said that CBS's broadcast of the Super Bowl and this "wardrobe malfunction" was legal because it was unintentional and at the time it happened, the FCC had a rule about "fleeting indecency" on television (streakers?). Therefore, it was unfair for the FCC to suddenly change its rules due to specific incident. As a result of the public outcry and the FCC fines, networks now have a 10 second delay on all live broadcasts (whether sports or not) to prevent any public obscenity, nudity, etc. from ever being broadcast again.
MTV produced the Janet Jackson - Justin Timberlake show and due to the incident was banned from ever producing another Super Bowl Halftime show again, by the NFL (not the FCC.)
Super Bowl Food & Parties
Just a few weeks after New Years Day, comes the Super Bowl Sunday. These are typically day-long events held in private homes with fast foods or even a potluck supper. The highlight of the party is the game and finding out who won the money in the pool or on the board. Because this is in the dead of winter, it is also enjoyed by those who don't even like football just as an emotional excitement and social enjoyment break from the cold winter days.
Super Bowl Sunday is also the day where more food is eaten in the US, second only to Thanksgiving Day. But, one could say it's the most "junk food" holiday in the US. Pizza places all over the country offer special deals for the game to vie for customers that night. It is estimated that 1 billion chicken wings are eaten during the game as well. There's also a boost in sales for beer, chips, and pop. Sales can even boost for condiments such as salsa, dips and sauces. A 2012 estimate of 71.4 lbs. of avocadoes will be purchased for the game for guacamole.
Partying may be fun, but local police and highway patrols also increase their manpower and buckle down on drunk drivers on this day as well.
The Super Bowl Trophy
The trophy is given to the winning team and is named after Vince Lombardi, whose game plan was "Attack, Attack, Attack!" The trophy is symbolic of the values Lombardi exemplified and the excellence he demanded of his players. As I said earlier, the Green Bay Packers dominated the Super Bowl for the first few years under coach Lombardi. So for many years the team and the coach symbolized the game because Lombardi took over the Green Bay Packers in 1959, where they had lost almost every single game during the previous season. Within 2 years, Lombardi turned the Green Bay Packers from losers to winners of the NFL. And they won the first two Super Bowls in a row.
Now, other teams have had greater winning streaks such as the San Francisco 49ers, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys, it is the Green Bay Packers and Vince Lombardi who stands are as symbolizing what the Super Bowl represents to it's fans and the United States of America.
Super Bowl Winners 1967 to 2013
Everyone wins at the Super Bowl you might say. For Super Bowl XLVI (46 - 2012), members of the winning team each receive $88,000. But, the losing team also gets paid as well. Each losing team member receive half that or $44,000.
Politically Correct National Football League
What if the National Football League became politically correct? Then the team playing schedule would sound like this:
The Washington Native Americans will host the New York Very Tall People on opening day. Other key games include the Dallas Western-style Laborers versus the St. Louis Uninvited Guests, and the Minnesota Plundering Norsemen versus the Green Bay Meat Industry Workers. In week two, there are several key matchups, highlighted by the showdown between the San Francisco Precious Metal Enthusiasts and the New Orleans Good People. Also, the Atlanta Birds of Prey versus the Philadelphia National Birds of Symbolic Patriotism, and the Seattle Birds of Prey versus the Phoenix Male Finches.
The Monday night game will pit the Miami Pelagic Percoid Food Fishes against the Denver Untamed Beasts of Burden, the Cincinnati Large Bangladeshi Carnivorous Mammals versus Tampa Bay's West Indies Free Booters, and the Detroit Large Carnivorous Cats versus the Chicago Security-Traders-in-a-Declining-Market. Week nine will feature the Indianapolis Young Male Horses verses the New England Zealous Lovers of Country.
Source: "The 365 Clean Joke Book" Barbour Publishing, Inc. © 2006
Learn how the game of football began. The Ancient History of Football.
Check on the history of some other sports.
Partial Source: "Holiday Symbols, 2nd Ed" Sue Ellen Thompson Omnigraphics, Inc © 2000
Wikipedia and Television
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