February 14, 2024

February 14th, 2024 Wednesday Wrap Up (V-Day, Teeter Criteria, Super Bowl Winner, The Swift Effect)

Happy Valentine’s Day
Today is Valentine’s Day and my family will be celebrating with chocolate covered strawberries–lots of them. And we’re not the only ones. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), Americans will spend a record $14.2 billion on this lovely holiday. According to this article published by the NRF, the “top gifts include candy (57%), greeting cards (40%), flowers (39%), an evening out (32%), jewelry (22%), clothing (21%) and gift cards (19%). New spending records are expected for jewelry ($6.4 billion), flowers ($2.6 billion), clothing ($3 billion) and an evening out ($4.9 billion).” How much money did you shell out this year?

Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples anymore; it’s also about celebrating with friends and family, thanks to trends like “Galentine’s Day” (celebrated on February 13th). This day is all about showing love to your friends, making it a great addition to the traditional holiday. I really like this trend because it makes Valentine’s about all kinds of love, not just romantic love. It’s a way to strengthen our connections with everyone important to us, showing that love can come in many forms and is worth celebrating, no matter what it looks like.

“Will you Bee mine?”— Hi5

What’s Your Teeter Criteria?
In the latest episode of our podcast (Episode 333: Teeter Criteria), we delve into various criteria for the teeter, including the “4 on the board,” “2 on 2 off,” and “running” or “non-stop” methods. We explore questions such as which criteria are the easiest to maintain and which provide the clearest guidance. For people interested in training tips for the teeter, we encourage you to visit the show notes page, where you will find a selection of linked resources. Listen to the Podcast here.

Who Won Our Super Bowl Contest?
As every football fan knows, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime in a very exciting Super Bowl this past Sunday. Congratulations to reader Deb B. for winning the $25 Amazon gift card for predicting the Chiefs would beat the 49ers 24-21, which was VERY CLOSE to the actual score of 25-22.

49ers fans, look away! Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift kiss after Kansas City wins the Super Bowl. [Photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images]

The Swift Effect
According to the BBC, this past Sunday’s Super Bowl was the most watched American television broadcast since the 1969 moon landing. The Kansas City Chiefs’ overtime win against the San Francisco 49ers drew an average of 123.7 million viewers across TV and streaming platforms, a 7% increase from last year’s 115.1 million viewers for the Chiefs’ victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, according to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.

Watch the crew of Good Morning America discuss the “Taylor Swift Effect” in the video below, including how she brought fathers and daughters together as pop music intersected with football:

Meanwhile, Variety reported that 20% of viewers cheered for Kansas City specifically because of Taylor Swift. Swift is currently in a highly publicized relationship with Kansas City’s star tight end (no pun intended) Travis Kelce.

I admit that Sarah and I were heavily invested emotionally in the outcome of the game, and even 13-year-old Hannah watched large parts of the game with us (she’s not a fan of the game). As Dallas Cowboys fans, we don’t typically care who wins the Super Bowl when the Cowboys aren’t playing in it (and they haven’t been there since the 1990s), but we were behind Kansas City on Sunday. We aren’t even huge Taylor Swift fans, yet she was definitely the reason behind our temporary fandom. It was a storyline that took the world by storm, in a way I haven’t seen since basketball sensation Jeremy Lin sparked Linsanity and single-handedly brought me back to NBA fandom. Taylor Swift weaved disparate groups of people into the fabric of pop culture and gave us a moment of connection and community.

Email me at team@baddogagility.com with your comments and questions, and let me know if you enjoyed the Super Bowl!

Happy Training,

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