Super Bowl Sunday

The Super Bowl.  A game that has become larger than life.  Super Bowl Sunday is the second largest day for food consumption next to Thanksgiving.  Last year's Super Bowl was the most watched television program in American history.  I like football and loved playing in high school and college.  But there seems to be so much made of so little.  I know that statement seems almost un-American until you consider the facts.

Did you know that during an NFL game, the ball is in play just a little more than 10 minutes.  To consider how short that time span is, consider this: The average  broadcast of a game lasts 17 times longer...a grinding 185 minutes.  The Super Bowl broadcast lasts 270 minutes. So where do the extra 260 minutes of down-time go? Well, according to a Wall Street Journal study that analyzed last year's playoff games on four major TV networks, players spend roughly 75 minutes in huddles or hanging around the line of scrimmage.  On average, broadcasters dedicate 17 minutes of airtime to replays.  Typically, cutaway shots of refs and barrel-bellied coaches total 13 minutes.  Cheerleaders get 3 seconds.

And up to 60 minutes of commercials, which, come to think of it, are the reason most of us watch the Super Bowl in the first place, right?