This Sunday, millions of Americans will be enjoying the festivities that go along with Super Bowl XXXVII.
Over the years, the Super Bowl has become one of the most watched events in television history. For many, the game itself is just an afterthought.
There are people who watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials. Others watch it for the halftime show. There are even those who will tune in to other channels to see what kind of crazy halftime spectacle will be on display. The birth of “Celebrity Death Match” on MTV occurred during a Super Bowl halftime.
The Super Bowl has become a major cultural event in America, so much so that it has developed into something of an unofficial holiday. On Monday morning, discussions around the office water cooler focus on the game, the commercials and the halftime show.
A recent study conducted by the University of Toronto in Canada dealt with the increase in traffic accidents after the game is over. According to the study, the surge in traffic accidents is most pronounced in the losing team’s area.
Both fatal and non-fatal crashes rise after the game, causing an average of seven additional deaths and 600 extra injuries, according to the study.
The researchers theorized that drivers become distracted because of the disappointment of their team losing.
With so much frantic energy applied to the Super Bowl, it would be nice to see that same degree of attention paid to less trivial matters. The State of the Union address is only two days after the Super Bowl. This is an important event in the lives of Americans, especially in light of the numerous domestic and foreign political issues dominating the news every night.
The crisis with North Korea, a possible war in Iraq, affirmative action, the economy and health care are issues that have been in the news almost daily. The country is going through a crucial time in its history.
Americans should be paying as much — if not more — attention to the aforementioned issues as they do the Super Bowl.
Professional sports is an escape for many individuals who don’t want to always focus on the harsh realities of the real world. But when does obsession over a sporting event become too much?
That same energy should be geared more towards finding solutions to the problems that plague the American landscape.