ENID —
There’s no secret why the Super Bowl is the most- watched program on television every year, let alone the most anticipated sports event.
Is there any championship that even approaches the game in how well it’s managed and marketed?
The world virtually will stop when the Giants and Patriots kick off at around 5:30 p.m. Sunday. That certainly is not even true for the World Series and NBA or NHL playoffs.
The Super Bowl is at an ideal time — late enough for prime time, but early enough where no one — children included — will have to miss the ending. It makes newspaper deadlines with ease. And the game ends early enough where a network can launch an audience for a promising show (once the “Wonder Years”) afterwards.
Has a World Series game ended before 11 p.m. lately?
Do you ever hear of anyone having a World Series or NBA (even with the Thunder) party like you do with the Super Bowl? It’s usually not a game you watch alone, unless you’re a party pooper.
Thanks to a 5:30 kickoff, halftime is a time you can sit down for dinner.
The Super Bowl, as all of the NFL playoff games, are on commercial network television and not cable.
That’s not true for the baseball, basketball and hockey playoffs.
Think back to the BCS Championship between Alabama and LSU.
It was not the lone sports event on television that day.
It didn’t kick off until 7:30 p.m., which certainly didn’t help newspaper deadlines.
It was on ESPN, a great sports network, but not available to everyone.
The game didn’t hold the sports stage alone. Especially here in Oklahoma. OU and OSU were playing in the men’s Bedlam Series when the game kicked off. That game tipped off at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.
Who scheduled OU-OSU for that time? How embarrassing would it have been if OSU had reached the championship football game? Would there had been anyone at the basketball game if that happened?
If you watched or listened to the OU-OSU game, you basically missed the first quarter of the championship game.
Think how big the BCS could be if it was on a weekend with no competition. That might let it draw the casual fan the way the Super Bowl does.
No one will remember the commercials from the national championship game, but they will the Super Bowl. If it’s a bad game, there might be more attention on the commercials
Here’s hoping they bring back the Bud Bowl.
Of course, there is a local interest in the game. New England wide receiver Wes Welker is a product of Heritage Hall, who played a number of our local teams in District 2A-1 play.
Welker gave Chisholm fans an indication of what was to be in a 25-0 win over Chisholm on Oct. 29, 1999 as a senior.
He kicked field goals of 36 and 37 yards and scored two touchdowns — one on a three-yard run and the other on a 45-yard touchdown pass from Graham Colter. Colter has appeared on the Tonight Show with his band.
“I remember him as a fine young gentlemen,’’ said Norman Lamb, who officiated the game tht night.
Welker, who will be featured on the pregame show, showed his class when he wrote a letter of congratulations to Fairview for winning the 2A state championship. He’s earned more respect for helping the Oklahoma City Public Schools through his foundation. He runs free football camps.
Campbell is a News & Eagle sports writer.
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