This past Sunday marked the best Super Bowl ever – the battle between David and Goliath, a rematch of the only two teams who cared about the last game of the season, a historic event featuring two coaches who helped lead the Giants to their latest Super Bowl victory.

It was the year that the winning quarterback happened to be the younger brother of the previous Super Bowl’s winning quarterback. The game was a bout to the very end, with few players able to make anything look easy. And how about those commercials?

According to preliminary findings by Nielsen Media Research, this Super Bowl had an audience roughly 9 percent larger than the previous one. It is very possible that it will go down as the most-watched Super Bowl of all time.

The amazing thing about every Super Bowl is how many people remain glued to their TVs for the newest commercials. This year had plenty to offer, but one stuck out as the best. Don’t cheat and go straight to the end of the column to find out.

Most would probably assume that a political columnist’s favorite commercial would be the one featuring Democratic strategist James Carville and former Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, especially since it was a Coca-Cola commercial and this columnist is extremely disheartened after four years on a campus that only serves Pepsi.

It was a great sign of bipartisanship, which is apparently the newest fad in Washington and everyone is trying to sell a knock-off version of it. Still, it was not the best commercial, though the deciders at this school ought to strongly consider switching parties and purchasing some Coca-Cola.

The NFL went as far as to advertise that it would have a great commercial. Then, in the most memorable moment of the scoreless third quarter, the mystery ad was revealed.

It was the story of two offensive linemen destined to be together in the same huddle. Seriously though, you can’t make this up. Ephraim Salaam, a left tackle for the Texans, tells how he met Chester Pitts, who was bagging groceries at the time. Salaam encouraged Pitts to try out for his college football team. Pitts did and got drafted before Salaam. Now they play beside each other. If David Tyree hadn’t caught a ball against his helmet and Eli Manning hadn’t broken tackles from the entire Patriots’ line in addition to a school bus, this commercial would have been the most memorable part of the Super Bowl.

USA Today says the best commercial of the game was one featuring a dalmation working as a trainer for a Clydesdale whose only wish is to be a part of the Budweiser carriage. The Rocky music added a nice touch of humor, but this still does not top the best commercial of the entire Super Bowl.

The best commercial of the Super Bowl was even more classic than the Budweiser Clydesdales. It was even more classic than everything Coca-Cola (which is classic in itself) put out there. The best commercial came before the game even started.

It was advertising something that few Americans grasp. The product is something everyone has heard of, but some have forgotten what it is used for.

For those who were too in-the-zone to look beyond the six different types of buffalo wings in front of them, the NFL and FOX took a few minutes to reacquaint millions of people with the Declaration of Independence.

While the Super Bowl, the commercials, and the food and drink that go along with them are all great American traditions, they pale in comparison to the ones that have guided this country since its birth.

There is little evidence to suggest that King George ever read the Declaration of Independence that was sent by the colonies. Thanks to a great commercial from the NFL and FOX, the same does not need to be said of most Americans.

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Ryan Bendinelli is a senior political science major from Millington, N.J. He can be reached at [email protected].