Tomorrow is a big day for football fans. No, not futbol. Apologies to our foreign Moose and lurkers, but I’m talking about the uniquely American sports tradition known as the Super Bowl, the Granddaddy of extravagant sporting events. An epic battle first waged on January 15, 1967, between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Coach Vince Lombardi and Quarterback Bart Starr led the Packers to a 35-10 victory.
Tomorrow’s Super Bowl XLIII, pitting the underdog Arizona Cardinals against the crushing #1 ranked defense of the Pittsburgh Steelers, is a much different game than the one played back in ’67.
Super Bowl I was the only Super Bowl in history that was not a sellout in terms of attendance, despite a TV blackout in the Los Angeles area. Days before the game, local newspapers printed editorials about what they viewed as a then-exorbitant $12 USD price for tickets, and wrote stories about how to pirate the signal from TV stations outside the Los Angeles area.
If you happen to be in Tampa tomorrow, you and three friends can still catch the game live, and in person for a measly 15,000 US dollars. Oh, how the times have changed.
Maybe the economy isn’t hitting some folks as hard as it is others, but I don’t have fifteen-fucking-thousand disposable dollars. I’ll be watching the game at home and because we’re currently broke as a joke, we’re not even throwing a traditional Super Bowl party. Hey, diapers and formula knocked chips and salsa out of this month’s budget–WHAT’S A GUY GONNA DO, YOU KNOW? Thankfully, President Obama is hosting one for me. My invite must be lost in the mail.
President Obama, who revealed Thursday that he will be rooting for the Pittsburgh Steelers during Sunday’s Super Bowl–“Other than the Bears, the Steelers are probably the team that’s closest to my heart”–will also be hosting a bipartisan Super Bowl party at the White House.
Bipartisan, eh? Let’s take a look at the guest list:
Senator Bob Casey (D-PA)
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD)
Congressman Artur Davis (D-AL)
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
Congressman Charlie Dent (R-PA)
Congressman Mike Doyle (D-PA)
Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ)
Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Congressman Paul Hodes (D-NH)
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-DC)
Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-PA)
Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI)
Why do you suppose this particular group made the cut to attend the highest ranking Super Bowl party in the universe? Let’s consider (for a minute) that the POTUS has some idea what he’s doing. See any noteworthy Republicans on the list? Any BlueDog Dems? Will any of these votes be important to Obama’s legislative agenda?
Press secretary Robert Gibbs said the gathering is another step in the president’s continuing effort to reach out to lawmakers and get to know them better in hopes of reducing the partisan rancor as they work together on the people’s business.
Since becoming president, Obama has met at the White House with congressional leaders, traveled to Capitol Hill for private sessions with House and Senate Republicans and invited a bipartisan group of lawmakers to the executive mansion for cocktails.
Maybe they’ll have some time to talk about something outside of football, especially with reminders like this year’s slate of coveted advertisements, which will reflect the tough economic times no party having poor-boys like me are facing.
Although companies have stumped up a record three million dollars for 30-second Super Bowl ad slots, the ads reflect the woes of the US economy.
Gone are American car manufacturers like General Motors, Ford and Chrysler; in are Japanese and German cars, like Honda, Toyota and Audi.
Federal Express will not be running an ad this year, and have said “specifically that it’s an economic issue,” said David Shoffner, a spokesman for Pavone, the advertising company that since 2004 has hosted the Spotbowl.com website on which Super Bowl-watchers can vote for their favorite ad.
No funny FedEx commercial this year folks. No crazy car commercials either. No US car makers anyway. Instead, in a depressing sign of the times, we’ll get to see and advert from these guys:
Cash4Gold’s Super Bowl debut ad features two well known Americans — Ed McMahon, who for years was the sidekick to the popular late-night talk show host Johnnie Carson, and MC Hammer, the musician behind “U Can’t touch this” and other hits — who have fallen on hard times.
McMahon faced foreclosure on his California house last year and Hammer filed for bankruptcy in 1996.
Cash4Gold’s business doubled last year compared with the previous year as Americans sold off the family jewels to try to stave off financial ruin.
While President Obama wished the long suffering Cardinals well, he’s indicated that he’s pulling for the Steelers. Team owner Dan Rooney, a longtime Republican, and Franco Harris endorsed Obama’s presidential bid and campaigned for him in battleground Pennsylvania.
As for me, I’m a fan of a team who shall remain nameless; a squad that has proven to be an inherited family curse. I don’t much care who wins the big game tomorrow, but I know who I’m rooting for: Barack Obama.
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