Super Bowl XLIII

On Feb. 1st, 2008, the Pittsburgh Steelers prevailed over the Arizona Cardinals to win 27-23 in Super Bowl XLIII. The game was arguably one of the closest and most riveting in Super Bowl history, hailed by many sportswriters to be 'one for the ages.' In the final seven and a half minutes to play, the Cardinals rallied from a 20-13 deficit to score 16 unanswered points and gain the lead. However, with less than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger led a scoring drive from the Steelers' own 17 yard line and connected with Santonio Holmes for the winning touchdown with 35 seconds left in the game. 

The game marks yet another nail-biting Super Bowl that have been common within the last decade. Super Bowl XLIII drew almost approximately 95,000 viewers, making it the third most watched event on television behind the series finale of M*A*S*H and last year's Super Bowl between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, which tops the list at over 97,000 viewers.

This event is newsworthy because, as evidenced by the numbers, it is relevant to so many people. Year after year, the Super Bowl becomes a bigger and bigger deal. The last two successive years have drawn almost 100,000 viewers each. Many of those those are not even football fans or do not even care who is playing. Many are in it for strictly financial reasons: the legal Nevada sports books handled $81.5 million, a figure which represents only a fraction of the money that really changed hands about the game as that it fails to account for all illegal gambling. The "Big Game" has always been the biggest day in sports in the United States. Now, drawing more money and viewers than ever before, as well as celebrities from the entertainment, political and sports worlds alike, the Super Bowl has become an enormous cultural event that, if the trend of past years is at all evident, will continue to be close, captivating and, as always, hard-hitting.