Urban Legends of the Super Bowl
posted by ModeratorFiled under: Urban Legends
From David Emery of About.com on Super Bowl Sunday urban legends, February 1, 2008:
In an LA Times article a few years back, renowned folklorist Alan Dundes ventured to explain why Super Bowl Sunday has become the focus of so many larger-than-life “urban beliefs” in the United States “” beliefs such as:
Every year on Super Bowl Sunday the water systems of major cities are in danger of collapsing because of so many simultaneous toilet flushings at half-time (FALSE).
More women are physically abused by spouses and boyfriends on Super Bowl Sunday than any other day of the year (DISPUTED).
Two-thirds of all the avocados sold yearly in the United States are purchased during the three weeks prior to the Super Bowl for making guacamole dip (EXAGGERATED).
There are more pizza deliveries made during Super Bowl Sunday than on any other day of the year (TRUE).
Disneyland becomes a veritable ghost town on the day of the Super Bowl because so many Americans are planted in front of their TV sets (FALSE).
The stock market predictably fluctuates up or down the Monday after the Super Bowl depending on which league wins (PARTLY TRUE).
Wrote Dundes: “Every culture’s legends express that culture’s values. Super Bowl legends usually involve numbers and a sense of enormity. The idea of big numbers, of being bigger than other people, is very American.”
Or maybe we’re just prone to exaggerate. Who isn’t? Read on here.
image: Sahara pizza
