There was a time when Super Bowls were like film credits. They arrived at the end, briefly celebrated talented people, and signaled that the interesting stuff was over.
The modern Super Bowl is the epic it was always advertised to be. The event marked by the silly pomposity of Roman numerals has evolved into a sleek modern entertainment vehicle, packed with plot twists, story lines, celebrities and a zillion commercials.
In the olden days, back when "press conferences'' consisted of a few sportswriters sitting around a pool interviewing a shirtless Joe Namath, the matchups were often more intriguing than the games.