The Super Bowl has been a great tradition among football fans all across America. It is the annual game for the National Football League, or NFL, where one team is given the championship title as well as the coveted Super Bowl trophy. 2019’s Super Bowl is the 53rd game that has been played for the NFL championship. This year, the New England Patriots took on the Los Angeles Rams at 4:30 on Feb. 3. At the end of regulation, the New England Patriots won their 6th Super Bowl, with an end score of 13-3. Many people were pleased with this score, while others were very disappointed. Super Bowl traditions range from annual parties, to comfort food, to betting on scores at the end of each quarter, along with legendary commercials.

Many Super Bowl fans attend parties, and it is common for groups of high school students to often get together to watch the game and cheer on their favorite team! Some families throw an annual Super Bowl party where they invite all of their family friends, while others like to relax and watch the game with their immediate family at home. Junior Sophia Salome talks about her love of the Super Bowl, “I love Super Bowl parties because family and friends are really important to me but football is also really important. What’s better than everyone together to watch the biggest football game of the year?” Often at Super Bowl parties, there are buffets of food: bean dip, pizza, chips, cookies, and popcorn are among the most popular snacks to eat while watching the game.

At Super Bowl parties, it is very common for people to bet on the score of the game at the end of a quarter, as well as the score and winning team at the end of the game. One tradition that’s become more and more popular over the years is the creation of a board set up by the host of the party, divided into table listing numbers 1 through 9 on each side. Participants pay $1 to receive a square in which that put their name down, corresponding to the score that they think will occur at the end of each quarter, they can buy as many squares as they want. Whoever predicts the correct score at the end of this quarter, receives the overall money that was put forth by others for that quarter. Junior Caroline Hink participated in this betting method for this year’s Super Bowl: “I love betting on the score of the game with my family and friends. We pick our squares before writing the numbers and teams in so you really never know who will have the best chance at winning, which is part of the fun!”

As far as the Super Bowl game goes, there have been constant traditions revolving around iconic halftime performances and hilarious commercials that spark memes for weeks. In past years, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga and Beyonce have all put on outstanding performances; contributing to the anticipation for the following year’s performer. 2019’s Super Bowl Halftime Show was led by the band, Maroon 5, and Adam Levine was accompanied with performances by Travis Scott and Big Boi.  “I’m disappointed in the lack of Travis Scott because I am a big fan, but I thought the transition between artists was very cool and different.” Junior Maddy Skrovan “I thought that the Super Bowl halftime show was very unique, especially when they had the clip of Spongebob Sweet Victory. I think Maroon 5 also did a very good job, although, I do wish Travis Scott would have performed a little bit longer, not just 20 seconds of ‘Sicko Mode’. And Big Boi was pretty cool too.”

Some of the most notable commercials through this year’s Super Bowl included the NFL commercial, celebrating 100 years of its existence with appearances from Terry Bradshaw, Larry Fitzgerald, Peyton Manning, Tony Gonzalez and other NFL legends. The Pepsi commercial featuring Steve Carell, Cardi B and Lil Jon was also a huge hit, as well as the Planters commercial that presented “Mr. Peanut” as the driver of a peanut-shaped bus, inducing laughs for the audience. Doritos’ produced a celebrated commercial, pairing Chance the Rapper with the Backstreet Boys, as they declared their love for Doritos. The Olay commercial involved a masked killer that is after the Olay moisturizer. Additionally, the Hyundai commercial that was full of different comical scenarios that occur traveling down an elevator to the Hyundai dealership was a big hit. Junior Tori Jehle comments on the commercials this year: “I thought the Super Bowl commercials this year were fantastic. Probably the most interesting part of the Super Bowl. Really loved the Hyundai elevator one.”