Super Bowl LVI: An American Celebration (?)
In slightly less than 2 hours, Super Bowl LVI will get underway at SoFI Stadium in Inglewood, just a couple of miles from LAX, the Los Angeles International Airport. When we were kids, the land upon which SoFI sits was the home of the Hollywood Park Racetrack, which opened in 1938. Originally built by the Hollywood Turf Club, the racetrack’s chairman was Jack L. Warner of Warner Brothers film studio. Prominent shareholders included Jack Warner's brother and fellow Warner Bros. executive Harry, Hollywood studio executives Walt Disney, Sam Goldwyn, Darryl Zanuck and actors Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Joan Blondell, George Jessel, Ronald Coleman and Ralph Bellamy. Eventually sold to Los Angeles Rams Owner/Chairman E. Stanley Kroenke, SoFi is the both the nation’s first indoor/outdoor stadium, as well as being home to L.A.’s two professional football teams; the Chargers and the Super Bowl-bound Rams.
Los Angeles’ historical name is El Pueblo de la Reyna de Los Angeles - “The Town of the Queen of the Angels.” In fact, many churches, businesses and at least 1 hospital go by the name “Queen of [the] Angels.” (Since 1989, “Queen of Angels” hospital, which now holds historic status, is called “Hollywood Presbyterian”). Somewhat ironically, Cincinnati, home of the Rams’ Super Bowl opponents, the Bengals, has been called “The Queen City” for more than a century-and-a-half, although earlier, it was frequently referred to as Porkopolis, due to the city’s rise as a pork packing center. Cincinnati’s claim to “The Queen City” name was strengthened considerably in 1854 when Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Catawba Wine” was published. The concluding passage of the poem read:
And this Song of the Vine,
This greeting of mine,
The winds and the birds shall deliver
To the Queen of the West,
In her garlands dressed,
On the banks of the Beautiful River.
Fans of Longworth well understood that he was referring to America’s most German city, Cincinnati. Historically, the Los Angeles (and St. Louis) Rams have face the Cincinnati Bengals a mere 14 times, with the Bengals having emerged victorious in 8 of those games.
Today’s game marks only the 3rd time the Bengals have been in the Super Bowl. They have yet to win the vaunted Lombardi Trophy, having lost to the San Francisco 49ers 26-21 in Superbowl XVI (1981) and again to the 49ers 20-16 in Super Bowl XXIII (1989). By comparison, today’s game (which is now in 1 hour) will be the Rams fifth appearance; they have won just once, a 23-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans back in Super Bowl XXXIV (1999). Most polls favor the Rams in today’s scrap. According to the American Gaming Association there will likely be upwards of $7 billion in legal and illegal wagers. Most of the money will be bet on the Bengals which, were they to win, would net bettors a tidier sum than a wager placed on the Rams.
Without question, the Super Bowl is one of the year’s most highly-rated television events, although precisely of what viewers percentage of the viewing audience are tuning in to watch the game itself versus those more interested in viewing ads or the half-time extravaganza starring the likes of rappers Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar (none of whom I am terribly familiar with) is anyone’s guess. As for the commercial extravaganzas, we can expect spots for various beers, chips, wings and electronic devices. (Turns out, there were also quite a few spots for bitcoins, which I have concluded after a bit of research, are the early 21st century’s version of snake oil). How many millions of dollars will have been spent on talent, breathtaking technology and the like is again, anyone’s guess.
So who are you going to be rooting for? I know my sister Erica (Riki) is a steadfast Rams fan and has just texted me that SoFi is magnificent, the temperature is 86 and should the Rams win, “. . . they will own this town!” I hope her dreams come true.
As for me, I really don’t much care who wins. In a sense, I have a stake in both cities, having been born and raised in Southern California (during all those years when the Rams were just awful) and spending 5 years in Cincinnati during the late ‘70s studying for my rabbinic ordination. L.A. was and still is home. I love mountains which encircle the valleys; feel very close to its values, and still have the lion’s share of my classmates living there. And where else can one be broiling in the sun while above you, people are skiing in the snow?
But truth to tell, I rather enjoyed my years living in the Queen City; their Philharmonic was and still is world class, the zoo is fantastic, Graeter’s ice cream is the world’s absolute best, and it is still actually possible to live in a 19th century Victorian abode for next to nothing. (Our huge apartment, the “Rose Hill” in North Avondale, was the same building where Theda Bara was raised). However, I couldn’t abide by its highly conservative politics (although Jerry Springer was just beginning to make progressive waves in a city whose historic first family are the Tafts), and found the City Council to be antediluvian. Don’t forget: Cincinnati is, after all, Northern Kentucky,
In a way, today’s Super Bowl is perfectly emblematic of America in 2022; a single country with many, many differences in taste, style and politics.
(We’ve reached halftime. The Rams have a slight lead; Odell Beckham, Jr. (who wore $200,000 diamond studded cleats during pre-game warmups) is out with a badly injured knee; it’s time to stop writing and pay a bit of attention to the entertainment. Back with you shortly . . .
I’m back. Turns out that to my taste, the entertainment wasn’t terribly entertaining. I’m not terribly fond of hip-hop; my tastes run more to musical pieces with melody, harmony and tonality. Watching and listening to a bunch of multi-million dollar gold-encrusted stars play up their gangsta roots (whether real or contrived) will never replace the Stones, Airplane, CSNY or CCR, That’s just me. I also found it rather off-putting that several of the performers couldn’t lip sync very well.
Back to the game . . .
The Rams managed to pull off a squeaker of a victory. Down 20-16, the Rams went on a 15-play drive capped by Matthew Stafford’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp for the go-ahead score with 1:25 left. Kupp’s touchdown catch came after three costly penalties on the Bengals’ defense. Throughout the game I was texting back-and-forth with my slightly older sister, who is a fanatic fan of any team headquartered in Los Angeles. By the final whistle, she had me converted to being a Ram’s fan.
But to me, the the Super Bowl is far, far more - and far, far less - than a celebration of American sports and national pride. It’s a sectional war between geographic and political regions; a triumph of merchandizing in which stars are paid more than most of us will earn in a lifetime just to make a minute commercial featuring products most of us cannot afford; a roving camera pointing out all the celebrities occupying the best seats. As Super Bowl games go, this one certainly had its moments of excitement, and definitely put both Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp on the map; expect to see them all over the tube and making a commercial or two in the days to come.
But as to being an “American Celebration?” It will never replace William Daniels, Ken Howard and Howard Da Silva in the film 1776!
Now that’s an American celebration!
Copyright©2022 Kurt F. Stone