The Evolution of Super Bowl Sunday

Let's call the Super Bowl what it is: the newest, most popular, most passionately observed, most up-for-grabs holiday in America.

Plus there are a slew of commercials to watch — and a football game, even.

As the big day approaches and Americans are stocking up on the fixin's, it's possible to see the twin trends of our culture writ large.

On the one hand, we are a nation preparing to eat an entire day's worth of food out of bags, boxes and hollowed out rounds of bread, as if we don't even own a serving bowl. We are, in other words, guys. Eternally adolescent, belly-scratching guys, just like the ones in all those recent movies in which chic, successful young women somehow end up with them, and it's really cute (unless you're a single woman thinking, "Oh. My. God.")

On the other hand, we are also increasingly interested in new variations on the Super Bowl standards. Crème fraîche on our chili. Chipotle sauce on anything that walks through the door. This keen interest in fine ingredients makes us, demographically at least, women. Or metrosexuals. Or foodies. Or at least something that is the opposite of a belly-scratching frat guy.

Which simply means that the holiday still is evolving.

"You'll notice," said Alexa Johnson, a caterer with her master's degree in food studies, "that even when people take their (Super Bowl) food to the next level, the dishes are still very similar. Chili made with bison is totally cool. A crown roast is not. Mashed potatoes don't feel right. But homemade potato chips are fine. You can reinvent, but only up to a certain point."

Clearly, we still are figuring out exactly how to celebrate this holiday, along with what it represents. Is it still a celebration of traditional manhood like the game on the field?

If so, we would stick close to the macho/nacho nexus — which, to a certain extent, is what we're doing.

A study by the Snack Food Association found that Americans will eat 11 million pounds of chips (potato — not pita) on Sunday. A survey by Pizza.com found, perhaps unsurprisingly, that more than half of Super Bowl viewers plan to eat pizza. Over at Ask.com, the most searched recipes last week were for chili, pizza, meatballs, salsa and ribs. Not a peach smoothie among 'em.

But caterers are also reporting game-day orders for low-fat pizza, grilled chicken fingers and sushi. That's probably thanks to more women watching the game, or at least watching the commercials. (Or at least watching their husbands.)

As the holiday becomes more coed, it is morphing into a sort of second Thanksgiving. Already it is right behind, in terms of how much we eat. But unlike Thanksgiving, which is devoted to family, or Christmas, which is devoted to kids, Super Bowl Sunday is a day for friends. And in each of those groups, a decision is being made about what kind of holiday this is.

Celebrity chef Todd English is in the throes of this right now. He's a serious football fan — his granddad owned the Titans — but he will, of course, be concentrating on the food. "We do pigs in a blanket, but they're mini chorizos wrapped in croissant dough," said Mr. English. "And instead of guacamole, I do an artichoke guacamole." He also will be serving a braised short ribs chili and, for the centerpiece, a whole roast pig.

"It's a pigskin theme," he explained.

And there you have it. Respect mixed with irony. Tradition mixed with invention. Frat guy football fan meets metrosexual/woman/foodie. Super Bowl Sunday is so alive because all these primal elements are battling it out.

Sort of like football itself.

Lenore Skenazy is a columnist at The New York Sun and Advertising Age. To find out more about Lenore Skenazy (lskenazy@yahoo.com) and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.