12 BEHREND BEACON
February 12, 2010
www.thebehrendbeacon.com Sp
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106.5 million viewers tune In to watch Super Bowl XLIV
More people watched Super Bowl XLIV than any other TV program in United States history.
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Team USA gears up for the winter games in Vancouver
NICK BLAKE
sports editor
America's top winter athletes
will come together with the rest
of the world in Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada for
the 21st Winter Olympic
Games.
Team USA finished second in
total medal count in the 2006
games with 25, trailing only
Germany, who finished with 29
total medals.
Team USA features
the world's top athletes,
respective sports, in the
Snowboarder Shaun
only 23 years old, but
gold medal in Torino in
the men's half-pipe and
looking to add to his
the 2010 games
White also holds a ro
Winter X Games mec
ting him at the top of hi
Snowboarder
Bleiler is among the top
snowboarders in the
Bleiler is a 2006 game!
medalist and is extrer
orated beyond the 01
Nine World Cup met
four Winter X Games
are among her acc(
ments.
From the snow to
speed skater Apolo
Ohno has become one
of the most well-known
winter athletes of all
time.
NICK BLAKE
sports editor
In the franchise's 43rd sea
son, the New Orleans Saints
played in and won their first
Super Bowl in team history.
Not only did the Saints make
history on the field by beating
the Indianapolis Colts in Super
Bowl XLIV, they also helped
make history for American TV
viewership.
According to the Nielsen
Company TV ratings, about
106.5 million people tuned in to
watch Super Bowl XLIV.
This didn't only shatter rat
ings for Super Bowl games, it
also set the record for the most
watched TV program in U.S.
history.
Until Super Bowl XLIV, the
most watched Super Bowl was
Super Bowl XLIII between the
Pittsburgh Steelers and the Ari
zona Cardinals.
Almost 98.7 million people
watched last year's big game,
over seven million less than this
year.
The most watched TV pro
gram in U.S. history wasn't a
sporting event though, it was
the season finale of the hit
show, MASH.
MASH's season finale drew
in 106 million viewers in Febru
ary 1983. In 1983 there were
83.3 million homes with TVs.
Today there are 115 million.
NBC, ABC and CBS basically
ruled TV in that era. With lim
ited viewing options in 1983,
MASH had an extreme advan
tage, compared to TV today
in's hockey teams,
ing to trump Canada
is in the hockey rink.
women's team earned a
medal in Torino in 2006.
three-time Olympian
gar-old mother Jenny
:he women's team will
ing to make a strong
ing in the games this
and bring back an
medal to the United
On the men's side,
player on the roster
is a current NHL'er.
The 2006 team ad
vanced to the medal
round, but fell short
and left without a
medal four years ago.
Fhe U.S. World Junior
major underdog, de
tournament favorite
team 6-5 in overtime
, setting the stage for
Olympic team.
U.S. hockey followers
orts
which has hundreds of options
for viewers.
However, with the intense
media coverage and program
ming for big-event programs,
sporting events are able to
draw in millions of viewers.
Even though the advertise
ment increases every year, the
tight game and the winter
storm that hit the mid-Atlantic
certainly helped ratings.
The story of the New Orleans
Saints surely had something to
do with the spike in ratings.
Four years after Hurricane
Katrina, nobody expected the
Saints tc be in the Super Bowl.
But as the city's icon, the Saints
provided football fans with a
feel-good story that had people
tuning in.
are calling this one of the
biggest wins in U.S. hockey his
tory, right along with the 1980
"Miracle on Ice" Olympic team.
Team USA will feature
Brooks Orpik of the Pittsburgh
Penguins, Ryan Miller of the
Buffalo Sabres and Ryan Mal
one, a former Penguin and a
Pittsburgh native who currently
plays for the Tampa Bay Light
ning.
In total, Team USA will be
sending over 200 athletes to
compete in all 15 Wir ter
Olympic Games. There will be
over 2,000 athletes from 91
countries all over the world
competing to win Olympic
medals for their nations.
The Olympic Cauldron will
be lit in Vancouver on Feb. 12,
and competition will begin on
that date. The last day of com
petition will be on Feb. 28, prior
to the extinguishing of the
Olympic flame.