Reflection: Super Bowl XLII
Brent Grier
Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: Opinion
Enough time has passed since Super Bowl XLII to put the event in its proper context while still leaving a fresh image. The affair has brought out a lot in terms of reflection, but not for the reasons you may think. From time to time I heard about the outlandishness of placing such a high emphasis on the role of sports in our society. Yet in a season such as the one many of us watched, that claim has lost a good deal of its luster.
Last Sunday's game served a greater purpose than a few musical performances, a lot of overblown commercials and the game itself. Super Bowl XLII did what few of its predecessors could, and that is transcend the actual sport. Even if you remove the big plays, the game as a whole showed how the sport is played and why we need to appreciate it.
Sports, especially those on the scale of the Super Bowl, have an opportunity to broadcast a powerful message not only throughout this country, but the entire world. Sunday's game took that challenge and made it look easy. The New York Giants are by no means an inferior franchise and certainly were not an inferior team. Their victory over the New England Patriots did, however, represent why we laud sports in general. Sports at their very finest are so popular because they can become a microcosm of life.
Not a favored team by any stretch of the imagination, the Giants did what we all hope to do in out lives. They looked opportunity squarely in the face and made the most of it. In 60 minutes of playing time, they turned a coronation into a lesson in seizing an opening. I would not go as far as some who follow sports and call the Patriots an embodiment of evil, but for the purposes of this game and this analogy they represented the establishment, the hardship, the inevitable. Yet, in one game many learned what can take a lifetime to figure out. On a given day, anything is possible if you put yourself in the best position to accomplish it.
Sports are not the end-all-be-all, but we can all learn something from it from time to time. Before I get too corny and start conjuring scenes from "Rudy" references, allow me to rant on a few things that crossed my mind on Sunday.
1) These Super Bowl commercials are steadily getting worse. It's almost like these advertisers get to spend more to do less. The money will keep flowing, however, especially after learning that Super Bowl XLII was the second-most watched television program of all time. Which leads me to #2…
2) Was M*A*S*H really that great? I've seen enough episodes to form an opinion and found myself halfway enjoying about two episodes.
3) I can't respect anything Paula Abdul says or does if she's determined to start this music career thing again.
4) You'd think ESPN would've learned its lesson about proclaiming an all-time great team before the season actually ends. During the 2005-2006 season, the network went headfirst proclaiming that seasons University of Southern California Trojans as the best college football team ever. After losing in the championship game, it turned out that they weren't even the best team that season.
Last Sunday's game served a greater purpose than a few musical performances, a lot of overblown commercials and the game itself. Super Bowl XLII did what few of its predecessors could, and that is transcend the actual sport. Even if you remove the big plays, the game as a whole showed how the sport is played and why we need to appreciate it.
Sports, especially those on the scale of the Super Bowl, have an opportunity to broadcast a powerful message not only throughout this country, but the entire world. Sunday's game took that challenge and made it look easy. The New York Giants are by no means an inferior franchise and certainly were not an inferior team. Their victory over the New England Patriots did, however, represent why we laud sports in general. Sports at their very finest are so popular because they can become a microcosm of life.
Not a favored team by any stretch of the imagination, the Giants did what we all hope to do in out lives. They looked opportunity squarely in the face and made the most of it. In 60 minutes of playing time, they turned a coronation into a lesson in seizing an opening. I would not go as far as some who follow sports and call the Patriots an embodiment of evil, but for the purposes of this game and this analogy they represented the establishment, the hardship, the inevitable. Yet, in one game many learned what can take a lifetime to figure out. On a given day, anything is possible if you put yourself in the best position to accomplish it.
Sports are not the end-all-be-all, but we can all learn something from it from time to time. Before I get too corny and start conjuring scenes from "Rudy" references, allow me to rant on a few things that crossed my mind on Sunday.
1) These Super Bowl commercials are steadily getting worse. It's almost like these advertisers get to spend more to do less. The money will keep flowing, however, especially after learning that Super Bowl XLII was the second-most watched television program of all time. Which leads me to #2…
2) Was M*A*S*H really that great? I've seen enough episodes to form an opinion and found myself halfway enjoying about two episodes.
3) I can't respect anything Paula Abdul says or does if she's determined to start this music career thing again.
4) You'd think ESPN would've learned its lesson about proclaiming an all-time great team before the season actually ends. During the 2005-2006 season, the network went headfirst proclaiming that seasons University of Southern California Trojans as the best college football team ever. After losing in the championship game, it turned out that they weren't even the best team that season.
Be the first to comment on this story