Its the Giants and the Patriots Sunday in Super Bowl XLVI, 46 in English. As anyone who casually follows the game, the Super Bowl isn't just about football. Far from it. Here is some of what makes it so super.
The name itself is derived from the kids toy, the super ball. Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt is generally given credit for coming up with it, which wasn't used officially until Super Bowl III. The first two were retroactively renamed.
Of course there are the iconic commercials which back in 1967 sold for 40 thousand dollars. This year a 30 second spot cost a record 3.5 million dollars or roughly 117 thousand dollars per second. NBC sold out the 70 availabilities back in November. The spots take on a life of their own, in fact you can check them all out in advance on line.
Dogs will be big this year. Three official Super Bowl sponsors, the only commercial entities allowed to speak the words super-bowl, will use them. Skechers employed a French bulldog wearing tiny red sneakers racing against greyhounds, to replace Kim Kardashian, who for once had no comment. Volkswagen will introduce Bolt, an Australian sheppard and St. Bernard mix. A marketing man claims dogs "are a universal force for good."
Food will be plentiful. Be forewarned that boneless wings contain far more calories and fat than their boned cousins. Same goes for Manhattan clam chowder over New England. Enough of us will fail to heed the advice of our nutritionists that antacid sales will increase by 20%.
Much of the food will be consumed at parties attended by an average of 17 people. Still 5% of the population will watch the game alone. 6% will call in sick Monday.
Outside of purchasing squares in an office pool, you can live a little more dangerously if somewhat outside the law. Proposition bets offer wagering odds on the color of Madonna's hair at the halftime show (which back in 1967 featured the University of Arizona and Michigan bands), the color of the Gatorade used in the postgame celebration, whether Kelly Clarkson will bare her midriff during the national anthem, and whether the Giants will score more points against New England than Lebron James gets in his NBA game against Toronto.
And there's the coin toss which will cost Papa John's an estimated one million free pizzas if fans registering on the web site are correct. Someone figured that in addition to the cost of the sponsorship, this is a sound business decision.
A celebrity numerologist weighed in that New England's Tom Brady will have a good game based largely on the facts that in 2012, he wears number 12 and is playing in his 12th season. And is there really such a thing as a celebrity numerologist? Really?
Super Bowl Sunday is many things to many people, a record 111 million watched last year when the Packers beat Pittsburgh. It's a mark expected to fall on Sunday. A monument to excess perhaps, but a valued American tradition.
