Hype Takes Away From Super Bowl

A funny thing happens during the two-weeks of hype that preceed the Super Bowl. The attention somehow shifts from the game to the event. The end result is that people are waiting for the pregame show and the commercials more than the sixty minutes of football.

The "event" has nothing to do with football. It starts innocently enough, with the media running out of "x's and o's" material and moving to features on the players. But it doesn't stop there. The media coverage gets dilluted until any story about any aspect of the Super Bowl makes even the most avid football fans cringe. We think, "Not another story on how some player's offensive line coach in college helped form his religious beliefs and guided him to find strength in football." And, if you're anything like me, you turn the channel.

Joe Buck, who will call the game on Sunday, told Paul Christian of the Post Bulletin in a teleconference call that "the build-up for the game is mind-boggling." It's also mind-numbing. When you focus for so long on one particular game, more people tune out than in. By the time the big game rolls around, most people have had enough Super Bowl talk and don't have any interest in watching more than a quarter or two of football.

Unfortunately, this 14-day media blitz won't be ending any time soon. Since millions upon millions of people will mindlessly go to their Super Bowl party (this group may include me this year) the ratings will remain high and the decision makers at the television station will continue to overwhelm us with coverage.

Maybe you're the kind of person who thrives on the endless feature stories. Maybe you can't get enough speculation and prediction. Maybe for you, the hype is the perfect build-up to the big game. If so, turn your TV to Fox at 9 a.m. Sunday. You might want to bring a big bucket for popcorn. Super Bowl programming will be on the air but the four hour game won't start for more than eight hours. So get comfortable and--eventually--enjoy the game.