SC Rewind: Super Bowl

In the current edition of 'Rewind' Robert Smith recalls a great horse of the past named Super Bowl. The timing of this subject is not too difficult to figure out as we prepare this weekend to observe the great American sporting event known as The Super Bowl.

Both the great horse named Super Bowl and the famous annual football clash of the titans came along at nearly the same time a half century ago.

The great trotting star Super Bowl shown in a warmup mile for driver Stanley Dancer (Hoof Beats photo)

This weekend marks the highlight of the winter sport's season as Super Bowl Sunday is upon us and occupies a lot of people's time and energy. It is a pretty big deal especially in the U.S. where people take their football rather seriously as illustrated in a short "story" shown at the bottom of today's Rewind.

A panoramic view of the famous Los Angeles Coliseum as the first ever Super Bowl was being played in 1967.

The first ever Super Bowl football game was played on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Coliseum. It was contested between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Green Bay Packers and drew a crowd that was about 50 people short of 62,000; far from a sold out gathering in a 93,000 seat stadium. While the term "Super Bowl" was used, it was really not yet in vogue. It was not until the third annual game was played in 1969 that the actual trademark name "Super Bowl" was officially used. Prior to this, the game was the "AFL- NFL World Championship" game. As time has passed by and the 55th annual Classic is about to be played, the Super Bowl tag I believe is generally assumed as dating back to its inception.

Time has a way of altering history but those who recall the first ever Super Bowl game remember that it was not exactly a great day in football history. Writers of the time were not excited at all nor were many of the fans and one story that remains from that day was titled The Super Bowl No One Cared About. It is hard to imagine that it drew so little attention and remains as the only Super Bowl in history not to be sold out. The most expensive ticket on that historic day sold for a paltry $12. It seems that virtually no one foresaw the game becoming a fixture in modern American culture.

Note - Just in case you don't have the final scores of all past Super Bowl contests memorized, Green Bay won the inaugural 35 - 10 over Kansas City.

An action shot from the first ever Super Bowl way back in 1967 showing Kansas City on offense. The general look of football players has evolved quite a bit over the years.

In the spring of 1969, along came another "Super Bowl". This one was a member of the equine group; a beautiful trotting colt representing a totally different sport.

Super Bowl is seen here on Hambletonian Day 1972 at DuQuoin, Illinois in rein to his trainer Stanley Dancer of New Egypt, New Jersey. (Photo courtesy of Hambletonian Society)

He was foaled at Stoner Creek Stud Farm in Kentucky, sired by Stars Pride and out of Pillow Talk, a daughter of Rodney. While future greatness of a horse is never easily or accurately predicted, by all accounts Super Bowl arrived without a lot of hype or advance billing. While his sire and dam were both royally-bred this fellow originally escaped the limelight. Things would change.

As fate would have it the great horseman Stanley Dancer spotted Super Bowl as a yearling at Stoner Creek Farm in 1970 and liked him from the start. The already famous Dancer had trained this colt's full brother a couple of years earlier without success but the two bore little resemblance to each other. About the latest "find", Dancer said "I just fell in love with Super Bowl" and purchased him for the bargain price of just $20,000. His owners were listed as Mrs. Rachel Dancer, Stanley's wife and Rose Hild Breeding Farm which was owned by Hilda Silverstein.

While many people dream of owning at least one great horse in a lifetime, the Dancer name was associated with many. As an example Rachel Dancer was involved with the ownership of three Hambletonian winners as well as a like number of horses that won The Little Brown Jug. An impressive accomplishment indeed.

Early in his training the youngster was not as impressive as a couple of others in the Dancer barn and Stanley's brother Vernon was more likely to be seen sitting behind him. After a lacklustre start to the season which even saw him turned out for a short time, this soon changed as the racing season progressed. By August the two-year-old Super Bowl was virtually unbeatable. He closed out his freshman season at the head of his class winning 15 of 23 starts. Despite this being 50 years ago the horses at the head of their class were able to rack up some impressive money figures. As a two-year-old Super Bowl ended the season with a bankroll of nearly $165,000.

At three the colt truly became "Super" and went on to win 23 of his 28 starts (eighteen consecutive) and in the process swept the Triple Crown. His performance in that year's Hambletonian was nothing short of spectacular (described below) as he trotted faster than any horse of his age and gait had ever done before. "He was absolutely safe to drive," recalled Dancer. "Anyone could have driven him. He was never rough-gaited. He was big-gaited, and I used a big sulky on him, but he never hit anywhere." In 1972 he won just about every possible honour including trotter with most wins for the season - 23.

Super Bowl retired at the end of his three-year-old campaign. His winning percentage was phenomenal and in just two years on the track he retired to stud duty with lifetime earnings of just over $600,000. He went on to establish world class status in virtually every category as a sire. Not all horses that end up with famous names fulfill all of their lofty expectations but Super Bowl did it ALL.

Super Bowl trots in 1:56.2 to win the 1972 Hambletonian. Interesting to note that Stanley Dancer removed his helmet as he returned to the winner's circle following the record setting performance shown in the background (Hambletonian Society photo)

Hambletonian Day - August 30, 1972 - DuQuoin, Illinois

The 1972 Hambletonian had a "Football" theme to it as the winner in two straight heats was the amazing Stars Pride colt Super Bowl. Facing an unusually small field especially by Hambo standards, the bay colt was a two-heat winner over his seven rivals. In the process he established a pile of records. Finishing second and individually timed in record time of 1:57 was the great filly and later world class mare Delmonica Hanover for Delvin Miller.

That day Super Bowl trotted in 1:57.2 and back in 1:56.2 to set a Hambletonian record, a world record for three-year-old trotters and also for a two-heat race. It was a performance the likes of which no one had ever seen before.

The proud connections of Super Bowl celebrate their Hambletonian win at DuQuoin. Far left are Rachel Dancer and Hilda Silverstein co-owners, caretaker John Barker (in dark shirt). Driver Stanley Dancer holds Super Bowl while Mr. Hayes (in white shirt) joins in. (Hambletonian Society photo)

Super Bowl died and was buried at Hanover Shoe Farms on October 2, 1999. He was 30.

Wedding Bells

On the eve of the 1972 Hambletonian John Barker who was Super Bowl's caretaker was wed to his bride Peggy (no last name avail). The ceremony was held on the stage next to the race track in front of the grandstand. The bride, who was a caretaker in the stable of Billy Haughton, was "given away" by Haughton. In an equally fitting gesture, Stanley Dancer stood up for Barker. In later years Barker became the track superintendent at Delaware, Ohio, home of The Little Brown Jug.

A Little Super Bowl Football Story

Several ago we were in Florida and attending Church on Super Bowl Sunday morning. A joke which I found kind of funny (I'm not a real "joke" person) was told from the pulpit so I suspect I will not offend too many by repeating here today. It goes this way....

A real die hard football fan decided that he would love to see the Super Bowl live, regardless of the cost. He inquired about purchasing a ticket and found out that only a few were left and that they were in "nosebleed" territory, in other words a long way from the action. Despite this, he decided to splurge and attend the game anyway.

Once in the stadium and seated, he couldn't believe how far from the field he was located. He could barely see the players, and if it were not for his trusty binoculars, he wouldn't have been able to see a thing.

During the first half he scanned the entire field, hoping to see an empty seat; anything would be better than what he had. Finally he found one, and it was in the very front row and right at the 50 yard line! During the break he took a walk, thinking that just maybe he could get to sit there, if only for a few brief moments.

An elderly man was sitting in the seat next to the vacant one and as soon as he saw the inquisitive fellow looking at the empty chair he invited him to sit down. The older man said that he and his wife had season's tickets and had never missed a game at this stadium in nearly 50 years. However this marked a sombre occasion as his wife had just passed away and he was attending his first game alone. He looked so sad.

After hearing the rather touching story, the younger man was a bit puzzled and said "Why wouldn't you have invited one of your friends to join you? I'm sure they would love to be here."

"OH no," he said, "they're all at the funeral today."

Quote For The Week: "When you put your best foot forward you can leave with your head held high."

Who Is It? - Football

Can you name this famous player forever associated with the first Super Bowl?

Who Else Is It? - Football

Do you recognize this famed football announcer and former star player who was part of the broadcast team at the first Super Bowl game ever played?

What Was It? - Harness Racing / Football

Can you name the title of the parade shown here and maybe what city it was in? (Hoof Beats photo)

Who Else Is It? - Harness Racing

Can you correctly identify the person pictured above? Love that smile! (Pompano Park archives)

Stay tuned as the correct answers are given during the upcoming week.