Sports Minded: Another drought looms ahead

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Published on Wednesday, 08 February 2012 13:05

By Justin Ediger

Random Super Bowl thoughts as I prepare to go into the deep, dark doldrums known as the ‘NO FOOTBALL for six months’ zone.  

The Super Bowl just gets bigger and better.  Seems like every year the game has become more and more of a spectacle.  I remember a time when the Super Bowl was a little more than just another game played one week after the conference championships.  Nowadays it has turned into a two-week event. As soon as the Giants had defeated the 49ers for the NFC title game, all of the pundits, writers, t.v. show hosts, etc., began breaking down every facet of the soon to be match-up between New York and New England.  Every nook and cranny of the game was gone over with a football fine-toothed comb.  Will the Giants defense be able to stop Tom Brady?  Will Gronkowski play, and if so, what kind of impact will he have?  If Eli wins another world title will he surpass the greatness of his brother Peyton?  The list was endless.    

Certainly the Super Bowl has taken on a life of its own.  With nearly 55% of every household tuning in to watch the game, it’s easy to see why the NFL has become the king of the professional sports mountain. The Super Bowl has turned even non-football fans into patrons for at least one game of the season.  I heard a statistic this last week that the Super Bowl is ranked #2 behind Thanksgiving as the day that we as American’s consume the most food in one setting.  What’s most interesting to me is all of the hub surrounding the game that has nothing to do with the match-up itsself.

I’m not much of a betting man.  I’ve gone to the casino a time or two and I’ve bought more than one lottery ticket in my lifetime, but as far as wagering on games I’m not one for doing that.  What I’ve discovered, however, is that when it comes to the Super Bowl, you don’t even have to bet on the game or its outcome to come away a winner.  Known, as “prop” bets, Las Vegas has figured out a way to reach even the people who know nothing about the sport.  Some of the crazy things people could bet money on this year and come away a winner included:  Which team will President Obama publicly pick?  What color will the Gatorade be that is thrown on the winning coach?  Yellow, Orange, Lime, Blue, Clear. How long will it take Kelly Clarkson to sing the National Anthem?  Over/under 94.5 seconds.  The list goes on and on.  I heard of a guy winning $50,000 because he placed a bet on 500 to 1 odds that the first points scored in the game would be a safety.  The Super Bowl is indeed a CIRCUS that takes place and it just so happens a football game gets played somewhere along the way. 

The halftime show has become an animal in its own right.  This year, Madonna, who’s something like 83 years old, attempted to entertain the masses.  Does anyone else find it interesting that the NFL, in trying to stay conservative with their halftime shows after the Janet Jackson fallout a few years ago (pun intended), chose Madonna to do be this year’s entertainment?  I remember a time when counting on Madonna as a conservative halftime option would have been a hilarious joke.  Anyone else ever see “Truth or Dare?”  

When all was said and done, the game, the one thing that everything else revolved around, finally kicked off, and what a game it was.  I wrote a few weeks ago about Alabama winning the National Championship and how the old saying “defense wins championships” proved to be true.  I think the same happened in this game.  Sure, there was the great catch by Manningham and offensively Eli put up some big numbers, but all in all it was the Giant’s defense that brought this win to the Big Apple.  The Giants were lucky to even make the playoffs, but by the last week of the regular season the team started playing some of the best defense it had played all season.  That momentum carried them into the playoffs and ultimately gave them the World Championship.  

Who knows what teams will be playing next season but I’m certain there’s already a Vegas line out there if you want to make a wager.  I hear it’s 20 to 1 odds that Elvis will come back from the grave to make a cameo appearance in next year’s game.