As far as national events go, the Super Bowl eclipses all others on the American scene with its intoxicating mix of athletes, celebrities and over-the-hill rock stars. As the spectacle has become more established in the popular conscience, the focus continually shifts away from the game on field and more to the media coverage of the game and the media’s coverage of itself covering the game.

The recent hysteria regarding Super Bowl advertisements exhibits this point perfectly. And perhaps no Super Bowl ad ever has received the histrionics of the now-infamous Focus on the Family commercial featuring University of Florida standout Tim Tebow. The conservative advocacy group produced the spot, which describes Tebow’s mother’s decision to carry him to term despite the possible medical risks. The ad definitely has a somewhat overt political agenda — in support of the social conservative, pro-life movements.

The news that CBS would run the ad provoked outcry from both liberals and football fans. Liberals alleged unfairness on the part of CBS; the network refused to run a commercial criticizing former President George W. Bush in the 2004 telecast and recently decided against showing an ad for a gay dating service during this year’s Super Bowl. Football fans worried about the politicization of the game — the Super Bowl should be a day off, a way to escape contemporary issues.

These fears proved to be tremendously overblown. While the Tebow commercial does have political implications, the reality is that Roe v. Wade is settled law. The ad did not explicitly encourage any ballot initiatives or laws before Congress or state legislatures to limit a women’s choice. Though Focus on the Family is unabashedly a political-interest group, viewers could not reasonably argue from merely seeing the ad that there was a political action prescribed.

Instead, the ad focused on Tebow’s mother’s personal choice. In a sense, liberals should have nothing to be all that upset over. We all can agree that abortion is not an optimal choice for women to make. Pam Tebow happened to choose not to have one. If her personal story sways some women, liberals should accept that fact. By opposing CBS’ choice to air her story, progressives run the risk of appearing to encourage abortion.

And that appearance actually distorts the reality of the progressive position. Folks who are pro-choice don’t — or at least shouldn’t — promote abortion; they promote the right of women to have the privacy to make their own decisions. The political left should not have played into the hands of Focus on the Family and social conservatives by making the advertisement a divisive issue. Instead, the pro-choice activists would have been better served by downplaying the spot.
Pushing the envelope has always been a characteristic of Super Bowl commercials. This particular commercial does not push the envelope so much as it just pushes the typical wedge-issue buttons.

Only by responding to the provocations does the Super Bowl become politicized. In the end, nobody cares who landed the first blow — if a political firefight breaks out, both sides end up looking ridiculous. Turning the other cheek would have been smart politics and saved the game’s — and the other commercials’ — pure entertainment value.

While I disagree with CBS’ agreement to air the advertisement and the Tebows’ political agenda, the spot is hardly the end of the world. For such a harmless, sappy story, it received more attention than it deserved. In the end, the ad will probably be remembered less for its political message than for being the last occasion — unless he buys a ticket — during which we will ever see Tim Tebow in the Super Bowl.

Adam McCall is a College sophomore from Acton, Mass. He is the speaker of the Student Government Association.