Birth of an American Holiday

When it comes to Holiday Origins, Christmas and New Years Eve really need little explanation. For the most part however only a handful know the origins of say, Halloween. Yet all of these holidays have been part of our history for generations if not centuries.

And then you have today, where there is the Super Bowl; at some point 93% of US Homes will have the TV tuned into this event today. And for the other poor souls like myself who work in the hospitality industry, they will concur that today is the second most gluttonous day in the country right behind Thanksgiving Day. Only instead of Turkey, Chicken Wings are the 'time honored' cuisine of the day. 

In fact, more people will go out for the SuperBowl than for New Years Eve, which is something else when you consider that this is an event that did not even exist when the Beatles played their last concert at the Hollywood Bowl!

The Super Bowl was nothing more than a consolation prize, a Championship game for the 'other' team, the AFL team to play the more established NFL champion for the 3 or so years until the two leagues would be merged. The name is a creation of AFL legend Lamar Hunt whose children were playing with a Super 'Ball'.  If not for their toy, we may still be saying " Hey where are we going for the "AFC-NFC World Championship Game" tonight???

Yet even though it really doesnt have a super long standing history, it has had one long enough to establish several trends already.

• The AFC was the first to set up dominance in the game, as the Pittsburgh Steelers became the team of the 70's, and Miami Dolphins added a few of their own. Add to the fact that the Raiders were such a tough team, it was no wonder the Vikings lost 4 of these games in the 70's.
• The NFC took over in the early 80s, and didn't let up until John Elway finally took it to the NFC after 13 straight years of National dominance. It got to the point where the NFC Championship game was the real Super Bowl.

You get the feeling that in 50 years or so, the traditions that go along with this new found American Holiday will just develop more and even deeper into our national heritage. With little extras like Squares, Commercials, Winning SB QB Disney spot, the Gatorade bath, there is no telling where our new national pastime's big even is headed.

For me....Pittsburgh/Dallas was the first Super Bowl I remember hearing about and understanding what it was. 

What was your first Super Bowl memory?

First good Super Bowl Party?

Dont forget today to check out the NETWORK WIDE SuperBowl thread on SBNation.com!