Super Bowl LIII pregame coverage

Super Bowl 53 got off to a great start as Gladys Knight knocked the national anthem out of the park during pregame festivities. The “Empress of Soul”, clad in a gorgeous white dress adorned with jewels around the neck, captured the audience with the first note out of her mouth. While the performance was subdued, it lost none of the power as Knight’s incredible vocals held the crowd captive.

The US Air Force Thunderbirds flew over the open roof of Mercedes-Benz Stadium as Knight held the last note, putting the cherry on top of the whole thing.

The second Patriots-Rams Super Bowl is the first between Boston and Los Angeles, and it’s impossible to have a sports matchup between these two cities without reminiscing about the Lakers and Celtics.

Those are the two premiere franchises in the history of the NBA, with the Celtics and Lakers combining for 33 of the league’s 69 championships. They have met in the NBA Finals an astonishing 12 times, in three different eras.

What a day, what a game. Team Ruff overcame a halftime deficit to take a huge lead in the third quarter. Despite a late push from Team Fluff thanks to a double touchdown by Gallagher, Ruff’s Hank was able to put the game away with a field goal with a minute left that put Team Ruff up 59-51. This ends Fluff’s two-year win streak, and Sierra should get a lot of credit for that due to her two third quarter touchdowns.

We’re all winners (especially the very good doggos), but only Team Ruff takes home the Lombarky Trophy this year.

Tim McGraw played the Super Bowl LIII kickoff show in Atlanta on Sunday in a raucous performance with one big surprise.

The concert itself took place at the NFL tailgate party in downtown Atlanta, but fans in the stadium were given the opportunity to watch live, with video of the show being broadcast into the stadium on the giant circular video boards that are a hallmark of Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

An exclusive interview with Donald Trump was shown on CBS before the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams meet in Super Bowl 53. It brought back a recent tradition of the sitting President of the United States being interviewed before the Super Bowl that was temporarily shelved when Trump turned down a request from NBC in 2018.

Trump’s discussion with CBS’s Margaret Brennan aired with segments on Face the Nation Sunday morning and prior to the Super Bowl on the pregame show.

It was a little surprising when President Donald Trump agreed to a sitdown interview before Super Bowl 53. Not because he hasn’t done that before — he did, two years ago. But because the interview aired on CBS, not Fox.

It was not at all surprising when Trump was asked for his game prediction and went with the Patriots over the Rams in the Super Bowl. Here’s what he told CBS’ Margaret Brennan:

Gladys Knight is the National Anthem singer at Super Bowl 53 in Atlanta. One of the most famous songs by Knight & the Pips came out in 1973: Midnight Train to Georgia.

The song, one of Knight’s two No. 1 hits and four top-10 hits, is on Rolling Stone’s list of greatest songs of all time. It’s fitting that she has the anthem for Georgia’s Super Bowl.

The sixth edition of the unbelievably cute Kitten Bowl takes place at 2pm ET this Sunday afternoon on the Hallmark Channel. Beth Stern, the North Shore Animal League America National Spokesperson, hosts the event that features oodles of adopted/adoptable kittens playing something football-adjacent.

Kitten Bowl VI will throw 36 fur-ocious (not sorry) on to one of four teams:

Everyone is getting more and more excited for Sunday’s Super Bowl where the Patriots and Rams will square off as Los Angeles attempts to keep New England’s Evil Empire at bay for another year. That’s all fine and good, but I’m most excited for the pregame festivities. The “Empress of Soul” Gladys Knight is going to belt out the national anthem before the game, and here are three reasons to get as excited as I am:

Don’t know if you’ve heard, but the Super Bowl is in Atlanta this year. Gladys Knight? She was born and raised in Atlanta. Knight becomes the seventh artist to perform the anthem in or near their hometown, joining Al Hirt (New Orleans, LA, SBIV), Aaron Neville (New Orleans, LA, SBNXXIV), Diana Ross (Pontiac, MI, SBXVI), Beyoncé (Houston, TX, SBXXXVIII), Aretha Franklin (Detroit, MI, SBXL), and Jordin Sparks (Phoenix, AZ, SBXLII).

The Rams and Patriots don’t kick off Super Bowl LIII until just after 6:30 p.m. ET, but that is just the culmination of a very busy Sunday of programming in and around the biggest sports day of the year.

CBS will telecast the Super Bowl this year, the 20th time the network has televised the event, more than any other network. The game broadcast that starts at 6 p.m. will feature Jim Nantz and Tony Romo calling the action, but things start up on CBS a full 6½ hours earlier.

One of the more popular prop bets each year is the time of the National Anthem. Gladys Knight will be singing the Anthem before Super Bowl 53, and you can bet on whether she will sing it longer or shorter than 1 minute, 50 seconds.

The over is currently getting more money, and that has resulted in a sizable swing. When the line is first dropped, usually the odds are even on both sides. It changes over the course of the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, and this year is no different. Heading into game day, BetOnline has the over a sizable favorite at -190 (bet $190 to win $100). The under is sitting at +145 (bet $100 to win $145).