The Denver Broncos have not been to the Super Bowl since 1998, back when John Elway was quarterback. The same Elway, 16 years later, is now the team’s vice president. He is also the one who was most instrumental in getting Peyton Manning to play for the team, which has propelled the Broncos into the team with the most offensive power in the NFL by many measures. Needless to say, Elway has propelled the team to another Super Bowl, in a very different manner than the first time. It is impossible to say when the Broncos will play in another Super Bowl or if Peyton Manning will get another shot at being the first person to win two Super Bowls with two different teams, but they will be playing in one on Sunday. DU should take advantage of this opportunity to host a large public viewing party on campus.
The Super Bowl is something that students and staff members from all majors and interests are likely to follow. It is one great moment when seemingly all of America comes together for one great evening to watch one great game each year. With DU’s hometown team playing this year, it will prove to be an especially memorable moment for Denver. DU should take advantage of this opportunity to host a community building event where students and staff from the many different colleges and departments on campus can interact and enjoy the game.
This has been successfully done before on a large scale for another topic of general interest: the 2012 elections. A results-watching party was organized in the Driscoll Underground, complete with large TV monitors tuned to CNN with snacks to eat and prizes to win. A similar event would definitely draw a diverse crowd: Widescreen TVs tuned to the game along with food and Broncos-themed prizes would be an event to attend. It would also provide students, who might otherwise head to a Super Bowl party complete with alcohol, an alternative place to watch the game with friends.
Although we are all a part of DU, a lot of the time the different colleges form a sort of silo effect, in which students and staff members get to know members of their own colleges well, but are fairly isolated from other colleges and people on campus. An event that attracts such broad, general interest only happens once in a blue moon. DU should seize this opportunity to provide a place for all members of the DU community, from the arts building to the physics building, to come together and watch what may be the Broncos first Super Bowl victory since most of us were toddlers.
