Olbermann did a bit the other night citing 10 reasons not to watch the Super Bowl. Once again he nailed it, underscoring further his position as the only sports show that is Must See TV.
We remember the commercials, he noted. But not the game. He was right. There’s just nothing super, frankly, ‘bout the NFL title tilt. Games are rarely compelling and pre-game hype is so shallow—indeed, with rare exception memories of SBP’s (Super Bowls Past) center more off-the-field than on…
Take Super Bowl I: First, that’s a true misnomer. Nobody called it that then. It was just the championship game between two leagues soon to merge.
Game memory: Bobby, Art and I were driving back from a skiing weekend in Mt. Summit, Pennsylvania, trying to get back for the kickoff. Bobby got a speeding ticket and was hauled into a small town as Kraut and I stayed roadside in his Mustang.
Or Super Bowl III: Watched it with my Dad in Columbus. We were “old school” fans, our hearts with the Colts and an aging Unitas.
Game memory: Modell had yet to take the money and run to the AFL. Johnny U would come off the bench, but couldn’t pull it off. My father went to his grave resenting Namath.
Or for that matter Super Bowl VI: I had been in Ft. Polk, Louisiana less than two weeks.
Game memory: Watching the game with a couple hundred southerners —Cowboy fans all—and rooting quietly for Miami. It was the Ohio thing: Shula and Warfield, and I felt like a prisoner in a Confederate prison.
And then…no memories….for years! That’s what happens, I guess, when you don’t bet and your home team never gets to the dance. Games matter not.
Oh, I recall the year of “The Drive”—how after Denver broke Brownie hearts with an overtime field goal by Rich Karlis that I swear wasn’t good. Sat with H in the dogpound; Michael taped it at home; the kick was wide left.
Game memory: Linick and I were in Vegas…watched the game from the sportsbook at Caesar’s. Won a “prop bet” when they caught Elway for a safety.
And I recall too the year Fenton had a party…with the Gulf War beginning…and me finding out right there in his house that I was still eligible to be called. THAT I remember.
But my greatest memory—my hallmark Super Bowl memory, goes back to the 2008 game. Ask me—go ahead and ask me how I found out that the undefeated Patriots had been knocked off by the NY Giants? OK, let me tell you where I was!
I’d been asked to lead a 12-Step meeting in Cleveland Heights. My share having ended, the meeting was opened for post-talk comments. Some guy stood up…some guy with a wire and a plug in his ear.
“In case anyone’s interested, New England just lost,” he announced.
And that—for me— is a memory. Not only a Super Bowl memory, but a just super memory. In a half century of Brown-less games that just blend together, this is the moment — for me at least — that tops them all.
It was February 3, 2008. (I looked it up).
On that cold winter night in the upstairs of an old building at Mayfield and Lee in Cleveland Heights, Ohio…not that many years ago … everyone in the house was a winner.
How about the year Stu had a party and we asked the guests to vote for their choice for the title of our soon to be radio show. NO idea who played in that game that year and doubt many there remember. But, I’m sure everyone that was there remembers “The Boomer Boys”.