As you dust off your team jersey, stock the fridge with your favorite beers, and perfect your nacho recipe for this Sunday’s Super Bowl, I’d like to take to take a moment to remember the best Super Bowl of all time.
The year was 1991. The Buffalo Bills were playing my favorite team, the New York Giants. The game was held in sunny Tampa, Florida. None other than Whitney Houston kicked things off with her famous rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.” And while all those details are pretty great, they aren’t the reason I consider Super Bowl XXV, also know as the Wide Right Super Bowl, the greatest game ever. The reason is that I was there, too.
For the first and only time in my life I had tickets to the Super Bowl, and I couldn’t have asked for a better game! The Giants won 20-19 in a nail-biting, down-to-the-last-second finish, much to my delight. Even Whitney Houston had a win that day – her version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” is now considered one of the best renditions of all time. After the Super Bowl, it reached number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100, the first time our national anthem became a pop hit.
While the fact that I was in the audience must have had something to do with these historic moments (surely, it can’t be a coincidence!), there was one part of the day that even my presence couldn’t save: the halftime show, staring boy band New Kids on the Block.
On the one hand, NKONTB was the first pop group to pioneer the style of halftime entertainment that we now expect during the Super Bowl. On the other hand, their performance consistently ranks in the Top 10 worst halftime performances of all time. If you were watching from home, you didn’t even see the show (and maybe that’s a blessing). ABC News did a war report during halftime, so the New Kids got bumped until after the game. Since I was watching live from Tampa I got to see the whole performance, and let’s just say the rest of you got off easy.
While I loved experiencing a Super Bowl in person, feeling the crowds’ energy and cheering loudly for my team, I have to admit that I have way better seats watching it at home. You just can’t beat the warmth and comfort of your own couch, not to mention the steady supply of drinks and snacks. Plus, thanks to the power of HDTV and DVR, the players and coaches are so clear that I can see every play, every catch, and every touchdown. I can even read their lips. Or can I?
Watch their mouths this weekend,
~Bob
