Tuesday, January 20, 2009

America's Sport - Football and the Super Bowl

By Matt Ryan

What better day to spend with friends, eat greasy food, and drink beer than Super Bowl Sunday! Super Bowl Sunday has become one of the most celebrated sports days of the year. Ticket prices, for this event, have sky rocketed. Yet, fans still fight to get the most lavish seats, in either the front row or luxurious box seats. Surprisingly, only one eating / drinking day surpasses Super Bowl Sunday and that day is Thanksgiving.

The Super Bowl brings other big-ticket items to the table, like hysterical commercials. This is the one time of the year where people look forward to the commercials they will see - unlike any other television show in existence.

In the beginning, the Super Bowl was known as a showdown between the older National Football League and the younger American Football League. By the fourth Super Bowl game, this changed as the two leagues completed their merger. This is where the life of the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC) began.

On January 15, 1967 was the first Super Bowl game, ever. The Green Bay Packers were quickly dominating the other teams on the league, easily making their appearance at the first Super Bowl. The Kansas City Chiefs met their doom, that day, with a final score of 35 - 10.

Their luck did not stop here. The Packers went on to win the Super Bowl the following year, along with five championships by the end of the decade.

Vince Lombardi was the coach, of the Packers, during this time of triumph. This is where the championship trophy got its name - the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The trophy is nothing simple to create; it takes 72 hours and $12,500 to create just one.

Everyone who plays in the championship, whether they win or lose, receives a championship ring signifying their accomplishment. It takes $2,500 - $5,000 to make each ring, depending whether it is a winners' ring or losers', and there are over 300 rings made each year.

After 40, some Super Bowl games the NFC and AFC are within arm's reach of each other. Both have won just over 20 games, with the NFC winning only one more than the AFC.

During the regular season, determinations are made for home field advantages and Wild Card teams. Wild card teams are those who are just behind the Division championship, or how played in the wrong division. Division winners are automatic shoe-ins for the playoffs.

The playoffs begin after the teams have had time to rest from the regular season. Games are played based on home field advantages, and your ranking amongst the winners. Wild card teams are the low man on the totem pole, and have no advantages. Actually, only four wild card teams have ever won the Super Bowl championship.

The long history, of Football, has proven to be a true sport. This game will continue to be a hard one for the players, and one that the fans adore.

Tampa, Florida will be hosting Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009. The two teams, who conquered all to make it to the big game, are both superb at what they do. Because of this, there are many predictions that this will be one of the most exciting games of all times. - 14915

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