The Super Bowl long ago became another holiday in the USA, bringing people together to enjoy the super-hyped finale to the NFL season. While families gather for Christmas and Thanksgiving, the Super Bowl gives Americans a chance to party with friends.

To gauge how highly Americans think of this event, it’s important to note that each Super Bowl is numbered by Roman numerals. In Sunday’s XLVI edition (that’s Super Bowl 46 for you non-history majors), the New England Patriots clash with the New York Giants in what is called one of the best matchups in recent memory.

The game is a rematch of Super Bowl XLII (42), when Eli Manning and the Giants spoiled the 18-0 Patriots’ quest for a perfect season. Manning threw the winning touchdown pass with 35 seconds left in the game to give Tom Brady his only loss in four Super Bowl appearances. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: U.S. Sport

The Miami Heat chose to remain in their locker room while the Dallas Mavericks celebrated their championship at mid-court before Sunday's season-opener for both teams.

Miami then came out and burned hotter than a pine forest in mid-August, building a 35-point lead in the third quarter en route to a more than comfortable opening-day win over the team that beat them in last season’s Finals. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: U.S. Sport

There is no shortage of storylines heading into the final game of the Fall Classic.

On Friday night, the Texas Rangers will either hoist their first ever World Series trophy, or the St. Louis Cardinals will triumph for the 11th time in their storied history – good enough for second most all-time. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: Baseball

After watching what was arguably the most exciting day in Major League Baseball history on Wednesday, one may come to expect more of the same drama in the upcoming playoffs. Sadly, that won’t be the case.

On the final day of the regular season, the Tampa Bay Rays and St. Louis Cardinals completed their remarkable September comebacks to claim baseball’s final two playoff spots at the expense of the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves respectively. Or you can also say the Red Sox and Braves completed their epic collapses, it really doesn’t matter. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: Baseball

Dirk Nowitzki can’t catch a break. After taking the bulk of the blame for the Mavericks’ Finals loss to the Heat in 2006, the big German produced a brilliant performance as Dallas won their first NBA championship in 2011.

Nowitzki won the Finals "Most Valuable Player" award despite battling injury problems and illness midway through the series. But despite such efforts much of the U.S. media outside of Dallas, decided the biggest story remained LeBron James’ latest failure on the big stage. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: U.S. Sport

When a reporter asked Derrick Rose last September what his personal expectations were for the upcoming season, the young Chicago Bulls point guard posed a couple of questions right back: “Why can’t I be the MVP of the league? Why can’t I be the best player in the league?”

It was an audacious response, no doubt, but Rose was not being cocky. He is known for being one of the most humble stars in the league. It seemed as if the question genuinely got Rose to ask himself – why not me?
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Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: U.S. Sport

The Green Bay Packers will clash with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in Super Bowl XLV. For those of you not familiar with Roman numerals, it will be the 45th edition of the marquee U.S. sporting event.

The Super Bowl has become so big, that a 30 second commercial spot during the upcoming game will cost $3 million. Just compare that with $40,000 per spot in the inaugural Super Bowl back in 1967.

U.S. interest is also at an all-time high. Last year’s Super Bowl surpassed the final episode of the series M*A*S*H as the most-watched U.S. TV broadcast ever, pulling in an average of 106.5 million viewers. According to futuressport.com, the global television audience for that same Super Bowl was 121 million.

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Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: U.S. Sport

LeBron James was crowned “King James” before he ever stepped foot on an NBA court. He then proceeded to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to pastures much greener than any they’d experienced in their 40-year history.

That included two of the franchise’s three division championships and their only NBA Finals appearance. But in seven seasons with the Cavs, “King James” failed to bring home a championship.

What followed has become the biggest soap opera in recent NBA memory. His much publicized divorce from the Cavs last summer changed his image from a do-no-wrong highlight reel to a vilified figure that chose to share the pressure of winning with the Heat’s Dwayne Wade.

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Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: U.S. Sport

After being utterly devastated by Hurricane Katrina back in 2005, New Orleans has rallied around its sports teams for inspiration. In fact, the NFL Saints’ Super Bowl triumph earlier this year is used as a symbol of how the city has come back from the disaster stronger than ever.

New Orleans fans have also loyally supported its only other professional sports franchise - the NBA's Hornets. But while the Saints may march on to another Super Bowl run this year, the future of the basketball operation is murky after becoming the first team in history to be owned by the NBA.

Hornets fans face the painful possibility of losing their team to another city – an all-too normal occurrence in U.S. sports. After all, the Hornets themselves moved to New Orleans from Charlotte in 2002. So how did the sale to the NBA come about?

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Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: U.S. Sport

The Fall Classic came to an end Monday night, with the San Francisco Giants defeating the Texas Rangers in five games to claim their first World Series title since 1954. The Giants not only ended a 56-year wait for baseball’s ultimate prize, but will notably bring the trophy to San Francisco for the very first time, having been based in New York for each of their previous five triumphs.

Although coming short at the final hurdle, the Texas Rangers also had a significant first this postseason as they reached their maiden World Series in team history. That’s a massive achievement for a franchise that was founded in 1961 but had never won a playoff series prior to this season. The Rangers got that monkey off their backs by ousting AL East duo Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees on the way to the finals.

In spite of the Cinderella stories put on display by both the Giants and Rangers, many baseball pundits will argue that in order to be most successful, the sport needs the big-market teams to shine come playoff time. For example, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox pull in major media attention whenever they play and assure TV networks of good viewership.

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Posted by: CNN World Sport Producer, Sam Krumov
Filed under: Baseball