A less than Super Bowl was eXtremely Lame
The top American sporting event was played in Detroit last night and like many people predicted, the Steelers and the Seahawks didn’t really feel or play like championship teams. The play was sloppy, mistakes were made and the game really boiled down to who could suck the least. The super bowl has transformed over the past 10-20 years into an event more than a game. No longer is all of the focus on the game itself, but everything surrounding it. The commercials, the halftime show, thestory lines. (Did ya know that Jerome Bettis was going home to Detroit to play in the Super Bowl?) Had everything surrounding the Super Bowl been good, it might have been a good weekend, but alas, those didn’t live up to lofty expectations either.
Let’s start with the game. The Steelers won 21-10, winning their 5th franchise super bowl. But did the Steelers really look like a team that could beat last years Patriots or Tampa Bay of 2003? No. BenRothlesberger has to be one of the worst Super Bowl winning QB’s in the history of the league, topped maybe only by Trent Dilfer . His QB rating (~23) was the worst of a super bowl winning QB in the history of the game. (don’t make me explain how to calculate QB rating, cause I can’t) JeromeBettis (he’s from Detroit you know) got all the press and all the hype for possibly playing in his last game, was very much a non-factor in the game. Hines Ward was the MVP and caught his only TD pass from a widereceiver . (first time that’s ever been done) After leaving my watch site briefly, I could not think of 1 player who deserved the MVP. I hadforgotten that Ward had caught the TD pass and had a big run on a reverse but that really shows you how much the game really was uneventful. The unevent overshadowed Wards performance in my mind.
Now to the zebras. They were awful. Some horrible, horrible officiating went on in this game. It’s really a shame because officials are assigned to the super bowl based on their performance throughout the year. These are supposed to be the best officials at their respective positions and they continually flubbed calls. Take for instanceRothlesberger s TD. For one, the official came running in looking like he was marking the ball (one hand raised) and then he signaled touchdown. (two hands raised) Which is it? I for one, seeing it on replay, though Big Ben got the ball across the line, but how could that official see that he got an inch of the ball across the line at live game speed? And then, on MattHasselbecks INT when Seattle was in scoring position, Matt was called for illegal block below the waist on Ike Taylor. HE WAS MAKING A TACKLE!!! How is that a block below the waist? Overall, I thought the officiating was poor but it didn’t lose the game for Seattle but it helped a lot.
Now to the commercials. This is what average joe and jane superbowl watcher goes out to see. With billions of people watching a :30 second spot sometimes goes for upwards of 2.5 million dollars. You can watch them all here.So advertisers come out in strong force and bring their A game when the super bowl rolls around. I thought the commercials were average at best this year. Everybody’s pick this year seems to be the streaking goat in theBudweiser commercial. I really disliked this commercial, it took a part of a highly successfu l commercial (the horses playing football) and it just added a streaking goat to it. Very little originality. My favorite had to of been the secret fridge. Probably thefunniest out of all of them. The best series of commercial had to go to Ameriquest Mortgage Co. as they put on two very fu nny commercials. One where a doctor kills a fly with shock paddles and when mom and daughter walk in to visit dad in the hospital the doctor remarks, “that killed him."Ameriquest s other commercial was where the lady was trying to climb over a man in a dark airplane to use the bathroom and the airplane experiencesturbulence and she it left straddling him, with her skirt hiked up and blouse partly undone and his eye cover in his mouth looking like a gag to onlookers. Veryfu nny and very original and they teach you “not to judge to quickly.” Pepsi had an AWFUL showing this year. Their only halfway redeemable commercial was their Sierra Mist commercial. But to have thepepsi can sign on Puff Daddys record lable to make a record? And to star along side Jackie Chan in a Kung-fu movie? Pepsi has had some great commercials throughout the years, these were some of their worst ever.
Now to the halftime show. I detest the rolling stones. I really dislike their music very much. Time passed these old geezers by a long time ago and they are still out there trying to pass themselves off as rock stars. They have no new material and are still living off their success of albums from the’60’s. Of course, the Rolling Stones are playing the super bowl because of Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” in early 2004. Yes folks, it’s only been two years since that’s happens . Everybody is scared right now that if a younger artist is put out on stage, that something like that will happen again. So 60 year old grandpas wearing t-shirts big enough for teenagers and showing their mid-drifts is better entertainment? I think not.
So that’s it. Now our sporting lives shift toward basketball. Around here, the pros don’t get much play or attention. It’s all about college basketball. Baseball starts up soon, college and pro and I, for one, am glad.
Oh, and by the way, did you know that Jerome Bettis played in his first super bowl in his hometown? I really think they haven’t hammered that home enough yet. So, I just thought I’d let everybody know.
again.
The Comments
Mr. T February 6, 2006 at 6:22pm
You hate the Stones? I agree that the show was a little over the top, but they do have a lot of great music under their belt (like 35 years ago however).
But I agree with your overall take on the game. I was rooting for the Hawks though.
D.M.B. February 6, 2006 at 9:32pm
I’ve always disliked them. I don’t like their music. I think they should have hung it up a while ago. I’m sure they were a great act...30+ years ago. The prices they ask for their concerts are out of this world. and I bet other than their new album songs which probably only get one or two plays each night, the setlist is the same.