Conor Goodwin
Reporter
Only two of the twelve teams that entered the NFL postseason nearly a month ago have remained. In only a few days, the Indianapolis Colts will be competing against the New Orleans Saints for the Lombardi Trophy. The Colts and Saints both feature high powered offenses led by Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, and both teams boast big play defenses hungry for turnovers. The stage has been set for a dramatic showdown in South Florida on February 7th. Kickoff is at 6:30 pm.
The game is only a small component of Super Bowl Sunday; many view it as an opportunity to have fun partying with friends and family. “I usually don’t watch the game,” junior Stefanie Decker said, “I just like the food that everyone brings and hanging out with my friends and family.”
Eating is a phenomenon on Super Bowl Sunday. Super Bowl Sunday has is the day with the highest level of food consumption on average in America, even higher than including Thanksgiving Day). “There’s always so much good food at Super Bowl parties — pizza, chili, wings, chips and dip, brownies,” junior Henry Lloyd said.
On most days, few view commercials as worth watching, but on Super Bowl Sunday, the mute button takes a day off. “Most of the commercials are really funny,” freshman Kelly Armstrong said.
Junior Rory Shepard agrees with Kelly. “The commercials are great, my favorite being the Bud Light commercial last year when the employee is thrown out of the window when he suggests to his fellow employees that the way to lower the budget is to stop buying Bud Light,” he said.
Other popular commercials from past Super Bowls include the talking and singing baby from E*TRADE, as well as the Doritos commercial with the crystal ball smashing the Doritos case and then hitting the boss where it hurts.
Another entertaining part of Super Bowl Sunday is the halftime show. “The halftime show is great!” freshman Tyler Stemerman said. “I like the music. Bruce Springstein was really good last year.”
The band playing at this year’s halftime show is The Who. The songs, “Tommy, Can You Hear Me?” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” are just two of the tracks the bands intends to perform today.
However, one of the main reasons people are watching the Super Bowl is to see an exiting fight for the win. “I’ll watch the game if it’s a good match-up, otherwise I’ll just hang out with my friends,” sophomore Megan Paul said.
The past two years the Super Bowl has produced very close and exciting games. In 2008 the Pittsburgh Steelers knocked off the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 in the final seconds, and in 2007 the New York Giants upset the previously undefeated New England Patriots 17-14.
Team loyalty generally draws in viewers for the Super Bowl. “If I’m a fan of the team playing then I’ll watch the whole game with my family,” Megan said.
But when there is no team loyalty to speak of, some football fans do lose interest. “I’m a Patriots fan, so I followed the game closely two years ago,” junior Corey Tarlow said. “I don’t have much of an interest in either team this year so I’ll probably just hang out or party with my friends.”
Regardless of being a football fan or not, Super Bowl Sunday seems to have something to offer for everyone. “I really just use the Super Bowl as an excuse to have fun with my friends,” senior Maxine Burns said.
Kelly agreed, saying, “I like how my family and all of my friends’ families come together to enjoy the Super Bowl.”