Little brother Eli Manning led the Giants to one of the biggest upsets in SuperBowl history. Tearing himself away from
the grasp of several Patriot defenders, Manning completed an unbelievable pass inside the Patriots 20. He then hit Plexico Burris
for the winning touchdown in the corner of the endzone with less than a minute to play distroying New England's perfect season.
Staff Writer Russell Puntenney
The culmination of the National Football League season is appropriately referred to as the SuperBowl, an event with all the makings of an unofficial American holiday, as much a celebration of sport as it is capitalism in general. The title match has remained one of the most watched television programs of each year since its origin, with four SuperBowls making Nielsen’s list of the ten top-rated programs of all time, and the game’s virtually religious following is best reflected in the outrageous prices it charges for commercial advertisements: in 2005, a 30-second spot during the big game cost an astounding $2.4 million.
As ridiculous as that price may seem, it’s actually a bargain considering that on average, between 80 and 90 million people are watching the broadcast at any given moment. Factor in the event’s ranking as the second largest food consumption day in the U.S., right behind Thanksgiving, and that’s still just a small glimpse of the monster that it is the SuperBowl.
The game takes place on a Sunday in either late January or early February, two weeks after the final games of the playoffs, in which a champion is determined in both NFL conferences, the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. The AFC champion is considered the home team in even-numbered years, the NFC champion during odd-numbered ones, and the home team is given choice between wearing white or colored jerseys for the game.
Where the game actually takes place has nothing to do with the outcome of the playoffs, it is carefully chosen years in advance among a great deal of U.S. cities bidding for the opportunity to host the extravaganza. The economic impact of hosting the SuperBowl depends on a number of details, including which city is hosting, which teams are playing, and countless others, but it has been estimated to generate in recent years anywhere between $10 million to $300 million for the host city.
Super Sunday wasn’t always the national obsession it is today, however. In fact, the earliest contests, which were instead known as the “AFL-NFL Championship,” were so one-sided many doubted the short-lived American Football League could provide enough competition to help the big game survive.
In the first two games, played in January of 1967 and 1968, the NFL’s Green Bay Packers dominated both AFL representatives under the leadership of quarterback Bart Starr and legendary head coach Vince Lombardi. They beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the inaugural match, 35-10, and the Oakland Raiders the following year, 33-14. Lombardi would retire two years later with the best post-season record of any coach in NFL history, and the trophy awarded to the SuperBowl winner would be renamed the “Vince Lombardi Trophy” a week after his death in 1970.
SuperBowl III was virtually designed to make or break the future of the big game, as it was the first to bear the now familiar title and also the first to feature celebrities: Bob Hope hosted a pregame salute to the recently completed Apollo 8 mission, the first manned flight around the moon, and singer Anita Bryant sang the national anthem. Unfortunately, the playoffs provided a final contest that seemed to favor the NFL team even more so than in the first two championships, one in which the Baltimore Colts were expected to beat the AFL’s New York Jets by as much as 20 points.
The Baltimore Colts were as complete a team as any in history: their defense led the league in fewest points allowed that season, their offense ranked second in points scored, and their coach was Don Shula, best known for his later career with the Miami Dolphins, who would eventually become the winningest coach in NFL history. The team seemed destined for greatness that year as well, as an unlikely hero emerged in veteran back-up quarterback Earl Morrall, who was given the nerve-wrecking responsibility of replacing the injured starter, Johnny Unitas, widely considered among the best quarterbacks of all time. Surprisingly, Morrall assumed that responsibility in stride, leading the team to a 13-1 record, accumulating the highest passer rating in the league and earning himself the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award for the 1968 season.
The New York Jets, meanwhile, had just barely beaten the Oakland Raiders for the AFL Championship, 27-23. Their unjustifiably cocky quarterback, the long-haired Joe Namath, had thrown more interceptions than touchdowns in the regular season and had completed less than 50 percent of his passes. Even so, the rebellious Namath went as far as to publicly guarantee a victory over the highly favored Colts, a laughable prediction to most fans.
Oddly enough, the inconsistent quarterback was exactly right, as the New York Jets led the Colts early in the fourth quarter 16-0 and went on to win the game, 16-7. Had the Jets lost, the SuperBowl very well may have folded and dissolved, but because they won the nation now had faith in both the talent of the AFL and the excitability of this one big game. All it took was the biggest upset in the history of American sports to do it.
The NFL and AFL officially merged in 1970, and the SuperBowl slowly flourished into the behemoth of a Sunday it is today. Along the way, the Dallas Cowboys appeared in more SuperBowls than any other team, winning five of its eight appearances, while two other teams notched the same number of victories in less attempts, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers especially have had tremendous success in the championship, winning all five of their SuperBowl appearances, most of them behind quarterback Joe Montana, whose three SuperBowl MVP awards are the most in history.
Other memorable SuperBowl moments include the touchdown run by Chicago Bears defensive tackle William “The Refrigerator” Perry in SuperBowl XX, the game-winning field goal kick by New England Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri as time expired in SuperBowl XXXVI and the unsuccessful attempt to do the same in SuperBowl XXV by Buffalo Bills kicker Scott Norwood.
Perhaps the most glaring example of how immeasurably popular the SuperBowl has become lies in the half-time show, which was originally just a performance by a local high school or college marching band and has since become a celebrity saturated, pyrotechnical spectacle that often draws the biggest names in the music industry. The most memorable of these performances include that of the band U2 in 2002, the first SuperBowl following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” of 2004, in which singer Janet Jackson’s right breast was controversially revealed to the world by fellow singer Justin Timberlake.
While the hype surrounding the SuperBowl may seem to belittle the football game itself, this has actually helped to guarantee an entertaining end to the NFL season, no matter how interesting or boring that game really is. Attending the live event is certainly something very few people are lucky enough to experience, so even a ticket for the nose-bleed seats is a highly valuable souvenir.
Also guaranteeing a pleasurable, indeed “super” experience is the NFL’s official venue rules for a potential SuperBowl host city, which require an average February temperature of at least 50 degrees for any outdoor facility lobbying for the hosting rights, as well as enough “quality” hotel rooms within an hour’s drive away from the stadium for at least 35% of its seating capacity.
SuperBowl Tickets are always a hot commodity. Beginning with the evening following the AFC and NFC championship games, fans of the SuperBowl teams begin snapping-up tickets to the big game. Many factors determine the prices of SuperBowl tickets; such as the location of the SuperBowl, the proximity from the participating cities, the size of the participating cities, the fanaticism of the teams’ fans, and the time that has passed since the teams’ last SuperBowl appearance.
Cheap SuperBowl tickets typically aren’t easy to come by. Even end zone SuperBowl seats can be expensive. However, Swickets.com always has the best prices on SuperBowl Tickets.
One of the best ways to get the SuperBowl is to purchase one of the many SuperBowl packages. SuperBowl packages typically include hotel, entertainment, and tickets to the SuperBowl. Without prior reservations, finding a hotel in the SuperBowl city can be a daunting task. Swickets.com has SuperBowl packages, hotels, and even SuperBowl parking available.
The SuperBowl is no longer just SuperBowl Sunday, it’s a whole weekend of festivities. Fans are treated to fun, games, music, and lots of parties. There’s a SuperBowl party for every fan. SuperBowl parties also provide the opportunity to hob-knob with some of the biggest celebrities from sports and entertainment. Some of the more popular SuperBowl parties are the Playboy SuperBowl Party, the Maxim SuperBowl Party, and the Taste of the NFL. Swickets is your source for SuperBowl party tickets.
SuperBowl XLII will be held in Miami at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale Arizona. As always, it is highly unlikely tickets will be available at the University of Phoenix Stadium box office.