It was January of 1969 and I was spending a weekend with a dozen friends at a hunting camp located near County Bridge State Park, midway between Canton and Blossburg. The membership of “ Camp It” was comprised mostly of downstate York County men. Several were eager to break camp early that Sunday morning to start their three hour trip downstate to watch Superbowl III, to be televised later that afternoon.
Like most National Football League fans I was arrogantly confident the Baltimore Colts would have no trouble mauling the New York Jets representing the recently formed American Football League. The previous two Super Bowls had resulted in convincing wins for NFL teams but the two year old words of Vince Lombardi, legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers for whom the Bowl's trophy is named, still hung in the air that Sunday morning as we prepared to break camp.
Lombardi had chastised his team for their lethargic behavior during the practice sessions leading up to the first NFL/AFL showdown. He warned that any NFL team that didn't give 100% effort could find themselves on the short end of the Super Bowl scoreboard and becoming the league goat for letting “those pass happy kids” win.
By half time of Super Bowl III, it was apparent the AFL had indeed grown up. When time had expired to end the game, Broadway Joe was carried off the field as a victorious gladiator. The final score was Jets-16, Colts-7. A new era had arrived.
At this point, the readership may ask why this column is not in the sports section of the paper. The answer is that Super Bowl Sunday has become a national phenomenon. Although not nearly as important as Independence Day, it now rivals the 4th of July in public attention. It is now considered by many, an unofficial American holiday.
It is the second largest day, after Thanksgiving, for U.S. food consumption, and has become the most watched American television broadcast. In fact, the four most watched broadcasts in U.S. Television history are Super Bowls.
Super Bowl interest for the expected 120 million viewing audience next Sunday can be placed in one or more of three sub-categories: The game itself, competing commercials that seem to dwarf playing time on the football field, and half-time entertainment that has replaced the cover of The Rolling Stone as a status symbol for celebrity entertainers.
Next Sunday I may watch the Super Bowl if cold or foul weather rules out a pleasant walk in the woods with the dog. Guess I'm from the old school when the game was more important than the glitz.
Let me end with a little food for thought. During the decline of the Roman Empire, career politicians built arenas with public funds to hold games and distract citizens from the mounting problems of state. Last week there was far more attention paid to under inflated footballs (Deflate-gate) than the greatly inflated National Debt that was glossed over in the State of The Union message.
History has a disturbing way of repeating itself.