This upcoming Sunday is Super Bowl LX, the championship game of the top professional American football league. The Super Bowl thinks that it is so important that it uses Roman numerals.)
The Super Bowl is the single largest sporting event in the United States. The entire country grinds to a halt when the game is on. If you aren’t interested in the game, it’s a great time to do public photography or run errands.
Traditionally, the mayors of the home cities of the two teams competing in the game make a friendly wager, with each mayor offering to send the other mayor some local products if their team loses. For example, in 2014, the mayors of Seattle and Denver wagered local foods and products as well as having to wear clothing inspired by the other team’s city.
Sometimes other city organizations get into the friendly wagering spirit. In 2018, the Philadelphia Orchestra and Boston Symphony agreed that the losing city’s conductor would have to wear the winning city’s jersey at their next rehearsal.
But certainly we can do better than that.
The two teams competing in Super Bowl LX are the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots (based near Boston). I think the Seattle Symphony and the Boston Symphony should engage in their own friendly wager: If the Seahawks win, then the Boston Symphony must play Erich Korngold’s “The Sea Hawk” at an upcoming concert. If the Patriots win, then the Seattle Symphony must play John Williams’s “The Patriot”.
I recall that for the 50th Superbowl, they decided not to call it “Superbowl L” and instead used the number 50. Maybe they thought people would associate L for Loser.