Chinese spy balloon over the US shot down. Biden delivers State of the Union address. Earthquake rocks Syria. Train wreck creates havoc in small Ohio town. War still rages in Ukraine. Senseless shootings rampant throughout the nation. A possible recession being talked about by economists.
No matter what horrific news occurs in the world between now and game time (and there has been a gigantic garbage dump of it lately) it seems safe to suggest that most of our attention in the Delaware Valley is focused on the glutenous seasonal showcase of the NFL, Super Bowl LVII! More so because The Eagles are featured in it for the first time in five seasons!
This annual spectacle of obsessive excesses, no matter the two teams that take the field, always is identified by Roman numerals. It’s a fitting tribute to the hordes of ancient warriors and empire builders and destroyers that wrought havoc on the planet centuries ago.
Today the field of battle is far from those primitive plains of yore.
State Farm Stadium, built in the desert of Glendale Arizona and completed in 2007, is the coliseum of choice this year for modern day gladiators who will engage in battle for football fame. (And there is a lot of that temporal toasting everywhere) and its time-honored partner, fortune (each winning team player will pull down $157, 000 and each losing team player will pocket $82,000.)
As if one could call those bonuses “fortune” to the average uber- bucks player who jousts and revels running to the end zone to smile for the TV and stadium cameras for the euphoria of winning a place in football history!.
Speaking about money, the cost of building State Farm Stadium was $455 million, which included $395.4 million for the stadium, itself, $41.7 million for site improvements, and $17.8 million for the land. Contributors to the stadium included the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority ($302.3 million), the Arizona Cardinals ($143.2 million), and the City of Glendale ($9.5 million).And let’s not forget we’re talking 2005-2007 dollars.
The stadium has 88 luxury suites – called luxury lofts – with space for 16 additional suites.
Because you and I are not in Arizona to see for ourselves, the 25 acres surrounding the stadium is called Sportsman’s Park (the Cardinals had previously played in an arena of the same name in St. Louis (1960 to 1965). The stadium seats 63, 400, but can be expanded by 8,800 for the Super Bowl (Let’s say @ $5000 per, we’re looking at about $360 M in ticket revenue. But who’s counting!
While snacking (and drinking) throughout the seeming interminable pre-game hours of Sunday, here’s a few random Super Bowl facts you may think about to while away the time for kickoff of the Eagles vs. Chiefs (And don’t forget the half-time extravaganza of Rihanna.)
Historically the Super Bowl spectacle began Jan. 15, 1967, with the Green Bay Packers defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. (Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes were not even born yet!)
Bart Starr was the QB for Green Bay, and Len Dawson was the QB for Kansas City. The game, ironically, was the only Super Bowl that was not a sellout and was telecast by both CBS and NBC. The Packers scored in every quarter, while the Chiefs scored only in the second. Each Packer drew a bonus of $15,000, and each Chief got a check $7,500 for playing in the game.
Legend has it that the original Super Bowl trophy was designed by a Tiffany vice-president on a cocktail napkin while he and the late Pete Rozelle, then NFL commissioner, were having lunch.
While a lot of worldwide media attention was paid to this inaugural, it was a galaxy of glitz away from the hype that has accompanied this mid-winter’s night dream game in recent years.
Last year the LA Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 with 1:29 left, with a one-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Cooper Kupp.
In a sideline game (or is it the real game?) deep-pocketed advertisers will nervously wait for Feb. 13 ratings’ reports to learn whether the hundreds of millions of dollars (about $7 million per 30 -second spot) they have ponied up to promote their brands in this modern Circus Maximus were well spent.
In retrospect, Super Bowl bravado in 1967 captivated sports fans everywhere, but other events in early January of that year commanded their rightful share of headlines, too.
Lest we forget: Virgil Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee dying in a flash fire while testing Apollo I at Cape Canaveral; the death of Jack Ruby, killer of Lee Harvey Oswald who had assassinated President John F. Kennedy; PBS’s debut as a 70-station network; Milton Berle’s final Texaco Star Theatre program on TV; a Louisville draft board refusing to exempt Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) from military service; the Rolling Stones making their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on CBS-TV; and the United States testing a nuclear weapon in Nevada, recalling but a few.
Finally, nobody asked, but while Super Bowl LVII will be forgotten long before the next season begins, let’s hope news of the “real world” that takes place while our attention is focused on a Roman Numeral doesn’t include another empire collapsing.
Oh yes. Get Broad Street ready for the parade, Banter picks the Eagles to win, 35-28!
The Last Word: Good day, good luck, and good news tomorrow!
Comments invited to mainlinebanter@verizon.net.
