Super Bowl

Are you more than ready for some football?  The two-week build up to the big game tends to inflate the importance of the event.  After hours and hours of endless analysis the players and spectators are understandably anxious for the contest to begin.  Although there have been some memorable match-ups and last-minute heroics, the game itself is often disappointing.

Super Sunday is an experience that affects both fans and non-fans alike so it provides excellent source material for Hi and Lois gags.  We have done episodes that involve Lois and Irma taking the opportunity to go shopping at the mall, attending a meeting of football widows and hosting a neighborhood party.  We have also shown Hi, Chip, Ditto and Thirsty watching the game, trying to stay awake until the end.

I was lucky to be able to attend Super Bowl XXI in 1987. The New York Giants defeated the Denver Broncos at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, 39 to 20, with Phil Simms at quarterback.  It is every fan’s fantasy to attend this epic sporting event at least once, which gave me the idea for a Hi and Lois Sunday page in 2010.

Hi and Lois Sunday page, February 7, 2010.

That was the year of Super Bowl XLIV in which the New Orleans Saints, with Drew Brees at quarterback, defeated the Indianapolis Colts, with Peyton Manning at quarterback, 31 to 17.  It was played in Miami and Chance Browne researched pictures of Sun Life Stadium to add a touch of realism to this episode.  A friend of mine worked at ESPN but did not get me tickets for the game.  Thanks Reils.

This year the Super Bowl is taking place at Met Life stadium in New Jersey, the first time the game has been played outdoors in a cold climate.  I wrote the Hi and Lois Sunday page that is scheduled to be published on February 2, 2014  a few months ago so there was no way to know what the weather was going to be.  I decided to do a sequence in which Hi dreams the worst-case scenario.

The forecast for Super Bowl XLVIII is for cloudy skies with a chance of showers and temperatures in the 40s.  Hi’s nightmare will not come to pass.  Enjoy the game!

– Brian Walker