Super Bowl Sunday: When did football become our national pastime?
“(The Super Bowl) is the single, biggest shared common experience in American society,” said Mark Dyreson, an associate professor of kinesiology and history at Penn State. “For better or worse, you can’t get much bigger than that. The Super Bowl does better than Christmas, the Fourth of July, any singular event.”
Today’s a holiday, you know. For all practical purposes it is, don’t try to deny it. People make PLANS for Super Bowl Sunday. People have parties. They make supermarket runs to stack up on the food/snacks or barbecue. People actually TRAVEL to a friend or family’s house. Heck, my dog walked me at 8:00AM this morning, and the parking lots around my block are FILLED. Cars are double-parked, which means people came in last night. The streets were busy at 8:00AM, too, with people doing things the “last minute”.
I’m not a football fan nor football historian. I never watched an entire football game from start to finish. But I do know that Super Bowls (in one form or another) have been around since the late 1960’s, and that the Dallas Cowboys were hyped up in 1978 in an NFL film propaganda piece and called “America’s Team”. TV ratings have been astronomical since 1978, too.
Ironically enough, 1984 was actually a pivotal point in the commercialism of the Super Bowl, as Apple unveiled their George Orwell 1984 commercial. In many ways, this made the Super Bowl 100% commercialized. And we know what happens when advertisers run the show, right? The hype machine kicks into full gear.
The statistics are mind-blowing when it comes to how many people tune into the game every year thanks to football marketing- most of it is free publicity, too. It is a shared collective event of Americana, but rooted in commercialism, i.e. companies selling their junk and the network getting paid millions for 30-second spots. It’s about extravagant half-time shows brought to you by….[insert corporation] instead of the actual game itself. Put it in perspective, the 1967 “halftime show” featured the University of Arizona & Grambling State University Bands, Al Hirt, Anaheim High School Drill Team.
Heck, people talk more about the commercials than the game. Every Monday after Super Bowl Sunday, the Internet, newspapers, and TV entertainment shows rate Super Bowl commercials. It truly is a world full of Homer Simpsons. I tip my hat to Simpsons creator Matt Groening for seeing this.
As far as the actual Super Bowl game itself: Well, most people are too drunk to remember it. Most of the time the games are blow-outs. With rare exceptions, most games never live up to the insane hype. In fact, it could be safe to say that the Super Bowl is overrated.
Super Bowl ads became so popular because the MEDIA tells the story of how expensive, outrageous and unique Super Bowl ads are (which implies the game must be out-of-this world).
In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s the Super Bowl was for football fans only, which was not as popular as baseball. It was the championship game, but not a national obsession. There was some talk after the games, but the hype leading up to it was virtually non-existent, and certainly there was no prolonged discussion about commercials or a new TV show being launched. I heard that no one bothered to save a video tape of Super Bowl I. The MEDIA was different back then. A handful of reporters took a bus to cover the event, and the football players were easily accessible in their hotels.
So yes, the NFL has evolved from a cult sport to a national pastime. It’s fun for millions of people. There is a sense of bonding, trash-talking, and socializing..being a red-blooded American who looks at cheerleaders with all its outlandish commercialism. The Super Bowl takes men and (even) women from all walks of life and beliefs and engages them in one activity for an afternoon and evening. Friends and family gather and swap stories and memories…while Ryan Seacrest is standing on a red carpet trying to make athletic jocks prime time entertainers on the Super Bowl pre-game show.
Unfortunately, the cold reality is that NFL fever is also fueled by gamblers and odds makers, who love to fleece you of your hard earned money. Good lord, could you imagine if the hundreds of millions of Americans actually focused their time and energy on a worthy cause instead of a Super Bowl Sunday party?
Oh, one thing that is over my head every year: If you are a die-hard Miami Dolphins fan, why would you truly care (or root for a team) when the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Arizona Cardinals in a neutral site (Tampa)?
So when did football become our national pastime? First it was boxing and baseball. Although boxing still makes money hand over fist, the heavyweight division hasn’t been the same since Buster Douglas beat Mike Tyson in 1990, and Don King ruined everything. Baseball still draws the most fans (they actually break attendance records every year) and made the jump to an international audience on MLB.com, but they suffered through a major strike in 1994-1995, and their games can’t keep attention spans of the MTV generation. Basketball is the most played sport by citizens, and of course, endorsed by rappers and celebrities. Football was still an oddity at the beginning (it’s been around since 1920), but has grown in popularity much more than the other sports.
MY THEORY: Although TV ratings were astronomically high even in 1978, and Joe Namath was made into a football hero by the MEDIA in 1969, I think the combination of the 1984 Apple commercial (showing companies how creative they can be in generating publicity with such a wide viewership) and the 1985 Chicago Bears beating the New England Patriots (Super Bowl XX- Jan 26, 1986) made the Super Bowl (and the NFL) and national pastime. It was the first time the Boston football team did anything of importance, and Boston’s MEDIA outlet hyped the crap out of it. Of course, with all the coverage, the world experienced the charismatic Bears: Mike Ditka, Refrigerator Perry, and quarterback Jim McMahon (who graced the cover of Rolling Stone, and mooned the world from a helicopter on TV). “Da Bears” were at the right place and the right time, and the MEDIA ate them up, and hyped subsequent Super Bowls the same way.
Edit: Tony Vahl, who knows a lot more about football than I, agreed with me, and had this to add:
I’d like to add that the year after the 1985 Superbowl, the NY Giants won the 1986 Superbowl, versus Denver. And the prior year Superbowl featured Miami and San Francisco.
So, in a three year time span, the South East, West Coast, North East, Mid West, and Mountain states were all represented in the Super Bowl … an incredible stroke of luck for the NFL.
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Amazing. After reading your article, I turned on the TV and there was Barack Obama talking football with Matt Lauer. He picked the Steelers (Rooney, the team owner, was a big O supporter, according to the big O himself), and even endorsed a College Football playoff system.
He had a casual dress shirt on, with the top collar unbuttoned. Truly the People’s Champ.
Reminds me of when Presidents used to go to Opening Day baseball games….
***
I’d like to add that the year after the 1985 Superbowl, the NY Giants won the 1986 Superbowl, versus Denver. And the prior year Superbowl featured Miami and San Franscisco.
So, in a three year time span, the South East, West Coast, North East, Mid West, and Mountain states were all represented in the Super Bowl … an incredible stroke of luck for the NFL.
This, and in addition to all the hype, turned Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Lawrence Taylor, John Elway, and others into household names.
***
As a former boxing aficionado, I’m glad you brought up Don King. You’re right: he did ruin the sport. I’m glad you said it.
He used to frustrate me, back in the day, with his obvious gimmicks and phony sales pitches. Just give us the fights, man … stop delaying and hyping up lame-o pay-per-view events. What a shame. Boxing disappeared from the airwaves, and the big matches turned out to be duds half the time … and advertisers were NOT involved because it was Pay-per-view! So — no ads equal NO HYPE from the major MEDIA outlets.
Your point about the power of advertisers to turn something that was already popular into something out of the world is so true … the reverse is true with boxing. The lack of hype and the stifling control Don King had over the sport proved to be a killer for boxing.
I hope that sport turns it around someday.
***
MLB’s ability to go international is a huge advantage they have over the NFL. Football has tried to expand overseas, but with very little real success. NFL Europe was a failure, for example.
The games they play overseas sell-out the stadiums, but there are no American football leagues over there to sustain the sport.
The NFL is limited to the U.S.; MLB is not. That’s something to hang our baseball caps on!
Wow — the NFL even got the crew from the Hudson River plane crash for the Pre-game show!
I wonder if Homer Simpson caught that … “Who’s that, Marge?”
“I don’t know, Homie. I just walked in. Here’s your beer.”
“Thanks, Marge.”
G.I. Joe — The Rise of Cobra
8.7.09
Just saw the commercial … Eiffel Tower knocked over … crazy stunts … Stormshadow … I’m sold. Thank you and good night.
Did I mention Jack Bauer (or whatever his name is) is in it?
Thank you.
‘Nuff said.
General David Patreus = Eisenhower. He is now officially the most popular living General, thanks to his appearance on the Superbowl.
AND WE ARE HERE LIVE FROM TAMPA..BOB DYLAN COMMERCIAL??????
Things I just learned:
Bob Dylan drinks Pepsi, and we are reliving the late ’60’s and early ’70’s.
Businesses drink Bud Light during meetings and throw people out 3rd story windows when suggesting alcohol should not be consumed during work-time … oh, and you WILL survive a fall out a 3rd-story window, according to Budweiser.
Snowglobes (hehehehe) are used to predict the future, or something like that.
Is there a game going on? I hear a whistle every now and then. And Al Michaels.
F@$@#@ JOY KILLERS.
The LOT of you.
Vahl, did you say Jack Bauer is in GI JOE??????
THE BOSS IS BACK.
Santonio Holms is their big play guy.
MY 3-D GLASSES DON’T WORK
GI JOE #1 CAME OUT THIS MONTH.
Madden said Superman. DC thanks him.
gawd i just saw the baroness
Storm Shadow vs Snake-Eyes teaser…
I dunno…smells like a bomb.
Guess I’m a f$%#$#% JOY-KILLER.
10-0 is dominant?
gawd i just spilled the baroness all over myself
What’s worse, Ignorance or Apathy?
I don’t know, and I don’t care.
Game, set, and match.
And the Pittsburgh Steelers are Superbowl Champions … their sixth championship in franchise history.
I can’t bear to watch this … the Cardinals are blowing it, big time.
I guess Kurt Warner is not going to the Hall of Fame.
The Boss rocked!
Yeah, in shocking news the Stealers won!
The Return of Jennifer Hudson
That’s correct, Kurt Warner is no longer a HOF candidate, according to Yahoo. It all depending on pulling off an upset tonight.
Why is Matt Millen doing half-time analysis? That would be like George W. Bush giving a speech on nation-building … or if Hoover was hired to write articles about the Depression after losing to FDR … like Tim McCarver providing commentary for the Home Run Derby … Like a parakeet teaching a human how to drive….
Heroes of the Hudson #1 (One-shot) $5.95 By Rucka and Ross
“Like a parakeet teaching a human how to drive….”
SQUAWK! SQUAWK! Makearight! Makearight!
Matthew Millen is a former professional football player and executive in the National Football League. He was President and CEO of the Detroit Lions. His tenure as head of the franchise led to the worst eight-year record in the NFL (31-97) since World War II, and resulted in his termination on September 24, 2008.
Ahem.
KURT WARNER: HALL OF FAME!
LARRY FITZGERALD: MVP! MVP! MVP!
HALL OF FAME RECEIVER LARRY FITZGERALD….
SANTONIO HOLMES: MVP! MVP! MVP!
ROETHLESBURGER: HALL OF FAME! HALL OF FAME! HALL OF FAME!
I remember the janet jackson controversy when it was on the front page of every newspaper like it was the most important thing that ever happened.
a womans breast appeared on national tv for less than a second.
it was stupid.
like a womans breast being exposed would corrupt the entire nation.
real embarrassing to myself as an american.
in other countries women walking around topless is no big deal.
but here, front page news.
a real symbol of our national immaturity.
such overhype and stupidity.
Madden: “This was a heavyweight championship bout.”
And this blog post has come full circle.
WOOOOOOOooooh!
SIX-TIME CHAMPION OF THE WOOOOOORRRRRLD!
NUMERO SEIS POR EL STEELERS….
YOU ARE, NUMBER SIX.
THE STEELERS ARE NUMBER ONE!
VISIT NFLSHOP.COM NOW, AND YOUR EXCLUSIVE STEELERS CHAMPIONSHIP DVD NOW!!!
Dan Rooney: “I’d like to thank President Obama….”
Reverse jinx post and thread
Dan Patrick last night said something like the Steelers are the greatest championship winning franchise. Talk about being caught up in the moment.
The “Steeler Nation” is everywhere. The Rooney’s are “Poor” family owners. The team represents those down-trodden, laid-off, dying-of-emphysema steel workers of America that we all sympathize with (while ignoring their union wages and benefits).
On a side-note: the NFL’s salary cap and obsession with parity was a leading indicator of the people’s desire to have more regulation and Gov’t assistance programs. The people want the playing field needs to be level for all. The NFL has reflected the people’s desires for the past 20 years or so.