By Tobi Amoo
It has finally come and gone along with its faded dreams and its very late night television watching-fuelled hangover. The 48th Super Bowl happened on Sunday, February 2 between the two best teams in the National Football League (NFL); the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks.
But that was only part of the show on that night at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The biggest night in America football is also the biggest night in television which is saying something for such a television-obsessed nation like the US.
Originally billed to be an exciting match up, the likes of which hadn’t been seen in many years, because it pitted the team with best offense in the league, the Broncos versus that with the meanest defense, the Seahawks. But the match itself didn’t live up to the hype as it was the Seattle offense not their defense that came to the fore early on and it was the Denver defense that was tested early on. Tested and found deficient at almost every single play.
Right from the first play, when the ball (which is egg-shaped by the way) was hiked back past the Denver quarterback Peyton Manning, when he moved forward to change the play call, and ended with the ball being touched down for a safety, it seemed like it would that sort of day for Denver.
This was meant to be the match, nay the title, that would confirm Manning’s place in the pantheon of all-time great quarterbacks but no matter what he or his teammates tried, it always felt like they were running or throwing against a brick wall. If only it was a wall, maybe they would have scored one point in the whole of the first half, but alas they were up against the legendary Seattle defensive unit, with the self-chosen nickname ‘Legion of Doom’.
The other winners on the night apart from the Seahawks team which romped to a comprehensive 43-8 win was television and entertainment as a whole. Super Bowl XLVIII broke all records for television viewing, becoming the most watched television program in US history drawing in 111.5 million viewers during the game. Also the half-time show, which had Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers performing attracted more viewers than the game itself beating the records set by Beyonce last year and Madonna two years ago.
Those that tuned in to the half time show got what they bargained for; if the game itself didn’t deliver on its promise, the half time show about almost made up for that. Appearing on stage while playing the drums, Bruno Mars was decked out in a resplendent suit backed up by his lookalikes as he performed his popular hits like ‘Locked Out of Heaven’ and ‘Treasure’. There was dancing and James Brown-like shuffling of feet as he thrilled the crowd until he was joined onstage by the legendary rock band RHCP who bizarrely decided to perform their 1991 hit, ‘Give It Away’.
For almost everyone concerned, Super Bowl XLVIII it was a very satisfactory night out, if one ignores the football that was on show. Plus the victory of the Seattle Seahawks reaffirmed the cross-sport maxim that having a good offense might sell tickets and promise exciting sporting action but it’s defense that wins championships and titles.
