First, let me say that I want congratulate Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers for stepping out of Brett Favre’s footsteps and winning one. The Super Bowl has become the biggest sporting event of the year and this year’s game was in America’s biggest and most expensive stadium. Newly built Cowboys Stadium in Dallas coast an estimated $1.2 billion. Fans from Green Bay, Wis., and Pittsburgh came and showed support for their teams for Super Bowl XLV.
For heightened security purposes, SWAT Team K-9 dogs went around and sniffed all passengers and every NFL official before we left the hotel.
Naturally, there was too much traffic leading up to the stadium. News helicopters, advertising blimps and rowdy, halfway drunken NFL fans filled the streets around Cowboys Stadium. Barbecue pits, loud music and jumbo TVs brought the festival atmosphere right where it needed to be that cold February day.
The state-of-the-art, super-huge stadium lives up to the hype. The most mind-boggling feature of Cowboys Stadium is the video board created by Mitsubishi that hangs over the center of the field. This massive display spans 60 yards, from 20-yard line to 20-yard line, displaying 25,000 square feet of video. The final attendance was 103,219.
Terrible towels and cheese heads lit up the stadium before the opening kick off. Packers cornerback Nick Collins intercepted a pass by Ben Roethlisberger and returned it 37 yards for a score to give the Packers a 14-0 first quarter lead.
The interception in the first quarter silenced the Pittsburgh crowd for the rest of the first half while Aaron Rogers was in tip-top shape, throwing the ball all over the field. By the second quarter, Green Bay held a 21-3 lead and threatened to turn the game into a “Packerfest” when Roethlisberger got back to being Big Ben and connected with Hines Ward on an eight-yard scoring pass before halftime to put the score at 21-10.
The Black Eyed Peas Super Bowl halftime performance began with “I Got a Feeling,” which dissolved into parts of “Boom Boom Pow.” Dozens of dancers in LED light-infused outfits that changed colors surrounded the stage throughout the performance, and then suddenly, Slash (of Guns-N- Roses and Velvet Revolver fame) appeared on stage. Usher and the Prairie View band were also part of the halftime show.
In the game, turnovers made the difference, with a few timely stops by the Packers defense helping the cause. With the 31-25 victory, Green Bay had its fourth Super Bowl championship, keeping the Steelers from winning their seventh.
The team reclaimed the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named for the legendary Green Bay coach who won the first two Super Bowls. So the trophy is back at home.
Trent Brown is a junior mass communication major from Los Angeles.