From the Publisher: Super Bowl Weekend
What are you doing this weekend? Chances are it will have something to do with the Super Bowl.
Even if you are not a fan, somehow the spectacle will reach out and suck you in.
Your email, cell phone or facebook has been littered with invites, e-vites and requests for you to join someone’s ultimate Super Bowl party.
I’ll admit not watching any of the traditional hype leading up to the game, so I honestly can’t tell you what number we are on. I know it’s in the 40s and it should be spelled out with the proper Roman numeral. (44, XLIV)
But for this column, it’s not important. What does matter is how a football game came to be so important to our country and to so many countries around the world. It’s the marketing machine of the NFL. And before you mention soccer, I get it. But how much does a 30-second ad cost for the World Cup?
The time has passed quickly. It seems like just the other day the Cowboys were playing the Steelers and Lynn Swann made the “circus” catch. It’s hard to believe that has been nearly 35 years ago or, when the Cowboys came back to beat the Broncos in 1977.
How about all the memories of watching all the Super Bowl games that your team isn’t in and you still felt compelled to watch, just waiting for your team to return or even make it there.
Imagine what the fans of the Saints must be experiencing. This is their first appearance for the franchise. If they were to win, it would make a great story and an even better party. But don’t just cheer for them because of Hurricane Katrina. Katrina was a catastrophic event that killed hundreds and displaced thousands and the city is still recovering.
The images of the tragedy will be etched in our collective memories forever, but let’s make this about football.
Also etched in my memory as an arrogant Cowboy fan are NFL Films that depict the Saints’ fans with brown paper bags over their heads. The shame and the horror of it all is too much.
From a football perspective, it was “Katrina” like every season. Archie Manning, the face of the franchise for so many years, who has a son playing for the other team wouldn’t mind the Saints winning.
So could this be their year?
If you believe in fate, I guess anything is possible.
By the way, the NFL coined the phrase this week of “Who Dat.” So if anyone uses that on any merchandise, they will need to pay the league, very nice touch. The league really needs all that extra coin. In the spirit of the weekend, the Saints winning is the feel good story, but from my vantage point, the Colts are still undefeated and that’s what they will be late Sunday night.
Drew Brees has the best pregame hypeshow in the league, but it AINT enuff for the ‘AINTS. Who Dat?
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