Favorite Super Bowl moments?

Wow. We've arrived at the golden anniversary Super Bowl, the 50th. Incredible we've made it this far. In honor of this milestone, it's a great time to look back on great memories. What are your favorite moments? I'll give you mines. By the way, until Super Bowl 45 the NFL went with customized logos for each Super Bowl; now it's a standard one using the Lombardi trophy with the same kind of print for the Roman numerals at the bottom; I sure wish they would go back to the old way which gave the feeling that each Super Bowl is unique.

For me the greatest moments are from the first decade of Super Bowls I watched when I was young, from the 20th to the 23rd followed by the 25th and 27th.

The 20th was the first I watched and the Bears have been my favorite team ever since that time. Being so young I certainly couldn't understand all about football, but I knew about the physical, contact aspect of the sport which what drew me to it like wrestling and the moment from that game I remember most was how a Patriot player had to be taken off the field on a stretcher early in the game. At that time when I came back from school I would watch cartoons on WGN through an old school c-band satellite dish, but instead of seeing cartoons the day after the game the channel showed live coverage of the Bears victory parade in downtown Chicago.

The use of instant replay was the thing I remembered most from Super Bowl XXI; Bronco TE Clarence Kay made a diving catch which was what got reviewed and if I could recall I think the catch got overturned to Dan Reeves' displeasure. The Giants being the 2nd champion I witnessed they became my 2nd favorite team, but I would eventually realize the Bears and Giants are part of the same conference so I decided the Bears are the only team for me to be loyal to.

The Broncos came back to the Super Bowl the next year and got off to a nice start in the game, 10-0. Then the Redskins dropped bombs on them in the 2nd quarter like no other performance by one team in a quarter in the history of the NFL with 5 touchdowns. Doug Williams was the game's MVP and I certainly remember hearing that he became the first black QB to win a Super Bowl.

Super Bowl XXIII was the only one in which I witnessed Bill Walsh as the 49ers head coach. In the night before the game, the opening skit of Saturday Night Live showed actors portraying Walsh and Marv Albert in a winning 49er locker room where both Reagan and Bush each call to congratulate causing confusion as Bush had just taken office. As a Bears fan, I certainly don't forget seeing what Joe Montana did to my team in the NFC championship. And in Super Bowl XXIII I saw Montana come in the clutch and lead his 49ers to victory by throwing a TD in the final minutes capping a 90+ yard drive. For me just as memorable was the halftime show featuring an Elvis impersonator where you had to have 3-D glasses given freely in stores I think by Coca-Cola in order watch it and I made sure to have mines. This game was also the first time the Bud Bowl was shown.

Super Bowl XXV much of the time is summed up in 2 words: "Wide Right." It's the closest Super Bowl margin ever with the Giants having just 1 more point than the Bills who could've made it a 2-point victory had the Bills' Scott Norwood made the doable kick. Just as memorable was Whitney Houston's singing of the national anthem, probably the best ever done, as U.S. troops were fighting in the Persian Gulf. The patriotic theme also affected the halftime show where young children sang "Wind Beneath My Wings."; it has been stated in references that New Kids on the Block did the halftime show but that apparently may have been the original plan.

Super Bowl XXVII also had the Bills in it and losing again in what was one of the most lopsided Super Bowls ever thanks to the Cowboys. For me what was really worth watching was the halftime show, done by Michael Jackson, probably the best one ever done.

On the topic of domination, unfortunately much of the time the Super Bowl didn't live up to the hype. I can't help but think that the history of the event has been incomplete given the fact there has yet to be an overtime Super Bowl. That's an incredible reality. Hard to explain why; I'll say that one interesting thing to also point out is how the AFC Championship has had only 1 overtime game ("The Drive" game between Denver and Cleveland in Jan '87). I guess the official purpose of a championship game is the best way to describe it - a game where a team earns a title for its league by winning that game, not one that necessarily features the 2 best teams.

Would be so poetic if Super Bowl 50 is the first to reach OT, but I don't think the stars are aligned for one given how Carolina has been so dominant against a field of competition that I don't think has been as strong as I've seen dominant teams of the past have faced; in other words, it looks like either Carolina will be too much for Denver or Carolina plays foolish against a stiff challenge they may have to face.