By Stanley P. Gershbein
Do you have the nosherei ready? The chips, dips, nuts, raisins, cheese and crackers, hors d’oeuvres, mini-egg rolls, little knishes, franks in jackets? Did you remember to call in the pizza orders? Hero sandwiches? Is the fridge well stocked with soda, seltzer, bottled water and Crystal Light? In other words – ARE YOU PREPARED? Prepared for what? Waddya mean “Prepared for what?” It’s this Sunday. THE SUPER BOWL! Nobody really comes to watch the game. We come to eat…. And eat we will. I have a simple word of advice…. if you’re willing to listen. I know that you have five TVs in your home. If you want to keep your guests contained in one area and not have them in every room of your house, including your bedrooms, move all five sets to one large living room or basement. Place them in different corners of that room and keep them all tuned to the game. The room may be crowded but this way you will not find your son’s friends and their dates laying on your bed watching the game… or not watching the game. ******** The ten most-watched programs in TV history are all Super Bowls. More than one hundred and forty-one million people tuned in to see Super Bowl XL on TV last year. With an audience of that size CBS can sell ads for just about any dollar amount it wants. There’s an advertising frenzy associated with the game and wealthy companies will pay those very high prices. Last year ABC set a record when it charged 2.5 million bucks for a 30 second ad. CBS is setting a new record by asking for 2.6. Wow! 5.2 million dollars for only a minute. That is serious dough. I have to work a whole year to earn that kind of money… and that includes some Sundays and Holidays. Ok. So now TV ads are being sold at record breaking numbers of dollars making the Super Bowl of football the Super Bowl of commercials. The one big question that is being asked around the financial world is, “Is it worth it?” It is if the viewers remember what they saw. On Monday morning ask the gal at the next desk to match up the entertaining advertisements with the products. She will remember less than half. So will you. ******** Times are changing and so are our likes and dislikes. America’s favorite pastime is no longer America’s favorite sport. According to the results of a poll taken by the Harris people, professional football is number one, Baseball is second and college football is third. I remember when they had to fill football stadiums by giving tickets away. I was once given two dozen tickets to bring as many friends as I could to the Polo Grounds to watch a team called the New York Titans. Here’s a great piece of trivia to bring up on Super Bowl Sunday. The New York Titans were renamed the New York Jets and they were the first AFL team to win an AFL-NFL championship when they beat the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. In what year did that happen? Tempus fugit. **** If professional football and baseball are numbers one and two then we New Yorkers finished with a year that we took it on the chin. First it was the Yankees and the Mets. Now it’s the Giants and the Jets. We’ll shout it out loud like we did when we were youngsters rooting for the Brooklyn Dodgers – “Wait till next year.” ******** I’ve been watching Super Bowl highlights on the tube all week long. There have been some ultra-fantastic plays and some dreadfully disappointing scenes. It is interesting what sticks most in one’s mind. In barroom discussions with friends and various football fans I asked, on separate occasions, “What play or situation of what game stands out in your mind more than any other?” More than half the people I spoke to, without hesitation, said something about Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction. Isn’t it interesting to note that after watching thousands of minutes of football, a two second sight of something that had nothing at all to do with the sport is what we remember most? A stirring, emotional National Anthem sung by Whitney Houston came in second. ******** I’m sure you noticed in the very first paragraph of this offering, when I asked about beverages, I made no mention of beer or booze. I must insist that you take the next few lines I write very seriously. There are three days of the year when, due to driving while intoxicated, America’s roads become the deadliest. New Years, St. Patrick’s Day and…. Yup. You guessed it. Super Bowl Sunday. Statistics prove that more of us are killed on those days due to DUI than on any other. We know that you have heard the rules and suggestions before and no doubt have read it several times this week in various publications. Once more couldn’t hurt and it just may help. If it is customary for you and your friends to hoist a few on this special occasion it is imperative that you PICK YOUR DESIGNATED DRIVER NOW. Your friend is ready to leave and you notice that he is a bit impaired. Take his car keys away. I know that this sounds corny but it just may save a life – FRIENDS DON’T LET FRIENDS DRIVE DRUNK. You really don’t want to have heavy-duty regrets on Monday morning. If you’re hosting the party be aware of the heavy drinkers, stop serving alcoholic beverages at the start of the second half and keep the number of a local cab company handy. Did you know that, in most cases, a party host can be held liable and prosecuted if one of his guests winds up in a DUI crash? You didn’t? Now you do. Some things are worth repeating – A party host can be held liable and prosecuted if one of his guests winds up in a DUI crash. I am STANGERSHBEIN@BELLSOUTH.NET wishing you all a Happy and SAFE Super Bowl Sunday. ******** All letters and Emails are the property of this newspaper and may be published. For verification purposes your correspondence Must contain your real name, address and telephone number.
