Super Bowl 50 - Ditching The Ugly L

With all of the hype surrounding the Super Bowl, you might have noticed something noticeably different this year. Instead of the traditional Roman numeral to mark the particular year's game, the NFL has chosen to use a plain 'ol "regular" number. In this year's case, it happens to be the number 50.

I never quite got the Roman numeral thing. I guess it looks a little more sophisticated? Or perhaps the numerals are a throwback to ancient Rome in the sense that modern day football players are sometimes viewed as modern day "gladiators"? Whatever the case, I'm glad the NFL is ditching the X's and V's.

Determining which Super Bowl was played in any given year has always been pretty easy for me. The Super Bowl number has always been the same number as my age. If someone talks about Super Bowl 38, I instantly know that I was 38 years old when that game took place. Of course, if someone refers to Super Bowl 38 on paper, it becomes Super Bowl XXXVIII. This usually forces me to convert the antiquated numeral and then mentally reboot the modern number to match my age. That's a lot of wasted brain power, in my opinion.

So, what's the real reason that we're ditching the Roman numeral for this year's big game? It's actually quite simple....the NFL felt that "L" (the Roman numeral for 50) just wasn't very attractive. The creative director of the NFL (who knew?) described the "L" as being a symbol for "loser". He also mentioned that the letter L isn't very symmetrical and that it uses too much negative space. I wonder how much the NFL pays a "creative director" to come up with this stuff.

I don't quite get it. I mean, look at some the past "unattractive" Super Bowl numbers. Take the example that I used earlier, Super Bowl XXXVIII. Doesn't that sound just a little too busy? At how about Super Bowl XL? It sounds more like a shirt size. And look at Super Bowl XXX. Sounds a bit risque to me. I wonder if Jenna Jamison performed the halftime show?

The only other notable entities that use Roman numerals are the Pope and the Olympics. I can almost understand the rationale in these cases since they've both been around for thousand's (or M's) years. But the Super Bowl has only been around since 1966.

Some people criticize those of us who frown on the Roman numerals. They say that it's another example of the "dumbing down" of modern society. It don't see it all like that. Aside from being perhaps more aesthetically pleasing, what purpose do Roman numerals have in today's world? Would you write a check for the amount of XXXVIII dollars? Can you imagine writing today's date as II/VI/MMXVI??

So, while the number 50 is getting a workout in the never ending Super Bowl promotions, unfortunately, the traditional numbers will be put back on the shelf next year. The NFL will be bringing back the Roman numerals in Super Bowl 51. Oh excuse me, I meant to say Super Bowl LI. Agghhh..

kw