Super Ball Music and the Super Bowl
Wham-O introduced the Super Ball in 1965. It was a huge success as a toy, but it also inspired music... and was the reason the Super Bowl got its name. From Wikipedia:
Composer Alcides Lanza purchased several Super Balls in 1965 as toys for his son, but soon he started experimenting with the sounds that they made when rubbed along the strings of a piano. This resulted in his composition Plectros III (1971), in which he specifies that the performer should use a pair of Super Balls on sticks as mallets with which to strike and rub the strings and case of a piano.
Lamar Hunt, founder of the American Football League and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, watched his children playing with a Super Ball and then coined the term Super Bowl. He wrote a letter to NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle dated July 25, 1966: "I have kiddingly called it the 'Super Bowl,' which obviously can be improved upon." The league's franchise owners had decided on the name AFL–NFL World Championship Game, but the media immediately picked up on Hunt's Super Bowl name, which became official beginning with the third annual game in 1969.
Lamar Hunt, founder of the American Football League and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, watched his children playing with a Super Ball and then coined the term Super Bowl. He wrote a letter to NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle dated July 25, 1966: "I have kiddingly called it the 'Super Bowl,' which obviously can be improved upon." The league's franchise owners had decided on the name AFL–NFL World Championship Game, but the media immediately picked up on Hunt's Super Bowl name, which became official beginning with the third annual game in 1969.
Comments
Yes, "Super Bowl" obviously could be improved upon. There are several improved names for the Super Dome in New Orleans. Among them are the Doomed Stadium and the Coon-Astrodome.
Posted by Virtual in Carnate on 02/13/22 at 10:21 AM
I had an original Super Ball once. I had it for two days before I had the idea of following the adverts on T.V. and see how high it would bounce. It went so high I never saw it again. It may still be in some neighbors back yard. I never had another one.
Posted by KDP on 02/14/22 at 06:39 PM
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Category: Music | Sports | Toys | 1960s