Super Bowl L
Yes, you are correct, Super Bowl looks weird with the suffix Roman numeral L. I guess that’s a good enough reason for the organizers to rename it Super Bowl 50.
You have to hand it to the NFL, they know how to organize a showpiece event. This year’s Super Bowl 50 will be watched by millions over the globe and at the same time rake in $ millions.
An extravaganza like this doesn’t attract that many viewers if the product sucks. The product is the game itself. This is where I make full disclosure – as a Brit, I’m no expert on the game. I’m a football man, that’s soccer to you.
I have watched NFL on TV back in Britain and also saw it live on a visit to the Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego. I enjoy the game. It’s a far cry from football and that’s maybe why the latter has been so slow to really take off in the States. Football is a more cerebral game where the tactics and ebb and flow of the game are appreciated as fine arts by the aficionados. It is for me the “the beautiful game”.
The thrill of NFL is found in the long accurate throw of the quarterback to the offensive wide receiver who makes the touchdown. And, the quarterback breaking free of the opposition defensive shackle to sprint the length of the pitch for a touchdown. I think that’s called “rushing yards”?
Factual Facts
Super Bowl 50 will take place in California on February 7, 2016, and contested by the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos. The Panthers franchise has only been in existence since 1995 and will make their second appearance in the Super Bowl. The Broncos will make their eighth appearance, a feat equaled by only three other teams, the New England Pats, Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys.
Here are some interesting facts about the game –
Peyton Manning became the first quarterback ever to lead two different teams to multiple Super Bowls. If he plays, he will also be the oldest quarterback ever to play in a Super Bowl at age 39. The current record is held by John Elway, who led the Broncos to victory in Super Bowl XXXIII at age 38.
This will be the first Super Bowl to feature a quarterback on both teams who was the #1 pick in their draft classes. Manning was the #1 selection of the 1998 NFL draft while Newton was picked first in 2011.
Concerns were raised over whether Levi’s Stadium’s field was of a high enough quality to host a Super Bowl; during the inaugural season, the field had to be re-sodded multiple times due to various issues, and during a week 6 game earlier in the 2015 season, a portion of the turf collapsed under Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, causing him to slip and miss a field goal, although the field has not had any major issues since. As is customary for Super Bowl games played at natural grass stadiums, the NFL re-sodded the field with a new playing service; a hybrid Bermuda 419 turf. NFL and Atlanta Braves field director Ed Mangan stated that the field was in “great shape” for gameday.
For the first time, the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee and the NFL have openly sought disabled veteran and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-owned businesses in Business Connect, the Super Bowl program that provides local companies with contracting opportunities in and around the Super Bowl. The host committee has already raised over $40 million through sponsors including Apple, Google, Yahoo!, Intel, Gap, Chevron, and Dignity Health.
CBS set the base rate for a 30-second advertisement at $5,000,000, a record high price for a Super Bowl ad. 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios and Walt Disney Studios will pay for movie trailers to be aired during the Super Bowl. Fox paid for Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, Independence Day: Resurgence and Eddie the Eagle, Paramount paid for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and Zoolander No. 2, Universal paid for the debut trailer for an Untitled fifth Bourne film and Disney paid for Captain America: Civil War, The Jungle Book, Zootopia, Alice Through the Looking Glass and Finding Dory.
Bizarre Facts
And according to the America’s Star Tribune here’s how much Americans are consuming this Super Bowl Sunday:
1.25 billion: The number of chicken “wing portions” the National Chicken Council estimates will be eaten.
100 million: Pounds of avocados that Haas Avocado Board estimates will be eaten.
11.2 million: Pounds of potato chips that will be eaten, according to the Calorie Control Council.
8.2 million: Pounds of tortilla chips that will be consumed.
222,792: Number of football fields worth of farmland used to grow all that corn, potatoes, and avocados.
48 million: The number of Americans that will order take-out
11 million: Slices of pizza Domino’s expects to deliver.
Burppp!!!
The Brits will be there too! The headline band at the half-time interval will be Coldplay.
Now, that’s what I call razzamatazz!
Featured Image courtesy of Charlie Lyons-Pardue at Flickr Creative Commons.
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Hi Steve
Rushing yards is a recorded stat of the total number of yards gained by the quarterback as the result of a rushing play. The QB has to carry the football from the snap forward (doesn’t necessarily mean a touchdown). If they achieved say 6 yards and are then driven back they are awarded ‘rushing yards’ of 6. However, if they turn and go back on their own, say 2 yards, and they are stopped they are only awarded 4 yards.
I still enjoy watching American football on occasion, but I prefer British football as it reminds me somewhat of what American football use to me when I was kid. A fun game not a battle for commercial air time.
Hi Jerry, Thanks for the tutorial on rushing yards 🙂 It’s a coincidence you mentioned British football as a “fun game.” I developed an idea today for a post about the commercialism in English football nowadays.
Our (Liverpool fans always refer to the club as “our”) American owners have decided to hike the most expensive ticket from £59 to £77 for next season. About 10,000 fans protested at yesterday’s Liverpool home game by walking out in the 77th minute. I’m with them in spirit!
Ahhh, therein lies the rub – AMERICAN OWNERS. The sods see a way to gouge an extra few quid and figure it’s easy pickings. I do hope the Brits will boycott the wankers.
All American owners in English football have been controversial. The Glazers at Manchester United, Randy what’s his name at Aston Villa, Gillet and Hicks our former American owners were mavericks. As for our present American owners, I would love to know what the majority of the Red Sox Nation truly feel about FSG.