The Super Bowl and Television's Physical Artifacts

Tonight was the Super Bowl... or so I've been told. Rather than glut myself on buffalo wings and their accessories, I seized the game-time opportunity to reserve an otherwise impossible-to-get table at a restaurant I've been dying to try. That restaurant is not pictured below. Rather, what you are looking at is a local deli and boutique grocer in my home state of New Jersey. Tonight's big game reminded of this bizarre micro-gallery wall I spotted there over the winter break. 

If you look closely, you'll notice not one, but two commemorative plaques over the bagel crisps. The left one displays an image of the pre-9/11 Manhattan skyline at dawn — underneath, it states "World Trade Center: United We Stand". On the right, you see: "The Catch" or "New York Giants; David Tyree, #85, WR; Super Bowl XLII; Tyree makes what many consider to be the greatest catch in Super Bowl history". The juxtaposition is simultaneously surreal and representative. Still, in imagining my home town in Northern N.J., I find these two events remain major cultural touchstones — in a way, they're being commemorated as equals. When I turned around to place my order, I noticed the Impeachment coverage on TV. Everyone was watching it. It dawned on me how TVs, in mundane spaces like delis and diners, still play an invaluable, if somewhat peculiar, role in bringing people together to witness history. These reflections might be better suited to next week's readings on TV and Screens, but the topicality of the Super Bowl made me feel like sharing this rather unusual sight. What might be the next plaque to earn a place on this wall? While I doubt it will be Trump's Impeachment, I'm certain it will be something witnessed on TV. Whatever it is, I imagine the liveness of television, and the mundanity of where its seen, will play a part in leveling its significance alongside September 11, and "The Catch"...