MAKING THE BIG GAME

On January 23, 2008, my wife casually announced at our dinner table in California that her long time employer was a New York Giants season ticket holder. He would be unable to take advantage of an opportunity to attend Super Bowl XLII. Ten frantic days later, I would become an "accidental spectator" at one of the most anticipated, stunning, and historic games in the annals of championship sports.

With the timely cross country assistance of a relative, we navigated the NFL Super Bowl ticket lottery process – a system that remarkably manages to keep coveted seats relatively accessible to loyal fans. While hunting down an elusive third ticket to the Big Game, I stumbled into the shady underworld of internet fraud. I tracked the ruthless real time auction conducted through the mostly legitimate, but less than transparent, resale market.

I found emotional buyers and calculating sellers converging to form a microcosm of the ailing American Dream. I discovered generational legacies in the stands and strange coincidences on the field. Making the Big Game examines the deep-seated and near spiritual roots of our national passion for sport and spectacle through the increasingly sophisticated lens of the spectator.