It’s SUPER BOWL WEEK….Most of the week the talk centers around the Super Bowl. It began in 1967 under the title of the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. It’s become a “party day” for the American culture for football fans AND non-football fans alike! I remember the 1st one because I was invited downstairs by our landlord to watch the game in “color”. That was my 1st time every watching “color” television. Now…lets look @ several different angles of the Super Bowl….
….the SUPER BOWL has a strange history. In 1967 it was originally called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. It was played in LA, California in the LA Memorial Coliseum. Green Bay beat the KC Chiefs 35-10 to no one’s surprise. The AFL, as it was known at that time, was viewed by many (including me) as inferior to the NFL.
…some strange facts about the SUPER BOWL…there has NEVER been a SHUTOUT in any Super Bowl; the 1st Super Bowl ticket cost $12! Pittsburgh Steelers & NE Patriots are tied for the most Super Bowl wins-6; The very first Super Bowl ticket in 1967 cost $12—this year tickets cost for Super Bowl LIX range from $4,800 to over $6,500!; on a rather cynical oddity—the Minnesota Vikings are the only team in play in 4 Super Bowls BUT….they’ve never held a lead in any game!! Only 8 teams have won back-back Super Bowls. Kansas City is attempting to become the 1st team EVER to win 3 straight Super Bowls.
…Looking at the Super Bowl MVP’s was surprising to me. I expected the vast majority of MVP’s to be Quarterbacks! The first 4 Super Bowls had QB as the MVP of the game. But now…after 58 Super Bowls, there have only been 32 QB who were the MVP. That’s just 55%!!
…No team has ever been shut out in the Super Bowl. However, two offenses have been shut out. The Washington Redskins (as they were called at that time) and New York Giants each scored their touchdowns on special teams in Super Bowls 7 and 35, respectively!
….Amazingly….The Vikings never have held a lead in any of their 4 Super Bowl appearances!!
…Winning 3 straight Championships in any Professional Sport is very difficult! The last team to do it was the Los Angeles Lakers when they won 3 consecutive NBA titles from 2000-02. Can Kansas City do it in the NFL this year?
…. HC Andy Reid of KC is now 66 years old, has been in the coaching world consecutively since 1982! He spent 3 years @ Mizzou (89-90-91). He’s been the HC @ KC for 12 years. Prior to that he was the Head Coach @ Philadelphia for 14 years. He’s clearly a HOF coach.
…it is SUPER BOWL WEEK…but other sports are still competing. In NCAA Mens Basketball, Mizzou with their 16-4 record landed @ #17 in the latest poll. The Southeastern Conference continues to have 4 teams in the top 10 Mens Basketball Teams ( #1-Auburn, Alabama-#4, Tennessee-#9 and Florida #10)
….Still bouncing around in Mens’ basketball….Mizzou’s Caleb Grill, who is 24 years old & in his 6th year of college, currently the holds the highest 3-pt percentage in the SEC @ 48.3% shooting 43 of 89 3pt shots. He’s not alone… Gibson Jimerson of St Louis U is in his 6th season of Collegiate basketball. He turns 26 years old in September. Jimerson repeat my feelings that a 24 year old &/or a person or a player in their 6th year of college should NOT be allowed to play NCAA sports. Btw…Jimerson is having his best career year (to no one’s surprise !!)
…Mizzou, at this moment, is tied for 3rd place in the SEC @ 5-2 while holding a season record of 16-4. The Tigers are unbeaten @ home in 24-25 season with a 15-0 home record!! Auburn & Alabama are tied for 1st with 6-0 conference record. Auburn is 18-1 for 24-25 year while Bama is 17-3. How will Mizzou fare once they begin their road schedule is a key question.
…on the other side of the Pro Football world…Buffalo lost (again) to KC. Sunday’s 32-29 loss to KC in the AFC Championship Game marked the 4th time in five years that Buffalo has lost to Kansas City in the playoffs. 3 of those 4 losses have been at Arrowhead Stadium. Overall, Buffalo is 61-22 since the start of 2020 — the Chiefs are the only team with more wins in that span — but the Bills haven’t been able to get even ONE Super Bowl appearance out of that run. Over those five years, they’re 0-4 in the playoffs against the Chiefs and 7-0 against everyone else.
…Despite two NFL teams walking away from St Louis, there is still interest in the NFL in St. Louis. According to viewership-tracking firm Nielsen, 19.3% of the St. Louis market tuned in to CBS’ telecast via local affiliate KMOV (Channel 4). This was a completely meaningless game with respect to playoffs. Only one Chiefs game this season drew a better rating in St. Louis, a 20.2 figure for KC’s narrow loss to Buffalo on Nov. 17. To see a meaningless contest for the in-state team. For a rout by the foe , who is a possible opponent in the playoffs.
…. To put the rating for the KC-Denver game in perspective: It’s rating (19.3%) is more than twice what the best-rated Cardinals game last season drew (9.4). As pointed out numerous times in this space in recent years, TV ratings show that St. Louisans who continue to say they refuse to pay attention to the NFL because it allowed the Rams to leave town nine years ago is shrinking. The disdain for the Chiefs for their role in that happening, are in a very, very small minority of area sports fans. It’s generally accepted that Stan Kronke was going to get his way and move to LA…no matter what it took to get it done. In fact, the Chiefs bandwagon in St. Louis actually is gaining momentum, at least in TV viewership
….The numbers listed above for KC-Buffalo game was more than twice what the best-rated Cardinals game last season (which was 9.4) and even exceeded one of the Blues contest in the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals (16.1 for Game 3, a 7-2 Boston victory). NFL viewership in St. Louis is still growing. The team’s 15 telecasts this season were seen in an average of 16% of the market. Last season, the figure was 15.5 for 16 telecasts (15.9 if a Sunday game from London that began at 8:30 a.m. St. Louis time is excluded). My point….despite the unhappiness about losing 2 NFL teams, STL football fans still want to watch NFL football.
…. Why? The Football Schedule is much, much more spread out– 17 games v 162 games. The games are televised basically on one day –Sunday(excluding 1 game on Mon and 1 on Thur night) which adds to regularity of the presentation. Amazingly… around 30% of NFL games are being decided by 8 points or less–1 TD & a 2pt conversion in the 2024 season. Hence, the close games keep your interest until the final buzzer. Parity in the NFL seems to be closer in talent as teams move up & down much easier than the MLB seems to do. Or…maybe you just like watching Mahomes do his “escape acts” and then throw a completion each week.
….In January 2025, 19.3% of the St. Louis market watched the Kansas City Chiefs’ second-round NFL playoff game on CBS. This was more than double the viewership of the St. Louis Cardinals’ best-rated baseball game the previous year. Keep in mind that the Cardinals didn’t make the playoffs last year so that makes the comparison skewed towards KC. Definitely, St Louis has a strong, very strong, baseball fan base.
…The Cardinals have spoiled us with strong records save 2 years ago. The St. Louis Cardinals’ win-loss record took a dive in 2023. That year the Cards had only 71 wins with a last place finish. There were strong, good decaades prior to 2023—In 2022: 93 wins; 2021: 90 wins. But..sometimes..probably many more times… fans have a short memory. The COVID-19 pandemic forced a much shorter season in 2020. That absence may have caused more “damage” in interest than was expected. The fans high expectations of having strong, winning, entertaining teams was tarnished 2 years ago with mild improvement last year (finished 4 games over .500 but still 10 games out of 1st place). The Cardinals “reset” tone this off-season doesn’t bring much encouragement that STL will try to be a contender in 2025. The NL Central has improved substantially. The Pirates have some young good pitching, Cincy has a couple talented young players. The Cardinals also have young players—but most are unproven over an entire season or 2. Winning is not a guarantee as it was for decades. Will crowds of 25,000+ keep coming if the team struggles to reach .500?
….Teams need “STARS” to help their attendance. The departure of local heroes—Albert Pujols & Yadier Molina has yet to be fully replaced by a new “Cardinal star” coupled with the drop-off in wins & interest (fans love to have a local STAR to “share their love”). Maybe Masyn Winn will be our next “star”. He was terrific last year but will he repeat (as stars must do) in his 2nd full year.
…The Blues are starting to “clean house”. They might make the playoffs this year although the chances seem to be fading away. Sooo.. the Blues are parting with some veterans unfortunately, they aren’t getting much back in return…if anything. Scott Pernuvich was traded for a conditional 5th round pick. Veteran Brandon Saad was waived (that’s the nice way of saying that they “cut” him). Martin Sylvegard was moved to the Pittsburgh Penguins. On December 18, defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph was waived. The Blues have picked up some draft picks—hopefully, they’ll “hit” on some of them. The 5 year contract to Head Coach Montgomery enables him & the team to “start over” and build a playoff team.
….The key to winning is scoring goals. The Blues are 5th in the Division and…not by chance…the Blues are 5th in scoring goals in the division! They are also 5th in goals allowed in the division. Sooo….the stats tell us that we are right where we belong in the standings with this roster.
…Thanks so much for your read! Let’s enjoy more Super Bowl talk throughout the week. Your thoughts, reactions are always invited. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me all the time. (but it’s nice when you do agree 😊) Bob
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