Just wondering about all those fans who paid $200 to watch the Super Bowl on a big screen in Cowboys Stadium’s parking lot — If ice is still falling from the roof of the stadium on Sunday, what’s going to happen when the US Air Force does its traditional screaming low fly-by? Just sayin’…
Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, takes issue with the oft-repeated claim that the Super Bowl provides a big boost to the US economy. Bernanke acknowledges that there is a lot of business conducted in preparation for the big day, but as far as the game itself, “GDP during those three hours will drop to zero.” Some economists concur, claiming that while people may be watching a lot of expensive advertising, nobody’s buying anything. Of course, the argument could be made that pizza delivery companies and the like make out like bandits during the game. A few other economic sectors, some of them, you know, internet-based, might do some pretty decent business during the game.
And before the game. Much has been made of the prop bet asking how long it will take Aretha Franklin-wannabe Christina Aguilera to sing the national anthem and how long she’ll hold the last note on ‘brave’. To set their numbers, oddsmakers studied a dozen anthem performances Aguilera has delivered at previous sporting events. Frankly, we think there should be an over/under put on how many Aguilera anthems one human can endure before said human sticks knitting needles in their ears.
As far as who wins the game, statisticians will tell you jobless numbers point to a Packers victory. Studies of the past 20 Super Bowls found that the city with the lower unemployment rate won 80% of the Lombardi trophies. The December unemployment figures were 6.6% in Green Bay compared to Pittsburgh’s 7.5%. So any Green Bay business owners who are secretly rooting for Pittsburgh need to fire a lot of their employees ASAP for the Steelers to have a shot. Responsibility to your employees? Dude, are you a Steelers fan or not?
