Today is the 43rd installment of the Super Bowl, and I’m looking forward to it. I’m not a huge NFL fan and prefer college football much better, but I’ll be watching along with the millions of others for the game, the commercials and the halftime show.

Time will tell if this year’s event goes down as one of the more memorable ones, but it certainly has its work cut out for it.

There was last year’s game in which the New York Giants pulled off one of the biggest upsets of all time and prevented the New England Patriots from being the first team to go undefeated since the Miami Dolphins did so in 1972.

And then there was Super Bowl XXIII, when Joe Montana stormed down the field in a late-scoring drive to lead the San Francisco 49ers over the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16.

And let’s not forget that the Super Bowl is more than a game.

Remember the Bud Bowls that were shown in the 1980s during commercial breaks?

And what about the wardrobe malfunction a few years ago with Janet Jackson during the halftime show?

Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street Band get the honors this year.

Then there are the commercials.

Those sports fans thinking they’ll catch PETA’s controversial “Veggie Love” ad on television will have to think again. The racy pro vegetarian ad that features partially nude women with vegetables has been rejected.

According to an Associated Press article, television ads during the Super Bowl cost between $2.4 million and $3 million for each 30-second slot. It is about 20 times more expensive than the average commercial time on prime time networks this time of year, according to TNS Media.

The Super Bowl is one of those times when you don’t have to be a fan of either team to enjoy it. There’s really something for everyone, and it’s another opportunity to host a party or to hang out with a bunch of friends and eat mini cheeseburgers or handfuls of Old Dutch chips.

But I will tell you, if I could be flown anywhere in the world today, I would pick Tampa, Fla.

No, I’m not a huge fan of either the Cardinals or the Steelers, although I will probably root for Pittsburgh just because their third-string quarterback went to the same college I did.

But I am a fan of sports, and I’ve been to enough live events to know that come playoff time, the atmosphere is unlike any other.

Late last fall, I went to a Twins game at the Metrodome when they were in a very heated race for the playoffs against the White Sox. With every hit the home team smacked, the fans went crazy. That doesn’t necessarily happen during the middle of the season. Last week, I went to a Wild game, and while it was fun and exciting at times, I have a feeling the Xcel Center would have been rockin’ a whole lot more if there was a play-off berth on the line.

The Super Bowl is actually a pretty great thing.

It brings out a passion in the fans and creates an opportunity for the players and the coaches to achieve greatness. And it also entertains the other viewers who may not be into sports with the commercials and the halftime show.

This year, though, we’ll most likely have to hold the vegetables and the wardrobe malfunction.