Hype! Drama! Story lines! Analysis! And a football game

When I returned home from the NFC championship game and got online to read a story or two about the Eagles and Patriots, I couldn't believe how much already had been written about Super Bowl 39. Several stories were matching up the Philly offense against the New England defense and vice versa, all in great detail.

Sheesh, I thought, we've got two weeks of this!

The hype surrounding the Super Bowl was nuts when I played, but you can multiply that by 100 now. FOX Sports, which is broadcasting the game, will be all over it. The NFL Network promises "marathon coverage" of Super Bowl week. That network didn't even exist 10 years ago. Neither did the Best Damn Sports Show Period or Totally Football. The Internet was in its infancy, so your best bets to read about the game were magazines such as the SPORTING NEWS and your local newspaper. Now you can access countless websites, each breaking down the game bit by infinitesimal bit. The media analysis is endless.

That's because nothing is happening for two weeks (unless you count the hourly updates on Terrell Owens' ankle). Yet everybody with a laptop or microphone is weighing in on the game. The coverage runs the gamut from hard-core analysis of schemes and formations to thorough breakdowns of each player's breakfast menu, depending on whether a sportswriter or somebody from E! is asking the questions. Sometimes the sportswriters ask about breakfast, too.

This can become tire-some, but you know what? It's one of the reasons the Super Bowl is the event that it is. Would millions of people plan parties every year around a game that, for most of them, doesn't include their favorite team? Shoot, many viewers don't have a favorite team; this is the only football game they ever watch. But watch they do, because it's the biggest entertainment event of the year. They know it's big because everybody is talking and writing about it for two weeks. Paul McCartney will sing at halftime. Former presidents Bush and Clinton will be there. And the two best football teams on the planet will play each other. Can't forget that part.

And despite all the analysis leading up to the game, no one really knows what will happen when 22 guys start knocking heads. I promise you, story lines will develop that no one expected. Someone unforeseen will make a play that changes the game. That's what's great about the Super Bowl--none of it is scripted.

It's reality TV at its best.

The Troy Aikman show airs at 5 p.m. every Thursday through the Super Bowl on Sporting News Radio. Listen online at radio.sportingnews.com.

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