Was the Super Bowl...A Let Down?

Some of my earliest memories are of watching the Cowboys win the Super Bowls in the nineties. I was pretty young back then, but one of the earliest images in my mind is Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith hoisting the Lombardi Trophy after beating the Buffalo Bills. At that time I didn't fully understand the implications, and the emotions behind the Big Game. I think it finally hit me how truly huge the Super Bowl is when, for the first time in my young memory, the Cowboys weren't playing in the game. I remember watching the Steve Young led 49ers beat the Boys' in the 1995 NFC Championship game, and it was then that gravity of the Super Bowl was put into perspective for me. I had been spoiled. The first two Super Bowl memories I had the Cowboys had won and now...they weren't even in it. Part of my enlightenment was the first real feeling of being let down, the other part was seeing and hearing the world I lived in change due to the Boys' failure that year. It was apparent to me how important it really was to everyone, literally, and I felt that it was important to me too. So the following year, when Dallas was back in the NFC Championship game beating Brett Favre (again) I payed close attention. Then when they were in the Super Bowl (again) trying to become world champs (again), and trying to (finally) beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Big Game...I was paying very close attention. My emotions were involved and intertwined with the outcome of that game. Either way the game turned out I was going to experience very aggressive emotions. And I did! My Boys' ended up winning that game. I felt proud to be a Cowboy fan and I truly understood the implications of the Super Bowl. 


The next season the Cowboys lost in the second round to the Carolina Panthers. And we all know that for the next 13 years we Cowboy fans waited for the next playoff success. The ups and downs of sports truly make for compelling stories...for instance: Next years Super Bowl will be held at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. Since the Cowboys haven't played in a Super Bowl in 15 years...how incredible would it be to have America's Team back in the Big Game and playing it in their home town? That makes for very compelling story lines no matter who they play (although, if it was the steelers...). The whole world would tune in to see the Cowboys play in the Super Bowl once more! Thats drama. 


On the other hand, there are certain recent Super Bowls that have been...well, blah...? This decade I can say that several Super Bowls have not been very emotionally involving. The ratings and audience shares have been down lately too, check it out: http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/01/18/historical-super-bowl-tv-ratings/11044. But I'm not talking about ratings, which change over time due to other factors. I'm talking about emotion and how much people actually care about the teams involved. Why people actually tune into the Super Bowl. Everyone watches it because its the "Super Bowl". But how emotionally involved are they? Do they really care who wins? Here is a list of Super Bowls that I watched but felt no emotional attachment to. 


Baltimore vs. New York - 2000
Tampa Bay vs. Oakland - 2002 (I was a fan of Rich "The Cannon" Gannon though)
New England vs. Carolina - 2003
Pittsburgh vs. Seattle - 2005
New Orleans vs. Indianapolis - 2009


I know what your thinking..."omg..how could you not like the Super Bowl this year?" Well, its not that I didn't like it. I just had no feelings for the outcome of the game. If Peyton Manning won, I'm happy for him, but if Drew Brees won I'm just as satisfied. Lets face facts, this game was not about hurricane Katrina. It wasn't, that is preposterous. If the Saints had made the Super Bowl in 07 when they were the big comeback story...that would have been compelling! I would have hoped they won and been excited if they did. But the country is 4 and half years removed from Katrina, and I don't think that the football team accomplished all of this for the hope of the city or anything. It just doesn't make sense to ride that tragedy out like that. Like if they win again in 2017 we're still gonna say "that one really helped the city get over Katrina"? No! I mean it was a terrible thing for that city, but they've rebuilt and moved on. The Saints won this year because Brett Favre didn't get the ball first in OT; and because Peyton Manning choked; (and because they didn't have to play the Cowboys again...who beat them during the season); and because they made great plays at opportune times. But the point is this...I couldn't care less which team won! It was like watching good guys vs. good guys and there were no emotional attachments to this game for me. And quite frankly, outside of the teams cities and die hard fans living elsewhere (not  fair-weather fans or bandwagon jumpers) no one truly cared who won. Most people would say they were rooting for one or the other but either way it didn't matter!  


Do not get me wrong, the game was good, I enjoyed it. But I felt no real enthusiasm or passion, I was never nervous or distressed, and I wasn't fiery or animated. In the past compelling and exciting story lines were what the Super Bowl was all about, every year there was something. But this decade has been full of weak story-lines and a lack of emotionally compelling drama. And not only that...but the commercials are getting worse and worse! What I really want is to feel emotionally attached to a Super Bowl again...its been such a long time for me, and I know Jerry Jones is in my boat. But in all honesty, while there have been a few I was happy or upset over the outcome, I haven't truly been passionate about a Super Bowl since John Elway won his second. So my hope is that one day soon I can revisit that childhood feeling I had while watching the Super Bowl and truly be passionate about the game instead of just watching it to watch it.