HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
•
JANUARY 2013
•
ILLUSTRATIONS BY MICHAEL BYERS
47
Super Bowl Sunday has long been America’s
unofficial national holiday. For nearly half the
television-owning households in the country, it’s a
time for families and friends to gather, swill beer,
gorge on nachos and pizza, cheer, jeer and basically
lose themselves in the spectacle.
But for years, there was a hitch: Somewhere
between the daylong pregame show, the hal ime
spectacular and the million-dollar commercials,
there was a senseless blowout masquerading as
a championship game. All through the 1980s and
’90
s, the average margin of victory was more than
17
points. Amere half dozen teams won 85 percent of
the Super Bowls. Simply put, the BudBowl
For years, the Super Bowl
was one numbing blowout
a er another. Today, many
of the contests are instant
classics. What changed?
BY PAUL FLANNERY
GameOn
the fan
