February 1, 2009 my family, like a million others, watched the big game and the much anticipated television commercials. Superbowl XLIII was one of the best I have seen in awhile, I was riveted to my seat the entire night. The game was outstanding; there was never a clear winner until the last few seconds of the game. However the commercials were mediocre, but then again we are experiencing tough economic times and creativity must be expensive. The most disappointing event of the night was the Gatorade soaking of the Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin. They barely got one arm wet!
ESPN.com’s article, “How the dunk was born”, tells the story of how this ritual was started. The soaking of the football coach with a bucket of Gatorade was started in 1985 when New York Giants player Jim Burt got revenge on Coach Bill Parcells by dumping the ice cold drink over his head after a big win against the Redskins (Rovell). The continuation of the dunking after each win was intended to fill the superstitions of the coach not to start a tradition for the sport. ESPN.com’s author Darren Rovell, gives credit to the media for making the Gatorade soak as important to the game as the winning catch, “most of the time, the television cameras would focus on Carson and Parcells in the waning minutes of the game, so that viewers wouldn't miss the moment they had come to expect” (How the dunk was born).
This ritual still happens every weekend despite the fact that the original Gatorade soak was only to keep the New York Giants winning football games. The dunk is so popular that it is no longer limited to just football. Coaches in other sports such as baseball, basketball and soccer are getting annointed by their team for a job well done. Coach Tomlin was robbed of his rite to passage when they missed the optimum point of release, the top of his head. The poor guy was only blessed on his right arm.
Reference
Rovell, Darren. (October 13, 2005). How the dunk was born. ESPN.com. Retrieved
February 2, 2009
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=rovell/051014
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We also watched the Super Bowl and thought it was truly an exciting game. I was not too happy with the outcome because I really wanted to see Arizona win. I think they worked harder to get there and really play good football. I think Pittsburgh are borderline thugs and ultimately is the reason they win what they do. The Cincinnati Bengals are the same, but they don't have a decision coach so the outcome is not equal. So sorry, Wendy, if you are a Steelers fan, but I am just being honest. By the time they got to the dousing of Gatorade, I had the TV off. The economic situation definitely affected the lackluster commercials. And I thought there were better ones than the Doritos who should have won the $1 million.
ReplyDeleteI found your analysis on how the dunk was born very interesting. I am not a big sports fan of any kind but have always enjoyed watching the winning team cover the coach in liquid no matter how cold it is outside.
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