The Super Bowl…

I’m not a real sports nut, and watch basically two football games a year, the Rose Bowl and the Super Bowl.  Perhaps that gives me a unique perspective on commenting on this mega event. So here goes:

• I thought the half time show was mediocre. They are supposed to be bigger than life (this is on a football field) but we get Madonna lip syncing and prancing around and a “World Peace” ending.  I just left me a little cold. It seems that with all the creative power they have at their fingertips, they could have come up with something better.
• Kelly Clarkson, who sang the national anthem, did a credible job, remembered all the words and the like, but sorry, I have always thought that the national anthem was a rousing march, belted out by a chorus backed up by a marching band. These singers want to turn it into a ballad to show off their beautiful voice and range.
• Like political conventions, the commentators were biased and in this case toward Boston. Tom Brady could have stepped on his shoe lace and we would hear a spiel about his selection of socks while Eli Manning could make a 15 yard run up the middle and it would be considered ho hum — just saying.
• Although they were there, in passing, I was saddened that Budweiser didn’t make more out of the Clydesdales.  The horses and the mystique surrounding them is wonderful. The ad last year with the ‘wannabe’ was a real tearjerker.
• OK, loved the fat dog (brought to you by Volkswagen, the same company that brought the junior Darth Vader commercial last year), was nonplussed by Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno, liked the Motley Crew ad, and Budweiser did redeem themselves a bit with “Weego” the dog. Clint Eastwood’s gravelly voice was striking, but I thought the message was a little weak.
• I figure that if you can’t remember the commercial the next morning, they really flopped.  Most spent over $2 million on Production and then an additional $2.5-3 million for the time slot.   That’s a lot of coin so I can forget them.
• Did you notice that a large number of the commercials used classical music in the background — everything from Beethoven’s 5th to Verdi.
• Was it Chevy that talked about it’s “German roots”.  Don’t we have engineers over here?
• Andy and I have just spent 15 minutes arguing about this: Do they compress the time between the plays by a few seconds so they can pick up that time and use it for a commercial?  If there are 100 plays and they pulled one second from between each one, they could pick up another minute and a half to sell, or squeeze another what, $4million, out of some advertiser.  It just seemed like time really flew between plays.  Maybe its just the ‘art’ of the video director.
• This game proved just how much strategy there is in football.  The Giants were on the 10 yard line, less than a minute to go, and they didn’t want to score. Somebody forget to tell the guy with the ball and he realized it at the last minute, and was unable to stop and sort of ‘rolled’ into the end zone, setting up the Patriots for a possible comeback. Sigh.
• I thought Tom Brady’s supermodel wife was stunning in her lack of grace and poise. Are you sure she isn’t related to the Kardashians?

JVH