The Super Bowl: More than a game

Do you know what will happen this February 7? Every American does. To many, the date is as big as Thanksgiving, as important as any birthday, and as bombastic as the Fourth of July. It’s Super Bowl Sunday, the day of the championship game in American football.

This year’s contest brings back the winners from three years ago, the Indianapolis Colts, to play the New Orleans Saints in Miami. They’ll play only one game, which technically involves just 60 minutes of play; but it’ll take all day to determine the winner.

First, there’s a four-hour pre-game show, with commentary. The game itself is broken up by the halftime show (with cheerleaders and rock stars). After the game come the post-game interviews and analysis. The more you understand about what’s happening, the easier it is to enjoy.

At the kickoff (start of the game), the teams face each other on the 50-yard line (the midpoint of the field, which is 100 yards long). The ball is passed (thrown) or punted (kicked) to a player, whom the opposing team tries to tackle (bring down by physical force).

Whenever a player drops the ball, the clock is stopped and all the players must again form their line of scrimmage parallel to where the ball has landed. Because this happens often, and because the direction of play goes back and forth, the ball rarely travels very far. Between plays lasting a few seconds each, the television network will dutifully try to fill the time with instant-replay footage and 60 to 70 commercials. To see just the game itself — live — you will need to allow three to four hours.

Because the pace is so relaxed, viewers surround themselves with friends or family and plenty of food and drink: beer, cola, chips and pretzels are the minimum. There’s lots of time to talk, ponder the many arcane rules of the game, and share those exciting moments when a player — often the quarterback (the main runner and real-time strategist) — does manage to carry the ball all the way to the end zone for a touchdown.

You can watch the game on Das Erste from 11:35 p.m. Sunday to 4:30 a.m. Monday, Central European Time. Kickoff is half an hour after midnight.