{"id":36414,"date":"2024-02-09T01:58:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T01:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=36414"},"modified":"2024-02-14T22:03:47","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T22:03:47","slug":"ads-food-and-gambling-galore-%e2%88%92-5-essential-reads-for-the-super-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/ads-food-and-gambling-galore-%e2%88%92-5-essential-reads-for-the-super-bowl\/","title":{"rendered":"Ads, food and gambling galore \u2212 5 essential reads for the Super\u00a0Bowl"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nick Lehr<\/a>, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday in Las Vegas, the Kansas City Chiefs will be looking to win their second straight Lombardi Trophy, while a San Francisco 49ers victory would give the team its first Super Bowl since 1995<\/a>, when Steve Young<\/a> was under center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t get a pass to media day, so I didn\u2019t get a chance to ask Chiefs head coach Andy Reid about how he tends to his mustache<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But my colleagues and I were able to ask an all-pro lineup of scholars to write about a range of football-related topics, from the partisan food divide to the numbers behind the biggest gambling bonanza in league history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Flag, you\u2019re it<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Pro Bowl, the NFL\u2019s version of the all-star game, usually gets scant attention. That\u2019s because it happens the weekend before the Super Bowl \u2013 absent many of the stars playing in the big game \u2013 and the players seem most concerned about avoiding injuries, not winning the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year ago, league officials decided to shake up the annual showcase. It would no longer be a tackle football game. It would be a flag football match<\/a>. The thinking went that if the league\u2019s stars didn\u2019t have to tackle one another, they might play harder, be more likely to showcase their athleticism and, importantly, have more fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As West Virginia University sociologist Josh Woods explains, the NFL\u2019s promotion of flag football is a big deal<\/a>, particularly for an emerging sport that\u2019s somewhat obscure outside of Florida, Georgia and New York, where roughly 80% of high school flag football players live. Its inclusion in the 2028 Summer Olympics will only further bolster its profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Woods points to a gender divide and a political divide that could end up clouding the sport\u2019s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Young
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill runs for a touchdown in the first quarter of the 2024 NFL Pro Bowl in Orlando, Fla. Mike Ehrmann\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. X\u2019s, O\u2019s and Z\u2019s<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2011, former NFL cornerback Sam Shields was a rookie playing for a Green Bay Packers team that had made the Super Bowl. The night before the big game, he tossed and turned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had stomach aches, using the bathroom, but I didn\u2019t have to use it,\u201d he told Sports Illustrated in 2019<\/a>. \u201cIt felt like Christmas too, when Christmas is the next day you can\u2019t sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve wondered whether I would get a wink of shut-eye if I were scheduled to pitch in the World Series. Something tells me I\u2019d be a lot like Shields. And as if the Chiefs and 49ers players and coaches aren\u2019t feeling enough pressure, it turns out that getting a good night\u2019s sleep is one of the most important things an athlete can do before a big game, meet or match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

University of Pittsburgh sleep medicine specialist Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse highlights reams of studies showing how a poor night\u2019s sleep can effect performance and decision-making<\/a> while making you more likely to get injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, she writes, \u201cSleep deficits have been linked to decreased performance in every cognitive measure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Going all in on gambling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Did you bet on the 49ers to cover the spread? Perhaps you\u2019re playing squares<\/a>. Or maybe you\u2019re betting on Reba McEntire\u2019s national anthem to last longer than 90.5 seconds<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve wagered on some aspect of the big game, you\u2019re one of roughly 67 million American adults who have done the same, according to a Morning Consult survey conducted in early February. That would make another new record, shattering 2023\u2019s record, which shattered the mark from 2022. The country\u2019s gambling mania has been aided, in part, by the Supreme Court\u2019s 2018 ruling that overturned a federal ban on sports betting<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gambling and the Super Bowl have always gone hand in hand. To University of Iowa sports media scholar Tom Oates, what makes the developments of the past few years so remarkable is the NFL\u2019s stunning reversal on its own attitudes toward betting<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gone are the quaint days of league officials lobbying Congress to put restrictions and guardrails in place. The NFL has gone all in on its embrace of gambling, forging billion-dollar partnerships<\/a> with the country\u2019s top sportsbooks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut this infusion of extra cash comes with a substantial social cost,\u201d Oates writes. \u201cGambling addictions are at an all-time high, likely spurred by the ease with which people can place bets from their phones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So if you want to get in on the action, gamble responsibly and don\u2019t let your emotions get the best of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That being said, a little birdie told me that Reba can really hold her notes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Woman
Country music singer Reba McEntire will be singing the national anthem at Super Bowl LVIII. Theo Wargo\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4. At least they aren\u2019t serving donkey meat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Everything is politicized<\/a>, so the lament goes. And even the Super Bowl \u2013 one of the few communal events left<\/a> in a polarized, atomized nation \u2013 can\u2019t avoid the creep of partisanship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years, some of the country\u2019s most iconic food brands \u2013 Bud Light<\/a>, Goya<\/a>, Papa John\u2019s<\/a>, Coca-Cola<\/a>, Chick-fil-A<\/a> \u2013 have been excoriated by partisans on both sides of the aisle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So food spreads can color every Super Bowl party with a tinge of \u201cred team,\u201d \u201cblue team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat you serve at your Super Bowl party, or what the host serves at the event you attend, can now be interpreted, or twisted, through a partisan lens,\u201d write political scientists Joshua J. Dyck and Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One possible way to bridge the divide: Unite in a bipartisan celebration of Taylor Swift. Actually, scratch that<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you could just serve salmon \u2013 a food that, according to Dyck and Pearson-Merkowitz\u2019s research, is \u201cresistant to partisan cues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grim times, indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. ByeDaddy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll<\/a>, 22% of Americans planning to watch the Super Bowl are most excited about the commercials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s one reason companies are willing to fork over so much cash for a coveted slot \u2013 as much as US$7 million for a 30-second spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, as Auburn University scholars Linda Ferrell and O.C. Ferrell point out, many regulars on the airwaves of the Super Bowl, such as GoDaddy and Ford, are missing from this year\u2019s lineup<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What gives?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGen Z, in particular, is not impressed by Super Bowl ads,\u201d they write, \u201cand complicating the matter is their lack of interest in broadcast TV.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So as a millennial who\u2019s spent years listening to how my generation has killed<\/a> everything from paper napkins to mayonnaise, I take great pleasure in typing: Gen Z killed the Super Bowl ad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation\u2019s archives.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nick Lehr<\/a>, Arts + Culture Editor, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nick Lehr, The Conversation On Sunday in Las Vegas, the Kansas City Chiefs will be looking to win their second straight Lombardi Trophy, while a San Francisco 49ers victory would give the team its first Super Bowl since 1995, when Steve Young was under center. I didn\u2019t get a pass to media day, so I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":36415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8025,6],"tags":[310,15161,5368,3620,2275,582,664,12326,2683,1115,305,6351,670,463,11316],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36414"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36414"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36459,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36414\/revisions\/36459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}