It’s here! Superbowl Sunday is here! Now it’s time to get yourself ready with the Superbowl festivities.  Get that 6 foot sub, keg of beer, get your Superbowl pool squares and pull the pool numbers. 

Then it’s time to talk football. Here are some things to look for in today’s Superbowl matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers:

When The Steelers Run The Ball
Watch for running back Willie Parker to have a big game.  Over the last two games he has run for over 100 yards, including a 146 yard performance against the San Diego Chargers in the divisional playoffs.  And for you betting types, the Steelers are 6-0 in postseason play when Willie is a starter.

When The Steelers Throw The Ball
Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers starting quarterback, won a Superbowl ring in Super Bowl XL, but was not a factor in that game. In fact, he threw 2 interceptions and had a passing rating of 22.6.  This time around, expect Ben to be a big factor, even with his favorite receiver, Hines Ward, wearing a brace and playing with a sprained knee.

When The Cardinals Run The Ball
Do you remember Edgerin James?  He was benched in November in favor of Tim Hightower but regained the starting spot in the playoffs.  He ran for 203 yards on 52 carries and added a new dimension to the Cardinals offense.  But the Cardinals will need to spread the running game around with Hightower and J.J. Arlington to keep the Steelers number one rated defense honest.

When the Cardinals Throw The Ball
Kurt Warner, the starting quarterback, lead the Arizona passing game to the second most prolific in the league this year.  Warner has the luxury of a trio of 1,000 yard receivers to throw to, including larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston.

Special Teams
Nobody has ever returned a punt for a touchdown in the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh’s Santonio Holmes has already returned a punt for a touchdown this season.  Arizona’s Steve Breaston has the ability to deliver breakaway returns.  He did it in his first pro game, a 73-yard punt return last Fall.

X-Factor
Steelers: Troy Polamalu is a super strong aggressive strong safety who has the hands to intercept passes and the running ability to bring it back for a touchdown.

Cardinals: The coach, Ken Whisenhunt’s trick plays.  The Cardinals used a trick play against the Philadelpha Eagles in the conference championship game that went for a touchdown. It seemed to deflat the Eagles momentum and make the defense think about that play for the rest of the game.

Super Bowl Prediction
Pittsburgh Steelers 17   Arizona Cardinals 14
The defense of the Pittsburgh Steelers will be too much for the Cardinals.

Everyone knows that the Superbowl is the biggest day of the year in America.  It definitely beats out all other professional sports championships, and may even be as popular as the Fourth of July.  But do you really know how big the game is?

Here are some tidbits to think about when your enjoying the Superbow XLIII on Sunday, February 1, 2009 between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers:

Superbowl Broadcast Facts

• The NFC lead the Superbowl series 22-20 all time against the NFC
• Superbowl XLIII will be broadcast in 232 countries and territories
• The Superbowl is broadcast in 34 languages
• The top ten network primetime telecasts since 2000 are Superbowls
• 1.5 million TV sets will be sold during the week of the Superbowl
• A 30 second commercial during the Superbowl will cost advertisers up to $3 million

Superbowl Social Facts

• The average number of people attending a Super Bowl party is 17%, over 20 million Americans
• Half of all Americans would rather go to a Super Bowl party than a New Year’s Eve party
• An estimated 68 percent who attend the game have never been to a Super Bowl
• An estimated 50 million American women will watch the Super Bowl
• Two out of five Super Bowl watchers are not even football fans. Even people who will never watch another game all year will tune in to be part of this one national event
• Research shows that about 25% of women actually enjoy watching the game during the Super Bowl, but that leaves 3 out of every 4 who don’t. It is true that those 3 watch it because they enjoy the commercials, the food, the drink, the friends and the overall atmosphere
• Super Bowl weekend is the slowest weekend for weddings
• On average, Super Bowl plans are made 41 days in advance, our research shows (By comparison, New Year’s plans are made 35 days in advance; anniversary plans are made 30 days in advance; birthday plans are made 25 days in advance.)

Superbowl Food Facts

• Nearly one in eight or 13% of Americans order takeout/delivery food from a restaurant for a Super Bowl gathering
• Most popular choices of takeout/delivery items on Super Bowl Sunday are pizza at 58 percent, chicken wings at 50 percent and subs or sandwiches at 20 percent
• Approximately one in 20 (4 percent) Americans watch the big game at a restaurant or a bar, over 9 million Americans
• On Super Bowl Sunday, Americans will eat an estimated 20 million pounds of potato and tortilla chips and eight million pounds of avocados
• Sales for antacid increase by 20% on Super Bowl weekend

Superbowl Media Facts

• The Super Bowl will always reach the magic line in the Neilson ratings of 40-plus [household] rating
• Each of the past three Super Bowls earned household ratings (percentage of the 108 million homes with a TV) just above a 40, and in 2000 the broadcast averaged a 43 rating
• The game will have an audience estimated at close to a billion people
• The Food Network will have aired at least a dozen shows with Super Bowl themes by Super Bowl week’s end
• Every Super Bowl since 1991 has had a rating of at least 40.2, with 1996’s game earning a 46.1
• The second-most watched Super Bowl in history was in 2003 with 137.65 million American viewers
• ESPN airs more than 160 hours of Super Bowl programming during Super Bowl week
• The Super Bowl has become advertising’s big contest as well. It is believed that close to 58% of people would rather take their bathroom breaks during the game than miss the commercials.

Superbowl Economic Facts

• It is believed that an estimated 300-400 million dollars will be pumped in to the local economy of the host city
• Consumers will spend an average of $49.27 (or $5.6 billion total) on Super Bowl-related items from food and drink to new TV sets, lounge chairs and entertainment centers
• The median annual income of a Super Bowl ticket holder is $70,000, with 33 percent making over $100,000
• About 35 percent of those who attend the game write it off as a corporate expense

source: wikipedia.com encyclopedia.com superbowlmonday.com

What is the best Superbowl commercial starring a professional sports figure?  Back in 1979, Mean Joe Green of the Pittsburgh Steelers starred in a 30 second Cola-Cola commercial that is perhaps the best of them all. 

In this year’s Superbowl, another Pittsburgh Steeler will star in another Coca-Cola commercial.   A new version of “Mean Joe” will be seen in the third quarter of the Super Bowl. This time, another Pittsburgh Steeler, Troy Polamalu, the long-haired strong safety, stands in for Greene, limps into the tunnel to the Heinz Field locker room, and turns down a kid’s offer of a Coke Zero. Then the old premise turns to parody. Troy Polamalu,

The most celebrated ad with an N.F.L. player — and one of the most admired commercials ever made — was not funny at all. Instead, it was a 30-second stadium drama that occurred after a game when a kid offered a limping, grumpy Joe Greene, then one of the leading defensive tackles in the N.F.L., his Coca-Cola.

While often thought of as a Super Bowl commercial, it was first shown during the baseball playoffs in October 1979, ran through the N.F.L. season and was subsequently broadcast during Super Bowl XIV. The frenzy over Super Bowl commercials — and the notion that some people watched the game for the ads, many of which made their debut during the game — was still a few years in the future.

“We would never remake ‘Mean Joe,’ ” said Katie Bayne, the chief marketing officer for Coca-Cola North America. “There are similarities in the opening 12 seconds, but then it’s truly a Coke Zero commercial.”

In a video on Coke Zero’s Web site, Polamalu said: “He’s always Mean Joe Greene. Our acting skills will be up against each other.” In Greene’s video, also on the site, he said Polamalu faced more of an acting challenge.

“I was being mean, which wasn’t hard to do,” he said.

Many Americans watch the Superbowl not to see the game but to get a look at the over-the-top commercials.  The Superbowl will be viewed by millions of folks all over the world and this is where advertisers put their money where their mouths are.  A 30 second ad during the superbowl game is estimated to cost $3 million.  Let’s hope they play up to the hype.