Unless you’ve been living under a rock or cooped up in the library for the past month, you know that this Sunday is Super Bowl XXXVI. If you’ve been following the buildup this week, you know that this be-all, end-all of NFL match-ups between the St. Louis Rams and the New England Patriots isn’t exactly the sexiest Super Bowl match-up in recent memory.

At last check, the Rams were favored to win by 14 points, which has left much of the media scrambling for an angle on Sunday’s big game. I, on the other hand, knew what I had to do. Inspired by President Bush’s State of the Union address Tuesday, I felt it was my calling – nay, my duty – to add to the Super Bowl hype.

You see, in light of the events of the past six months, the Super Bowl, that colossus of American spectacles, is more important that ever. Forget the actual game – but take the points, you heard it here first – the Super Bowl is much more than a football contest. It’s a weeklong celebration of all that is American.

For starters, football has undoubtedly become America’s real pastime. Honestly, what could be more American than a bunch of overpaid, overindulgent young millionaires taking to the field of battle in a valiant attempt to end each other’s careers? It almost brings a tear to your eye.

And let’s not forget the aforementioned media feeding frenzy that is Super Bowl week. This year, the usual two-week hype party that leads up to the Super Bowl was condensed into a single week because of the events of Sept. 11, treating us all to a super-saturated version. To that end, more than 1,500 members of the media met with players and coaches during Tuesday’s media day.

Media oversaturation has become as much an American tradition as crooked politicians and apple pie. I hope you have been able to enjoy the endless line of plots, subplots and sub-subplots that reporters have managed to dredge up this week surrounding an altogether uninteresting game. I know I have.

The media overkill of the Super Bowl is in perfect step with another huge aspect of the game: its commercialization.

The Super Bowl is a spectacle of unadulterated consumerism. Hundreds of businesses have shelled out big bucks to become the “official” anything of Super Bowl XXXVI. From soft drinks to jock straps, it seems everybody wants a piece of the pie. As if that weren’t enough, plenty more corporations will shell out more than $1 million for 30 seconds of commercial airtime during this hallowed event.

Commercials have become almost as much a part of the Super Bowl as the Super Bowl, and you can count on them providing some highlights, regardless of the game. Recession? What recession? Kind of makes you want to go out and buy something, doesn’t it?

So this Sunday take some time out of petty politics. Forget about the war on terrorism for just a little while. Don’t think about getting a job or worry about that midterm coming up. Just sit back with an American beer, eat some American buffalo wings and enjoy an American spectacle.

It’s not just a game. It’s your patriotic duty.