Once again, the Super Bowl is in Santa Clara, California, just like ten years ago. Super Bowl 50 then, and the plus ten SB 60 now. Then, now, always… the Super Bowl is America’s premiere entertainment event well beyond a championship football game. In a day of multiple screens and streaming on demand, the Super Bowl is the one time each year we’re all on the same page or channel so to speak. How connected are we otherwise? Then and now? This NFL homecoming begs the question of where we’ve come and what’s happened in the decade since America’s biggest spotlight and spectacle last descended on the Bay Area.
You talking football or life, Mr. Larry?
Both.
Super Bowl Ten Years Later
Like any NFL season, American life in the last decade has been euphoric to desperate, Hail Mary to endzone sack we’d say in gridiron speak. We travelled to Super Bowl 50 in 2016 and enjoyed a fantastic trip… until the bitter end. Let’s compare and contrast then and now.
Once again, Santa Clara and bigger sister San Jose have taken a back seat to much of the NFL hoopla that is in San Francisco, an hour-plus jammed-freeway drive away from Levi’s Stadium. The host team is called the San Francisco 49ers for a reason though, no matter how many tech and Tesla titans may be assembled in the San Jose area. Everyone’s an economic winner to some extent when the sports world and much of the globe itself visits, streams or tunes into your region.
San Francisco Then
What’s not to like about sunshine in San Jose and endless attractions in San Francisco. We traversed the Golden Gate Bridge, rattled a cell door in Alcatraz, and shamelessly zig-zagged Lombard Street like every other tourist. San Francisco is one of the most intriguingly interesting and picturesque cities I’ve visited here or abroad. In the spirit of now and then, since that 2016 visit, we read about street crime, drugs and homelessness… some following cultural upheaval we’ll note in a moment. Now, we’re told a new mayor and vision have revived accountability and charm in the city by the bay. That’s a touchdown no matter your regional or political bent… even in our now more polarized culture and country.
Super Life and Times Since?
The ten-year stretch that began with Super Bowl 50 was the end of Obama’s two terms, start of Trump’s first presidency, then the Biden years and now Trump 2. Not everything is tainted by politics but be reminded as many fans as your left or right-wing team has, the other sideline has a commensurate number. That said… what happened in that span? We don’t have that much ink, but here’s a sample.
MAGA, Massacres, Me-Too, Opioids, Culture Wars, Syria, Royals, Mueller, Squad, Notre Dame, Brexit, COVID-19, Floyd, BLM, Inflation, Kobe, Climate, Afghan Exit, Juneteenth, SpaceX, Ukraine, AI, October 7th, Swift, Wegovy, Mass Migration, January 6th, Assassins, LA Fire, DOGE, Tariffs, Kirk, Epstein, Mass Deportation.
United Would be Super
Like the previous 240 years, the latest decade of the American story did not lack for grit, glory or gloom… domestic, international, political and cultural events we love or loathe… probably depending on our view… which media at large hammers early, often and to a fault. Perhaps the point is, we press ahead. Polarization is not a solution, but if it is inevitable, we press on. America may be most vulnerable from within. There will always be naysayers, but perhaps Super Bowl 60 leading up to America’s 250th birthday can begin to unite the states, set aside the squabble, weave what’s a bit tattered. I know, I know… we can hope.
What about the football? I still can’t figure out how the Carolina Panthers lost Super Bowl 50. Sure, the Denver Broncos had Peyton Manning, but Cam Newton was playing at an MVP level. Alas, another good reason to not gamble… harder to do then, easier now… yet another change in the last decade. This season, Denver almost made it back for a ten-year Super Bowl reunion… and Carolina almost won a playoff game. Rebuilding anything seems eternal. Seattle and New England are back to the big game, QBs Sam Darnold and Drake Maye are fresh to the hype and the halftime show features Bad Bunny? Uh oh… we’re veering back into politics. I’ll exit now. Hope you enjoy the game.
Hey there Larry,
I’ve enjoyed reading your columns. Are you actually making money with truflex? Funny! Your site’s spellcheck keeps wanting me to choose “truffle” instead of truflex until I trained it with ignore… Reading your list of major news events, you hit the major ones for sure. But the list could go on and on with school shootings, Kirk, etc. It’s amazing how crude & cruel humans can be in just ten years. Enjoy the SP one more time. Just think. We’ll be in our 80’s by then, and if we are lucky, there will not be another division of states. Red against Blue, as was, Gray against Blue. Brothers fighting brothers. I much prefer the fight for SP winners in a world were there can be no losers in a fair game of honorable competition with no sore losers. I’d like to think that this too will pass. An insidious divide that has reared its racist head once again out of fear for dominance like cave men. Nuclear annihilation would certainly put our future generations right back there if two sexes survived armageddon. Maybe then, survivors wouldn’t notice the color of ones skin? Happy Super Sunday, my friend!
Kind regards, Walt B
Appreciate your thoughts, Walt, and no doubt most all seek… or should seek that connective union. Too much partisan push and pull no matter who pulls the levers. As you note, human depravity is a real deal only God can solve. We saw plenty of that in our journalistic travels, right?
Hope your health continues to improve, friend.
Best to your family…