Love is in the air. No not the type of love a man feels for a woman, or a dog feels for a slow squirrel — I'm talking about true love.
The unconditional love and affection only a fan can feel for a team. The type of love that makes the Lifetime channel look like True TV, and Valentine's Day feel like something named after Christopher Columbus. A love when coupled with a winning season and playoff run can get out of hand quicker than a Penn State protest. Professional sports are built on this type of love (who else but a lovelorn fan would buy a New Jersey Nets Jersey?) but only one league knows how to truly capitalize on it.
Without question, the Super Bowl is the defining sporting event of America. More than a Championship game, but just short of a national holiday, it is the picture of what all championship games should strive to look like. In 2010, according to Nielsen ratings, Super Bowl XLIV averaged 106.5 million viewers and replaced the series finale of "M*A*S*H" as the most watched telecast of all time. Nielsen also reported that SB XLIV was the second most buzzed about sporting event of the year, right behind the start of the NFL season.
The reason for the NFL's success is the same reason college football is popular: regular games matter. Due to the physical toll football takes on its players, football season is the shortest of any sport, with just one game a week. While most other pro leagues would baulk at the idea of a shortened season and the supposed revenue loss associated with it, it's the exact reason football remains the iconic American sport it is today.
Nothing is valued more than effort in sports. From pee-wee soccer games to state and national championships, no mantra heard more often than "Try your best." At the beginning of almost everyone's sporting career it is drilled into your head that winning doesn't matter as long as you try your best. That's why football's short season is its greatest strength; it forces players to try their best every game.
A standard NBA season lasts 82 games, the NHL 82 and the MLB 162. In contrast, the NFL season is only 16 games long. NFL players do not have the luxury of skating through an unimportant middle part of the season. The old belief that only the final two minutes matter in a professional basketball game sadly rings true. One of the main reasons the NBA has started to lose money is the fact that no one wants to pay any substantial amount of money to go see a game in the middle of the season when no one is even trying.
Not only does the NFL have the right formula for season length, they also have it for playoffs too. The NFL is the only professional league in America that has single elimination playoffs. This allows for more miracles to happen in NFL playoffs than any other sport. Teams can fluke their way to the championship in single elimination, but no one can do it in multiple seven-game series.
The success of the NFL can teach other leagues the valuable lesson that less is more. The less fans see hard hitting plays and diving catches the more they want them. The fewer players on the field, the harder they try when they do play.
It's why love is in the air, as we approach this weekend's Super Bowl between the Giants and Patriots. It's why fans love the sport. And it's why fans love this sport.
Andy Clark is a sophomore in new media communications. The opinions expressed in his columns do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Barometer staff. Clark can be reached at forum@dailybarometer.com.
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