Episode 79 · February 6, 2021
Whole Bowl of Cherries
On Super Bowl Sunday, the hosts ask why football championship games are called "bowls".
“We can't pay for the rights to say Super Bowl. It's the superb owl.” (08:14)
Questions
Why is it called the Super Bowl, and why are football games called bowls? (01:04)
Our guess
Because stadiums are shaped like bowls, or because of a trophy; and the Super Bowl name came from a toy.
Because stadiums are shaped like bowls, or because of a trophy; and the Super Bowl name came from a toy.
Reveal the answer
The answer
"Bowl" comes from the Rose Bowl, the first post-season college football game, and the Yale Bowl's bowl-shaped stadium design. "Super Bowl" came from Lamar Hunt, whose daughter played with a toy called the Super Ball.
"Bowl" comes from the Rose Bowl, the first post-season college football game, and the Yale Bowl's bowl-shaped stadium design. "Super Bowl" came from Lamar Hunt, whose daughter played with a toy called the Super Ball.
Verdict right
Transcript (auto-generated)
[00:00] Do you want to hit the under Google now? [00:02] Let's do it. [00:03] Let's hit that button. [00:05] Hit the under Google button. [00:07] I think it's me. [00:09] You know what? [00:09] My mouse is screwing up, but if I've got a touchscreen, [00:14] I'll make it happen. [00:15] We've got under Google for you this week. [00:17] This one, Jason, this is coming in from Jill. [00:20] Is that right? [00:32] We do under Google rules. [00:34] That was the play of Super Excited. [00:37] We told us we had to, sir. [00:40] You said we signed up for it. [00:44] In the end, it's going to be better and more true [00:46] than Google can give you. [00:49] So in a panic moment before the pod said, hey, [00:53] we need an under Google. [00:55] And she said, which I thought was sort of an interesting [00:57] question that I had never really thought about, is why [00:59] is it called the Super Bowl? [01:01] It's Super Bowl Sunday here. [01:04] Why is the contest called a bowl? [01:06] Why are bowl games bowl games? [01:10] What's that all about? [01:11] Where does that come from? [01:13] Is it because they play them in a stadium [01:15] that's shaped like a bowl? [01:18] That's definitely my first thought. [01:20] It may be like it probably started in colleges, [01:23] which tend to have, I mean, all open air stadiums [01:28] or didn't till, you know, the past 15 years. [01:31] Because no one could afford a true stadium. [01:33] Right. [01:36] But they don't call like it the, [01:38] it's the AFC championship game. [01:40] It's not the AFC championship bowl, you know? [01:43] That's true. [01:44] Reserved for maybe the last game of the year. [01:49] Yeah. [01:50] Do you think it's because they get some sort of loving cup [01:52] or something? [01:53] There's always a bowl on top of the trophies. [01:55] Oh yeah. [01:56] Oh, okay. [01:58] Well, no, some of them are just like, [02:01] you know, just some dude, right? [02:04] Well, so the Lombardi trophy is like a football. [02:07] Or it's like a football on a pedestal kind of thing. [02:10] But maybe the original one wasn't, you know, [02:14] when it went back to the convention of naming, [02:17] like the Rose Bowl, did you win an actual bowl? [02:22] With some roses in it? [02:23] Yeah, or the Peach Bowl, did you get some peaches? [02:27] Millions of peaches. [02:29] Yeah. [02:30] And there's even stuff like so, Wazoo and U-Dub, [02:33] their rivalry is called the Apple Cup. [02:40] What's the- [02:41] They couldn't afford a bowl. [02:42] Right, right. [02:44] The Hoosiers and the Boy of the Americas [02:46] play for a bucket, you know? [02:49] They can't even- [02:49] Yeah, that's a bucket. [02:50] That's some Midwestern shit right there. [02:52] Four dishes. [02:56] I think there's an iron bowl somewhere. [02:59] Uh-huh, yeah, I think that's Alabama Auburn, maybe. [03:04] Then there's like a, what is it, [03:07] Wisconsin and Minnesota play for like Paul Bunyan's Axe [03:11] or something like that. [03:13] That seems right. [03:16] I mean, that seems like something worth playing for. [03:19] Like, if you're gonna clear some forests, [03:22] you want a big axe, so. [03:24] Sure. [03:27] Or maybe you're an environmentalist [03:29] and you don't want the axe. [03:31] Maybe. [03:33] If you could play for Paul Bunyan, that would be ideal. [03:36] You can do whatever with a giant. [03:38] It's true. [03:40] So I guess, I always hear bowls, yeah, Jason, [03:42] I think you're right, it's the last game of the year, [03:45] the college ones, they've got the blockbuster bowl. [03:50] Maybe that's not been for a while, but. [03:52] Yeah. [03:56] There probably was one of those. [03:58] They got a million bowls. [03:59] You don't have the teams in college football [04:01] or in the scissors bowl or whatever. [04:09] But it is the end of the season. [04:12] But yeah, I don't. [04:15] Maybe it's just a naming convention [04:16] that's just caught on and just because [04:19] that's what they're all called these days. [04:21] Even the new ones are called something bowl, right? [04:23] Yeah. [04:24] But it's very specific to football. [04:27] It's only football, it's like that. [04:29] Right. [04:34] I do remember reading at some point years ago [04:42] that the Super Bowl, I think, [04:43] has something to do with this Super Bowl, [04:47] like the little bouncy ball. [04:49] What? [04:50] I think that just maybe when it was a newer invention, [04:55] somebody who worked for the NFL back in those days [05:01] saw his son's toy. [05:03] I think this was the story [05:04] and then he's like, that's a Super Bowl. [05:06] And then he thought that would sound cool. [05:09] It would be a good name. [05:10] So I think that's how. [05:12] I mean, it definitely stuck. [05:13] Sure. [05:15] I think that's how that particular bowl got named. [05:19] And it makes sense, too. [05:20] It's the championship for professional football. [05:24] Yeah. [05:25] Does football have the most trophies? [05:26] Do they have the most? [05:29] Because there's no, I mean, [05:31] there's certainly trophies for NBA and MLB. [05:36] But I feel like football has lots of trophies. [05:39] Like there's lots of intercollegiate stuff [05:42] that results in, right? [05:44] Well, this is just today's people getting soft. [05:49] It's the millennials, man. [05:49] Everybody gets a trophy. [05:52] I mean, if you just won a trophy, go play football. [05:55] That's what I've always said. [05:57] Yeah, super soft sport. [05:59] Yeah. [06:02] That's right. [06:03] Well, because when you're older, [06:04] you won't be able to remember what's going on in your life. [06:07] So you just look at that trophy. [06:09] Too soon. [06:11] I mean, they play in tights. [06:12] Like, come on. [06:17] You're right, though. [06:18] It's not like, I don't feel like the college soccer, [06:22] they don't just say, okay, [06:24] you finished third in your conference [06:26] and this team finished fifth in their conference. [06:28] So you're gonna go play a single game in Hawaii. [06:31] To decide who's better, right? [06:34] Which, which. [06:35] Because it doesn't matter. [06:36] Right. [06:37] And you've already played twice this year. [06:38] Right. [06:41] I feel like this is gonna be like a real under-Google-able. [06:43] Like, we're not gonna be able [06:44] to get a very satisfying answer to this. [06:46] Hmm. [06:47] But I think I'm on board for, yeah, [06:51] it has something to do with, [06:53] I do you think it's trophies or arenas? [06:56] Those are our best guesses, right? [06:57] Or is it like, so you have other things like called [07:01] tournaments that are called cups, right? [07:03] So like the World Cup or the College Cup [07:05] or the Stanley Cup playoffs. [07:08] Which I guess that's named after the trophy, but. [07:12] So maybe like cup was like a tournament [07:14] and then bowl was like, it's a single game. [07:17] So it's the whole bowl of cherries or something. [07:21] I don't know. [07:25] I can see it, yeah, so the cups are always a tournament. [07:27] Yeah. [07:28] Or it's like, it's a series. [07:30] What do you keep all the marbles in? [07:32] Do you keep those in a bowl? [07:33] Ooh. [07:34] I think they go in a jar, don't they? [07:37] They go in a jar. [07:38] Yeah. [07:39] The super jar. [07:40] Yes. [07:44] That's why you're not marketing. [07:45] I feel like that's, maybe like in fencing [07:46] they play for a jar. [07:48] I think you're right. [07:53] If it's a series of games, then it would be a cup. [07:56] If it's a single game and it's football only. [08:00] But how many other professional sports [08:02] is not just a single game? [08:05] But the World Cup though, the finals is the final. [08:07] Well, yeah, but they have all tournament. [08:10] Yeah, I mean, but the NFL playoffs [08:12] are a tournament too, you know? [08:14] I'm stuck on this. [08:15] Yeah, but originally it was like they played in the, [08:18] it was the winner of the AFL versus the NFL. [08:21] Oh yeah, you're right. [08:22] You're right. [08:23] And that was the Super Bowl. [08:24] Or your superb owl. [08:26] Right. [08:28] Yeah, we should be saying that [08:29] because we can't pay for the rights to say Super Bowl. [08:33] They're definitely gonna come after us. [08:35] Those owls are superb, I will say. [08:38] But yeah, I think it's gonna be the trophy. [08:41] You know, it's sort of named after the trophy. [08:43] The term bowl originated from the Rose Bowl Stadium. [08:49] Side of the first post-season college football games. [08:52] Oh, okay. [08:54] Bowl shaped design from the Yale Bowl. [08:56] The prototype of many football stadiums [08:59] in the United States. [09:02] The term has since become almost anonymous [09:05] with any major American football event. [09:08] Generally collegiate football [09:09] with some significant exceptions. [09:12] The Iron Bowl is indeed Alabama Arbor. [09:16] And there's a thing called the Egg Bowl [09:18] between Mississippi State and Ole Miss. [09:22] All right, that's interesting. [09:23] My grandfather actually played in the Rose Bowl. [09:26] Whoa. [09:27] Really? [09:28] That's awesome. [09:29] Yeah, and weird footnote. [09:31] That year, the Rose Bowl was played on the East Coast. [09:36] What? [09:37] Whoa. [09:37] World War II. [09:40] Afraid to have it on the West Coast [09:42] because I thought they were afraid that their stadium [09:44] might get bombed in the middle of the game. [09:46] It was post-World Harper. [09:48] Yeah. [09:49] So they played it like Duke or something. [09:51] I can't remember where. [09:52] Interesting. [09:54] Yeah. [09:54] I did not know that. [09:57] That's pretty wild. [09:58] Cool. [09:59] Where did your grandfather go to school? [10:01] Uh, I'm gonna say Oregon. [10:04] Okay, cool. [10:07] Go Ducks. [10:08] Yeah, the 42 Rose Bowl was a Duke. [10:12] And who played? [10:16] Let's see here. [10:17] Oregon State. [10:18] Okay. [10:19] Oregon State. [10:20] And they won. [10:21] They beat the Duke Blue Devils. [10:22] So my grandfather, Rose Bowl champion. [10:25] Nice. [10:26] Well, but they played Duke. [10:27] That's weird. [10:28] Which is apparently why they had it there, huh? [10:31] I guess. [10:32] The Big Ten was like, screw this. [10:34] The war is on. [10:35] We're not playing in the Rose Bowl. [10:37] Cool. [10:38] Oh, so the whole West Coast was basically out for that one. [10:43] Yeah, it was shut down, yeah. [10:45] So I am reading that Super Bowl [10:48] does come from this dude, Lamar Hunt, [10:51] whose daughter played with a toy called the Super Ball [10:55] and it's stuck in his head. [10:57] And then by the end of 1966, [11:00] networks were referring to the day of the first game [11:03] as Super Sunday. [11:06] But that was referring to like the AFL championship game. [11:10] So we've decided that it's bowls are just, yeah, [11:14] basically like football championship games. [11:17] And that comes from college football. [11:18] From the Rose Bowl, specifically. [11:20] Right. [11:21] But then the Super Bowl is, [11:24] it's derived from Super Ball somehow. [11:28] Just a good name. [11:29] Seems to have worked out pretty well. [11:31] Yeah. [11:32] There's been LII of them, so. [11:35] It seems like a lot. [11:40] Yeah. [11:41] Well, team, let's get into the rest of our day. [11:46] But if you wanna hit us up on social media, [11:49] you can do so on Twitter. [11:50] We are at Undebeatables. [11:52] We're on Facebook.com. [11:54] Slash the Undebeatables website is theundebeatables.com. [11:57] There's a contact form there. [11:58] You can send us a message. 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