40 reasons to love the Super Bowl

Super is more of a dare than a word.

Simply saying something is super challenges whatever is being referenced to live up to all that super implies.

Greatness. Of the highest degree.

Or theatrical, as it is linked to in Roget's Thesaurus.

Few things are capable of living up to that kind of hyperbole and buildup. Most crumble underneath it.

Superman had his kryptonite. Super 8 Motels are not often confused with Ritz-Carltons. And "Super Size Me" scared the you-know-what out of every person who has ever enjoyed a Happy Meal.

So when Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt decided to call a simple football game between the NFL champion and the AFL champion the Super Bowl, a risk was being assumed.

"I mean, the first one was an afterthought," legendary NFL broadcaster Pat Summerall said. "The Packers didn't want to play because they won the NFL championship and didn't want to honor the Chiefs by playing them. It wasn't a sellout. There were 40,000 empty seats. It was simulcast on NBC and CBS.

"Having done that first one and seeing how it evolved over the years, to see what it has become today, a social event, something you have to have a ticket, somewhere you have to be, is amazing."

Actually, it is super.

And so, we present 40 reasons we love this game:
1 Game day has become a virtual national holiday, much like July 4th, Memorial Day and New Year's Day and definitely ahead of faux holidays such as Presidents Day and Columbus Day. Roads empty. Families and friends convene. Parties happen. And aside from those one or two weirdos in your life who boycott all things Super Bowl, you know that everybody is watching.

2 Speaking of parties, few soirees have as good of a chance of being unparalleled successes as Super Bowl get-togethers because a good Super Bowl party is easy to throw. Just ask any Super Bowl-party aficionado. Start with plenty of beer. Order a couple of pepperoni pizzas. Toss in a couple of bags of Fritos, a bowl of guacamole and a couple of cookies. Finish with plenty of comfortable seats with views of the biggest TV you can possibly find. Voilà, you have just thrown a kickin' party.

4 Ditto for the Rolling Stones.

5 In a TiVo-world, where commercials have become what we zip and zoom through, Super Bowl ads are Must-See TV. We all have been guilty of slipping away for a bathroom break during play because we did not want to miss frogs saying Bud-Weis-Er or cats being herded or Mean Joe Greene tossing his jersey for a Coca-Cola.

6 Because super talkers shine during Super Bowl week. Former Cowboys linebacker Thomas (Hollywood) Henderson, of course, uttered the now infamous, "He couldn't spell cat if you spotted him the 'c' and the 't,'" about Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw before Super Bowl XIII.

7 And the Super Bowl has slipped into pop culture, with tickets to the NFL's big game providing an amusing basis for "The Label Maker" in Season 6 of "Seinfeld." To quote TV.com's recap: "Elaine and Jerry are suspicious of a friend's gift, when a gift Elaine gave him, a label maker, is given to Jerry in return for some Super Bowl tickets Jerry has but can't use because 'The Drake' is getting married on Super Bowl Sunday and he is in the wedding party. ... The Super Bowl tickets pass through several hands and Jerry sees the game with his worst nightmare." Helloooooo, Newman.

8 Rubbing elbows with celebs such as Ben Roethlisberger at über-agent Leigh Steinberg's yearly party and Beyoncé at Hugh Hefner's sexy Playboy bash is commonplace. Super Bowl week attracts A-listers from all walks of celebrity. Young celebs love converging on whatever city plays host and have become as big, if not bigger, than whoever is playing in the game.

10 "Broadway" Joe Namath's guarantee. The iconic image of Namath running off the field after Super Bowl III, an unforgettable New York Jets upset, with his index finger in the air signaling victory says it all. His "Well, we're going to win, aren't we?" had come true.

11 Forget Fosbury; Fridge's Flop rules.

Nothing quite beats watching the 300-pound Chicago Bears defensive lineman, William (The Refrigerator) Perry, score a 1-yard touchdown in Super Bowl XX and follow said touchdown with a jiggling, flab-bouncing spike.

12 Super Bowl week has become a convention for journalists, with an estimated 3,000 reporters and photographers hailing from China to Australia and everywhere in between convening in places like Detroit or Phoenix for a week.

13 Radio Row is a virtual who's who of the sporting world. Sports radio stations from Los Angeles to New York come in droves to Super Bowls and get herded into a small, compact area where a person might see Troy Aikman, John Madden and Curtis Martin all doing interviews inches from one another.

15 Getting there is not enough. Anybody who does not believe this needs only to dig up film from Super Bowl V and watch "Mr. Cowboy" Bob Lilly flinging his helmet into the air after a Baltimore Colts field goal beat the Cowboys. Losing hurts.

16 Not getting there hurts worse. Terrell Owens' waterworks after the Dallas Cowboys lost in the playoffs to the New York Giants should be all the evidence you need.

17 All of this pomp and circumstance had a rather humble beginning. Both NBC and CBS were broadcasting Super Bowl I, with both sides being rather possessive of their broadcasts. NBC had its own halftime show, which ran a little long because of an interview with Bob Hope. "So they missed the second-half kickoff and NBC sent down word to me on the sideline," Pat Summerall recalled. "They said to me: 'Ask [Packers coach Vince] Lombardi if he would mind kicking off again.' I said: 'You have the wrong guy for this job. I am not.'"

18 Watching a guy like Bills wide receiver Don Beebe chase down Cowboys defensive tackle Leon Lett, who was prematurely showboating after recovering a fumble and trying to run it back for a touchdown in Super Bowl XXVII. Beebe caught him. Beebe caused a fumble. Beebe prevented a touchdown. It did not matter that Buffalo trailed big. Nor did it matter that the Bills lost big. Beebe entered his name in the game's lore.

19 For every blowout, there's a game such as Super Bowl XXXIV when a single yard separates winning from losing. Rams linebacker Mike Jones tackled Titans wide receiver Kevin Dyson a yard shy of what would have been the game-tying touchdown as time expired, preserving the Rams' 23-16 victory.

21 Who is the no-name helping to carry Cowboys coach Tom Landry off the field after Super Bowl XII? Dion Rich. He may be the most famous party crasher in sports history.

22 Broncos QB John Elway ended his career exactly how every player dreams of doing so -- winning a Super Bowl ring that until only a season before had eluded him. Elway proved there is no better way to ride off into the sunset than on the shoulders of your teammates at a Super Bowl.

23 Super Bowl XL: Jerome (The Bus) Bettis had a similar going-away party in Detroit in the Steelers' "one for the thumb" win.

24 Bill Parcells tells a lot of good stories. None are better than when he talks about how an unbreakable bond is formed between players and coaches when a championship is won. Nothing compares. "After we won the championship, you sit down by yourself and you start crying because you know what you went through to get to that point," said Jim Burt, a former Parcells player with the NY Giants. "He led us to [that] championship. If he wasn't the coach, we wouldn't be champions."

25 A decade later, Cowboys QB Troy Aikman still ends every conversation with Michael Irvin with, "I love you, man." Winning Super Bowls does that to teammates.

27 Greatest in-game quote: "There's John Candy." Montana uttered this line to his teammates. In the huddle. During "The Drive."

28 A close second: "Somebody take the monkey off my back." Another 49ers QB, Steve Young, said this to his teammates as time wound down on Super Bowl XXIX, which is unofficially known as the Super Bowl when Young got out from under Montana's shadow.

29 Fans in Dallas, San Francisco and Pittsburgh can revel in the fact that their teams have won the most Super Bowls -- five each.

30 Speaking of the Steelers, did you know Ben Roethlisberger is the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl?

31 The Lombardi Trophy.

33 The Gatorade bath.

34 Kickers matter. Adam Vinatieri is why Patriots coach Bill Belichick is hailed as a genius, and Scott Norwood is why the Bills do not have a ring.

35 The Vinatieri Phenomenon. This is where virtual no-names can have one great game and, because it is in the Super Bowl, become household names. See: Timmy Smith, Larry Brown and Dexter Jackson.

36 In 1981, a yellow ribbon was wrapped around the Superdome the morning of Super Bowl XV to celebrate the release of American hostages in Iran after 444 days in captivity.

37 Whitney Houston brought tears to eyes across the United States with her rendition of the national anthem at Super Bowl XXV.

39 Elections for the Pro Football Hall of Fame take place the day before the Super Bowl.

40 Words and phrases, such as "nipplegate" and "wide right," have been added to our lexicon thanks to the Super Bowl.