In the United States, the most watched annual TV event is not The Oscars or the Trump-Biden debate or even Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
It’s the National Football League (NFL) championship game that’s held every first Sunday of February. Over 100 million American viewers congregate and watch the Super Bowl.
Tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. (Phil. time), it’s the 55th Super Bowl and it’s expected to be spectacular: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (11-5) vs. the Kansas City Chiefs (14-2).
QBs. The most important player in a football team is the quarterback — and the two playing tomorrow are the most sensational.
Tom Brady is considered the Michael Jordan of American football. He’s playing in his 10th Super Bowl and, if he wins, he’ll collect trophy No. 7.
Brady won six Super Bowls in 20 years playing for the New England Patriots. He transferred to Florida last March and may win the title on home soil — the first team in Super Bowl history to play in their home stadium.
Patrick Mahomes is the younger Mr. Brady. They have an 18-year age gap (25 vs. 43 years old). Only in his fourth year in the NFL, Mahomes has already collected the MVP crown (2018) and will aim to win his second consecutive Super Bowl ring tomorrow.
I suggest you do as I’ve done the past weeks: visit YouTube and type his name and you’ll be presented with a deluge of Mahomes wizardy. You’ll find out why he’s called “The Magician.”
LIVE WATCH. I’ve had the privilege, back in Dec. 2014, to watch a live game between the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins. The day after our arrival in New York, my close buddy from the high school days, Ping-J Villegas, picked me up in his BMW convertible. Inside the open air 82,000-capacity Metlife Stadium, it was freezing cold but the atmosphere was electrictrifying — and that was just a regular game.
IT’S ENTERTAINMENT. The Super Bowl is not only about the game but also about the Half-time show and the TV commercials.
Everybody looks forward to the half-time show. I’ve watched plenty and my favorites include the performances of Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Madonna and Katy Perry. Last year featured J. Lo and Shakira. My all time favorite is still Michael Jackson in 1993 in Pasadena, California. For tomorrow’s extravaganza, it will be by the singer The Weeknd.
Everybody looks forward to the Super Bowl commercials. Yes, while we all normally dread and skip the ads — not tomorrow. The most expensive advertisements are sprinkled throughout tomorrow’s contest. How much? A 30-second spot will cost $5.6 million. In Phil. pesos, that’s P280 million.. Over P9 million per second! Crazy rates but you have over 110 million eyeballs watching your product or service. Some of the best ads that I’ve seen include those from Budweiser (frogs), Pepsi and Doritos (grandpa ashes).
Back to the game: Who will win? The Chiefs are favorites but the sentimental choice is the Bucs. In this “greatest of all time” trivia, it will be fun to watch if the Baby GOAT can beat the GOAT.
