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Super
Bowl XLIII kicks off on February 1st, 2009 in sunny Tampa Bay,
Florida. This year’s tilt features a surprising matchup of the
Pittsburgh Steelers versus the upstart Arizona Cardinals. Vegas lines
on the Super Bowl have the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 7 points.
The
Steelers are led by their concussion-prone quarterback Big Ben
Roethlisberger, who is supported on the ground by the one-two punch of
Fast Willie Parker and Mewelde Moore. Lending Big Ben some air support
are the receiving duo of Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes. But
Pittsburgh’s big guns are on defense, where Defensive Player of the
Year James Harrison leads the number-one ranked defense in the league,
featuring Troy Polamalu, Aaron Smith, James Farrior and LaMarr
Woodley.
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defense has its work cut out for it as it tries to stop the red-hot
Cardinals offense, led by veteran quarterback Kurt Warner who
distributes the football to the best receiving tandem in the league –
Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. Fitzgerald is breaking some of
Jerry Rice’s old records, with 419 receiving yards in these NFL
Playoffs going into the Super Bowl. If Anquan Boldin’s gimpy hamstring
and hurt ego can hold up, the Cardinals have a real shot at marching
down the field at will, supported by another strong tandem in the
backfield – Edgerrin James and rookie Tim Hightower. The Cardinals
defense is a question mark, however, as they have risen above their
regular-season performance level in these playoffs, led by hard-hitting
safety Adrian Wilson and rookie Dominique Rodgers-Cormartie.
Although
it lacks the pizzazz of some other possible major-market matchups, this
Super Bowl will certainly display a clash of different football styles
– defense versus offense, perennial winner versus perennial loser, and
Omar Epps-lookalilike Mike Tomlin versus the left-at-the-altar duo of
head coach Ken Whisenhunt and Offensive Line coach Russ Grimm, both of
whom were passed over for the Steeler’s head-coaching gig two years ago
in favor of the dynamic yet unseasoned Tomlin. – Jack
The history of the Super Bowl starts with two things: the merging of the American Football League with National Football League, and a bouncy rubber ball.
The NFL – AFL World Championship Game was created as a piece of the merger agreement between the NFL and the AFL in 1966.
During the negotiations between the NFL and the AFL, Kansas City Chief owner, Lamar Hunt, thought of the name “Super Bowl”
for the Championship game, after observing his daughter playing with
her toy Super Ball. Hunt only meant the name to be a stop-gap until the
powers that be could think of something better. Not having thought of
one, the game was named “The NFL-AFL World Championship Game“.
The first Championship took place in 1967. With the official title being quite a mouth full, the fans as well as the media took to the short, unofficial name, Super Bowl. In 1969, the name, “Super Bowl” became official.
The Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls convincingly, causing many people to question if the AFL teams could compete. The very next year, the New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts for the AFL’s first Super Bowl Title. The Chiefs won the 4th Super Bowl, evening the record at 2-2.
In 1970, the NFL and AFL merged into one combined league with two conferences, which resembles today’s National Football League.
Three NFL Teams joined the 10 AFL teams forming the AFC (American
Football Conference). The remaining 13 teams from the old NFL formed
the NFC (National Football Conference).
Since the construction of the combined league, former AFL teams have won 10 Super Bowls while original NFL teams have taken 23. Two Super Bowls have been won by teams created after the merger.
The Winner of each Super Bowl receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after Vince Lombardi, the great coach for the Green Bay Packers who led his team to victory in each of the first two Super Bowls. Following his death, the trophy was named prior to Super Bowl V in his honor.