Super Tuesday In More Ways Than One

Never has the word “super” been thrown around as much as over the past week or so but at least this time around it’s being used in a correct manner. The football game Sunday night lived up to that description and the TV ratings as you might expected backed it up. More than 94 million viewers made the Giants-Patriots game the most-watched Super Bowl ever and the second biggest TV event in American history behind only the 106 million who viewed the series finale of “MASH” in 1983. 81% of all TV sets in the Boston area watched their Patriots lose while 67% on those watching TV in New York saw the Giants victory. You do have to keep in mind that the population keeps increasing and there are more TV’s then ever before so comparing numbers is sometimes misleading. The 1982 Super Bowl in which the 49ers won their first title still has the highest rating in which more than 49% of the nation’s households were watching the game. The Giants-Patriots game had a rating of just over 43%.

The award-winning Jackson Memorial High School Marching Band got an invitation Monday to play in today’s ticker-tape period in Lower Manhattan to celebrate the Giants Super Bowl victory. It’s the latest in a long list of honors for the Marching Jaguars, who will be the only New Jersey high school represented in today’s parade.

Turning to politics and today is a big day in the 2008 Presidential race. New Jersey and 21 other states will hold their primaries or caucuses and when the dust has settled we should have a better idea of who will face-off in November to occupy the White House. The general consensus is that John McCain could all but lock-up the Republican nomination with a big day as Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee battle to stay in the national spotlight. The same scenario is not expected to play out on the Democratic side but Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama can build momentum and money with big efforts even though this race probably still has a ways to go.

We have talked a lot about voter apathy but this Presidential race has seen Americans show greater interest in the primary battles than in the past and it appears more then ever that young people are getting involved and even excited. Certainly we have a more diverse group of candidates then ever before.