Super Bowl XXXIX
Coupe of quick comments on the Super Bowl.
- From the chatter by local radio show hosts and a lot of national press people, Jacksonville was up there with the Sudan at the height of civil war and Europe during the dark ages as a fun place to be. Sure, the city was probably overwhelmed with such a huge event and I would bet the NFL will never do that again, but lighten up. I kind of feel like they are picking on Ray Ramona for not winning an Oscar for Mooseport. What did they expect? 15 thousand hotel rooms for over 100K visitors? Do the math.
- I was quick to make fun of Paul McCartney as the half time show. My first reaction was ?Is that the best they can do?? Why not get Wayne Newton, I think he is older. But I have to admit I found myself watching it and humming along. Safe and I bet the coveted 52-75 year old age group the advertisers try to target were glued in, if they stayed up that late.
- The Patriots won because they did not play as terrible as the Eagles. The Patriots did not look great, but the Eagles looked terrible. Maybe it was because of what Belichick threw at them, but something tells me it was also because they played terrible. If McNabb didn?t throw like I do in my backyard playing catch with my 3 year old, and Eagles coach Reid didn?t treat the last 6 minutes like he was WINNING the game, it might have had another outcome. But like true great teams do, the Pats did just enough to win.
- The commercials were kind of disappointing. I liked the AmeriQuest commercials, they were original and funny. The Budweiser commercial with the troops walking through the airport brought a tear to my eye, but not much else did it. GoDaddy.com was awful, and this coming from someone who flips through my wife?s copy of Fitness to look at the cute girls. Burt Reynolds should be kicked out of the SAG for that dumb commercial, and FedEx, or whatever company created that commercial, should be fined by the FCC for paying for it. And there should be a rule that no commercials that have previously aired, like the ?Easy? button one, can air during the Super Bowl. Good or bad, they should all be original.
- When Michael Douglas was doing that patriotic thing before the game, he said something about honoring those who have given all of us our freedom, and they immediately panned to Tom Brady. I thought ?Oh Jesus, are they implying that Tom Brady won World War Two?!?!? I did like the national anthem with the military academies, nice touch and great way to bring in the troops. The pregame music with the school for deaf and blind had me a little confused, and I thought showing Ray Charles singing with Alecia Keys was a little bit much, but I am cynical and surly, so you can take what I think with a grain of salt.
- Boston is treating the Patriots winning like my daughter treats me when I get home from work every day. She?s glad to see me but quickly gets back to her Barbie dolls. Maybe it?s because the Patriots winning, constantly, is expected, but it just seems like the celebration is kind of subdued. Who knows, maybe it?s just me and I am in the middle of a sports hell with a Red Sox championship sandwiched between two Patriot Super Bowl titles. Hey, if the Nicks end up in last place, my NY sports affliction will feel like a stomach virus on an airplane, stuck on the tarmac, in the middle seat, next to a goat-smelling redneck, with a 5 hour plane ride ahead, and no battery life left in my laptop, and my book left behind in my hotel room, and malaria-grade diarrhea.
- Belichick called into the Howard Stern show the morning after winning. Very surprising but I heard most of the interview. Stern ended the call by asking the coach if he and his wife had sex after the game. And Howard Stern wonder?s why more respectable personalities don?t call in.
My last comment on the Super Bowl is that despite the mediocre plays, the average commercials, the lackluster half time show, the let down of the incumbent winning, it was still a fun day and I look forward to next year.