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Hey, can I ask you one thing? Simply between you and me?
Yeah, shoot.
I … don’t actually perceive this Tremendous Bowl factor.
You don’t perceive the Tremendous Bowl? The ever present occasion that dwarfs each different American leisure choice? The seasonal end result of a sport woven deep throughout the wealthy tapestry of a mighty nation?
Shhh! I don’t need everybody to know!
Perhaps you’re not from the US. Or had been the sort of youngster who watched “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Or perhaps you simply want pickleball. We’ve obtained you lined. You’ve come to the suitable place to search out out all about this yr’s Tremendous Bowl with no tears or embarrassment.
Nice! When is the sport, and who’s taking part in?
The Tremendous Bowl is the ultimate sport of the season of the Nationwide Soccer League, the mammoth league with the $100 billion tv contract and groups which might be every price $5 billion or extra. This yr, the San Francisco 49ers will face the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs in Las Vegas on Sunday beginning simply after 6:30 p.m. Japanese on CBS, though pregame protection begins at 2 p.m.
Uh, Chiefs? That wouldn’t be a reference to …
Sure, Native Individuals, and that makes some folks fairly uncomfortable. The workforce in Washington modified its identify in 2020 from a slur in opposition to Native Individuals. First they had been merely named the Soccer Group, and now they’re the Commanders.
Give me some memorable Tremendous Bowl moments.
There are such a lot of to select from. In Tremendous Bowl III in 1969, Joe Namath predicted his New York Jets would beat the closely favored Baltimore Colts, after which backed up his boast with a victory.
To advertise their look in Tremendous Bowl XX in 1986, members of the Chicago Bears made a cringey pop video, “The Tremendous Bowl Shuffle,” after which gained anyway, by a report margin. The New York Giants upset the undefeated New England Patriots when a participant caught the ball by trapping it on his helmet (XLII, 2008).
The sport has by no means been canceled, nevertheless it has been halted for half an hour by a blackout (XLVII, 2013).
Halftime exhibits have gotten extra elaborate.
There have been memorable Tremendous Bowl performances of the nationwide anthem (Whitney Houston, XXV, 1991), and halftime exhibits, together with one with a “wardrobe malfunction” (Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson, XXXVIII, 2004) that was the topic of a New York Instances documentary.
The Tremendous Bowl halftime present started in 1967. Al Hirt, a trumpeter and band chief, carried out to a dwell viewers of some 67,000 followers.
The producers of the N.F.L.’s largest occasion of the yr have steadily raised the ante of the present’s musical acts, from college marching bands many years in the past to the world’s largest pop stars, together with Madonna, Paul McCartney, U2 and Beyoncé. Usher takes the stage this yr.
Who nonetheless makes use of Roman numerals?
The N.F.L. does, besides in 2016 after they referred to as it Tremendous Bowl 50 as a result of Tremendous Bowl L appeared a little bit foolish. This yr’s sport is the completely, positively unsilly-looking Tremendous Bowl LVIII.
Are you able to clarify the principles of soccer rapidly?
OK, however we’re going to oversimplify.
There are 11 gamers on a aspect, however the important thing participant is the quarterback. He takes the rectangular ball at first of every play and both fingers it to a participant who tries to run with it or throws it downfield for a receiver to catch. Groups have 4 tries, or “downs,” to advance the ball at the very least 10 yards (9.1 meters, however don’t get caught saying that when surrounded by soccer followers).
The opposite workforce will attempt to cease them from doing so, a course of that always ends with a number of gamers grabbing the participant with the ball and hurling him to the bottom abruptly.
Typically a participant will do one thing fallacious (a “penalty”) and the referee will sign this by throwing what appears to be like like a yellow hankie (the announcers will say that “a flag is on the sector”).
The sphere is 100 yards lengthy, and a workforce making it previous that time (the “finish zone”) will get 6 factors (a “landing,” very, excellent), and 1 extra if it could possibly kick a ball by means of some huge metallic posts (the “objective posts”) afterward. There are different methods to attain, however we promised to maintain it easy.
Sorry, soccer followers, the sport can’t finish in a tie. If it does, the groups play “time beyond regulation” till a winner is decided.
Wait, why is that this sport referred to as soccer? The toes appear secondary. And is an rectangular spheroid actually a ‘ball?’
Amazingly, you aren’t the primary individual to make these observations. A hoary joke says that the sport ought to actually be referred to as “hand egg.”
American soccer advanced from “rugby soccer” within the late nineteenth century. The transition got here in 1906, when groups started passing the ball ahead as an alternative of solely backward. The N.F.L. was based within the Nineteen Twenties and began the Tremendous Bowl championship sport in 1967 after a merger with a smaller upstart, the American Soccer League.
There are a number of variations of soccer across the globe. What Individuals name soccer is soccer or fútbol in a lot of the remainder of the world. Canadian soccer is just like the American sport, however groups can charmingly rating a “rouge,” price 1 level. Australia’s soccer includes males with little or no padding passing the ball by hitting it with their fists.
Who’re some gamers to search for on Sunday?
The quarterback for Kansas Metropolis is Patrick Mahomes, and San Francisco’s is Brock Purdy. You’ll see lots of them whether or not you search for them or not.
On protection, search for Chris Jones of Kansas Metropolis (if his well being is OK) to terrorize Purdy, and Nick Bosa of the 49ers to do the identical in opposition to Mahomes.
And the important thing man for Mahomes to cross the ball to can be …
The one who’s courting Taylor Swift?
You bought it. Kansas Metropolis’s Travis Kelce, maybe the most effective participant ever at his place, tight finish, has raised his profile much more by beginning a relationship with music’s world famous person, Taylor Swift. She has attended a number of of his video games, inflicting some purists to grouse that photographs of her in her luxurious field are overshadowing the sport, though an in depth look reveals her complete display time is definitely pretty restricted.
Give me a barely refined ‘take’ to say through the motion.
When it’s fourth down, yell for the workforce with the ball to attempt a play (“go for it”), somewhat than kick the ball away or attempt for a discipline objective. Followers have all the time liked this aggressive technique, and the sport is catching up. Whereas coaches used to routinely kick even after they had been inches away from a primary down, they now are way more inclined to attempt for the yards.
When doubtful, say that “the sport is gained within the trenches.” Or “edge rusher” or “Tampa 2” or “Jet sweep.” Your football-loving buddies will nod sagely.
Can I wager on this?
Nobody is aware of precisely how a lot cash is wager on the Tremendous Bowl, nevertheless it’s loads — greater than $10 billion, in keeping with estimates, a lot of it illegally. The most typical solution to wager is thru the purpose unfold (San Francisco is a 2-point favourite, which means they have to win by at the very least 3 factors for bettors backing them to money in).
However you can even wager on virtually something associated to the sport: what number of yards a specific participant will achieve, who will win the coin toss that begins the sport or which music Usher will sing first within the halftime present.
The sport lasts for hours. I believe I’ll take a break through the commercials.
Don’t do it. Advertisers lay our a fortune to get a slot on the Tremendous Bowl, after which one other fortune to create new, humorous and memorable adverts for the event. Particularly if the sport is a blowout, the adverts will be the subsequent day’s main speaking level.
I’ve heard the game has a darkish aspect.
Sadly, sure. The scale of the gamers and the violence of their hits imply that the potential for critical harm is all the time there. Worse, gamers who take repeated hits to the top threat creating C.T.E., a degenerative mind illness.
Gamers who obtain blows to the top now should depart the sector and be examined for a concussion.
An increasing number of followers are tempering their enjoyment of the game with the sobering data that the gamers entertaining us on the sector are doing so at grave threat.
Now all I want is one humorous factor to inform folks on the Tremendous Bowl occasion I’ve simply spontaneously determined to host.
Across the time of the sport, web searches for “Tremendous Bowl” go manner up. However so do searches for “very good owl,” as quickly typing followers put the area within the fallacious place.
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