Superbowl 101 The Superbowl doesn't have the history of the FA Cup, nowhere near but the anticipation and excitement that greets it reminds me of the glory days of the FA Cup, when on final day the whole country stopped and watched the thrills unfold on television.

The Superbowl came about when two rival leagues the National Football League (NFL) and its younger rival, the American Football League(AFL) agreed for it's two champions to play in a grand final, initially called the 'AFL-NFL World Championship Game.' The world wasn't of course invited but never let that get in the way of American sport.

The first ever game was in 1967 and won by Green Bay Packers. In 1970 the leagues merged and the 26 teams formed two conferences named the American Football Conference (AFC), and the National Football Conference (NFC). Since then, the Super Bowl has featured the champions of the AFC and NFC, which are determined each season by the league's playoff tournament.

The winners lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after the the coach of the Green Bay Packers, who won the first two Super Bowl games. Following his death in September 1970, the trophy was named the Vince Lombardi Trophy (right).

The Superbowl is one of the most watched television programmes of the year, with an estimated 130-140 million people tuning into some part of the game and it goes without saying that food and 'lite' beer consumption is off the richter scale.

It is no surprise then that advertising is at a premium. In 1984 Apple ran an advert during the game introducing it's new Macintosh computer and since then the ads have been a premier showcase for extravagantly expensive commercials. The Budweiser campaign is one of the most anticipated and believe it or not some people only tune in for the commercials! The cost of a 30-second spot? $2.5 million.

I mean forget the game because there is the half-time show too. Prince headlines this year, lets hope he doesn't show us his nipples like Janet Jackson did in 2004.

Cities compete to host the big day and there is certain criteria that has to be reached, such as size of stadium, hotel room capacity, media facilities, exhibit space etc, although one aspect can not be manufactured - the weather. The host city needs to guarantee 50F weather, a reason why nearly all of them are held in the south of the country although last year's game took place under cover in Detroit.

The unique way American sport is organised with salary caps and the drafting system means that only 6 of the 32 professional teams have never reached a Superbowl final, two of whom were only formed within the last 10 years. The Dallas Cowboys have participated in the most, 8.

The Bears have beed designated the 'home team' in Superbowl XLI. The home team alternates every with the NFC representative serving as the home team in odd-numbered years and the away team in even-numbered years. All pro teams have a home, away and a white 'uniform' and the 'home team' get to choose their colours and the Bears have decided to wear their blue jerseys. Go Bears!  ¶ 11:49