Right now, everything is looking great for the NFL:

• There is harmony between the players' union and team owners, there are billions upon billions of dollars floating around for everyone.

• Parity is at an all-time high. Had a 4-12 season? No problem. You have a great chance to reach the postseason the following year, then the Super Bowl the next. It's happened before. It'll happen again.

• Super Bowl XLII is less than two weeks away.

• The game has become its own holiday.

Holiday? Exactly.

You have to rank the Super Bowl up there somewhere between Halloween and New Year's.

It's amazing the attention the Super Bowl receives every year. I can't begin to imagine the revenue and the shot in the arm it brings the economy.

And not just to the United States, but on an international scale as well. Super Bowl XXXIX (Super Bowl 39, three years ago) was televised in 222 countries and broadcast in 31 different languages (32 if you count Maddenese).

The Super Bowl has become its own entity, a far cry from Super Bowl I back in January 1967. It wasn't even called the Super Bowl and it definitely didn't have the Roman numeral attached to it.

It was just the AFL-NFL World Championship Game 1 — not as catchy — until what would become Super Bowl IV in 1970.

Those were humble beginnings, but look at what the Super Bowl has done since. A single solitary game to decide a professional championship.

Major League Baseball, the NHL and NBA all have a best-of-seven series. Didn't win the first game? That's OK. You still have a few more chances. It's kind of hard to get excited for that, unless it's your hometown team.

The Super Bowl puts it all out there, and the more excess, the better.

But I don't like the two-week buildup. I usually skip all the analysis and predictions leading up to the game.

The four- to five-hour pre-game? That's condensing everything about the previous two weeks. No thanks.

Give me a half-hour breakdown before kickoff and a meatball sandwich in my hand, and I'm golden.

The games have been interesting the past several years, which is good for television audiences and keeps a Super Bowl party moving.

It's even hard to pull away during the commercial breaks, which can cost a corporation about $2.3 million per 30 seconds.

Did a commercial ever keep your interest during the World Series?

The Super Bowl party definitely ranks up there with a New Year's Eve party. Family, friends, food, beverages and some pretty good entertainment.

The Super Bowl has definitely wedged itself, once in late January, but now in early February. It moves and everyone moves with it. The NFLcould decide on another bye week and push it toward the middle of February and, like clockwork, everyone will adjust.

You think the other sports leagues are a little jealous? Ask them on Feb. 3. Most of them will be home watching the Super Bowl — and most likely with a meatball sandwich in hand.