The Super Bowl has taken over Broadway this week, has brought its unique color and pageantry to the heart of the city, which in so many ways is still the pop-culture heart of the country.
It was Gilbert Garbiel, once a member of the British pop group The Dream Academy and now a songwriter and music producer who said: “Let it be known to the Americanologist of 3000 AD that we idolized a strange, boomerang-shaped, mighty, fiery thoroughfare of broken hearts and blessed events which we called ‘Broadway.’ That will explain us.”
Broadway has lately proven a master of weaving unconnected masterpieces together and producing greatest-hits magic, whether it is the collected works of the Four Seasons to tell the “Jersey Boys” story, Carole King’s songs to bring “Beautiful” to life, or “Sondheim on Sondheim.”
Against that backdrop, why can’t we dream a little dream, figure out a way to take the best of Super Bowls past and get the best Super Bowl, period, to incorporate all of the highs and all of the lows into what would be the Perfect Super Bowl Sunday, ideal for its venue, appropriate for its setting?
As Ethel Merman sang: “Let’s go on with the show …”
Super Bowl I featured the verbal stylings of Kansas City’s Fred (The Hammer) Williamson, who wound up burned (and ultimately flattened) by the Packers, and while Richard Sherman has been on a redemption tour of sorts the past two weeks, you have to think the Hammer smiled at his performance after the NFC title game. And winces at what’s in store for him if the Broncos get a free crack at him.
From SBII comes the forever image of Vince Lombardi carried from the field, and from SBIII the even more iconic image of Joe Namath trotting out of the Orange Bowl with his index finger wagging. You wouldn’t want to see Pete Carroll getting a similar ride, or Peyton Manning making a similar exit? Although John Fox miked for sound probably wouldn’t have the lasting impact of Hank Stram in SBIV.
What we all want is what we got in SBV (and SBXXXVI, and SBXXXVIII), which is a kick at the final gun, and it’s certain Matt Prater would gladly assume the role of Jim O’Brien, that Steve Hauschka would be more than happy to portray Adam Vinatieri … and that neither would like to be remembered the way Scott Norwood is, 23 years after SBXXV.
Tom Landry answered questions about his legacy in SBVI and SBXII, same as John Madden did in SBXI, some of the same questions a certain quarterback has faced all week, and many of the same questions his boss, John Elway, faced in SBXXXII and SBXXXIII, one Peyton Manning started to answer himself in SBXLI, just not to anyone’s complete satisfaction, apparently.
The Seahawks? Some think it wouldn’t be terrible if they mimicked the Dolphins who won both SBVII and SBVIII by putting the ball in the air only by Congressional decree; Seattle fans no doubt hope we aren’t talking about incompetent officials the way we do about SBXL, the only other time the Seahawks made the big game.
It’s unlikely either team is fixing to start the kind of run that either the Steelers or 49ers embarked on, but you certainly could see Marshawn Lynch running free like Franco Harris (SBIX) or Percy Harvin gliding into an acrobatic catch like Lynn Swann (SBX) or Russell Wilson willing his team on like Terry Bradshaw (SBXIII and SBXIV). And does anyone doubt the Broncos D could go goal-line tough like the 49ers in SBXVI, that any of their receivers could seize the moment like Jerry Rice did in SBXXIV and XXIX, or that if he needs to before a clinching drive, Manning could spot a movie star in the stands (as Joe Montana saw John Candy in SBXXIII?) or simply be, you know, Joe Montana (SBXIX)?
We don’t necessarily root for off-field drama, like the kind that dogged Oakland’s Barrett Robbins (SBXXXVII) or Baltimore’s Ray Lewis (SBXXXV) or Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger (SBXLV) or Philly’s Terrell Owens (SBXXXIX) or any of the out-of-control Cowboys champions of Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer (SBXXVII, SBXXVIII, SBXXX) — but we won’t root against it, either. Though we are hoping to avoid a power failure (SBXLII). That would be nice.
Better, though, if, say, Knowshown Moreno rattles off an unforgettable NFL Films-quality run like John Riggins (SBXVII) or Marcus Allen (SBXVIII), if Manning or Russell channels Phil Simms (SBXXI) or Mark Rypien (SBXXVI), if one of the backups (Brock Osweiler, Tarvaris Jackson) makes like Jim Plunkett (SBXV), or if the game turns on one play thanks to one player, like Doug Williams (SBXXII) or Desmond Howard (SBXXXI) or Tracy Porter (SBXLIV).
Or if some 350-pound lineman whose name you don’t yet know makes like Refrigerator Perry (SBXX).
Best of all?
If Peyton imitates his kid brother, Eli, who has given us two finishes (SBXLII, SBXLVI) for the ages, or if Wilson and Golden Tate hook up at the end like Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes (SBXLIII) or if some defender seeking glory stops a ballcarrier inches short of the end zone like Mike Jones (SBXXXIV).
Yep. That’s all we’re looking for. That’d be perfect.