The "It's More Than Advertisements This Year" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Carol and I have just watched the Philadelphia Eagles completely dominate the Minnesota Vikings who were picked to beat the Eagles.  The Eagles beat the Vikings by outscoring them by 31 points which was the third most points ever in a National Conference Championship.  That goes back over 50 years.  I have been an Eagles fan for most of my life, with the exception of a few years when I liked the Baltimore Colts and Johnny Unitas.  As soon as the game ended Sunday evening Carol said, "Think we can get airline tickets and watch the game in St. Martin like we did in 2005?"  It was back in 2005 that the Eagles played the same team they will once again play, the New England Patriots.  We had arrived for vacation the day before the game in St. Martin and had gone to Le Chappel Restaurant for supper that evening.  When we got there we realized it was a sports bar and asked if they were going to broadcast the Super Bowl the next evening.  Response was "Yes", but in French.  Hey, as long as their jerseys didn't have French numbers on them I was fine.  We arrived the following evening at game time and were ushered to the front of the room where they had reserved tables for those that wanted to watch the game on the big screen TV.  

Carol and I watching the Super Bowl in St. Martin in 2005.

The restaurant also managed to get a USA cable connection so the game would be in English.  Carol and I were the only Eagles fans, but we still had a fantastic time with a good meal and football favors.  That was until the Eagles lost 24-21.  The 20 or so Patriots fans naturally had to rub it in.  Made for a very memorable vacation nonetheless.  As for repeating the same thing this year...that's not going to happen.  By that I mean we won't be heading back to St. Martin for the game and the Eagles aren't going to be on the losing end of the score.   I do wish that the Eagles quarterback, Carson Wentz, had not been injured, but I was a big fan of Nick Foles when he played for the Eagles a few years ago.  He was surrounded by great players and coaches, but they just didn't believe in themselves as this year's team does.  There were many years that Carol and I watched the Super Bowl just to see the advertisements, but this year we'll have to plan on having food on our snack trays when the game begins so we don't miss a moment of TV that evening.  The Super Bowl is the National Football League's championship game.  At first it was between the National Football League and the American Football League, but when they merged it became the championship between the two conferences.  This year is the 52nd time the Super Bowl has been held.  I pulled up a site to check on the price for tickets and the first one I found included airfare, hotel, game ticket, pregame party, unlimited open bar and premium tailgate fare; priced at $5,935.00 per person.  

The 52 Super Bowl: New England vs. Philadelphia

Geez, we might as well go to St. Martin to watch the game since it would be less that that!  The very first Super Bowl game in 1967 had tickets for $12.00.  Each participant on the winning team gets a ring valued at $5,000 with adjustments if you want more gold in the ring or bigger diamonds.  Losing team members also get rings, but they may not cost more than one-half the winner's rings.  The winning team receives the Lombardi Trophy which is worth $25,000 and made of sterling silver.  Vince Lombardi, coach of the Green Bay Packers, won the very first Super Bowl.  Most times the Super Bowl is the most watched broadcast of the year on American TV.  For years the most watched TV show in history had been the last episode of M*A*S*H, but the record was broken in 2010 by the Super Bowl.  Today 9 of the top 10 spots for most watched show on TV is the Super Bowl.  And, for your information, 72 footballs are used for the Super Bowl (all checked for proper inflation I hope).   I hope the Eagles can continue to be the underdog in their search for their 1st Super Bowl win.  They've been the underdog throughout the playoffs this year, so one more underdog roll may make them winners.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.