So, how'd you like that game last night? (I know, I know, in the blogosphere it might as well have been weeks ago, but I had some stuff to do today, okay?) I thought the game was fine, nothing special, great if you're a Colts fan, lousy if you're a Bears fan, and reasonably suspenseful, in the sense that you wondered whether the scoreboard would ever reflect what a real blowout the game actually was. For the record, my nine-year old predicted a 28-17 Indianapolis victory. Vegas, baby, Vegas!
I guess I am happy for Tony Dungy, hard not to cheer for a guy like him. Peyton Manning certainly earned his place in history, especially on several throws where he had to absorb a defensive hit as he delivered the pass. The Colts' running game and defense were even more impressive, muscling the supposedly more physical Bears. And they wisely kicked away from Devin Hester after he returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Bears' QB Rex Grossman might have been more dangerous than Hester ... to his own team. Take note, Rexy: Trent Dilfer played a pretty decent game against the Giants when the Ravens won the Sper Bowl, and found himself off the roster over the summer.
For my Baltimore-bred friends and neighbors, of course, it was painful to watch the Colts bring a championship to Indianapolis. "Get over it," you might say, but once you hear some of the tales of middle-aged men pining for lost youthful dreams, you can respect the sentiment a little better. I won't embarrass them by repeating the stories, but just as having a team to cheer for and suffer with as you grow into adulthood allows you to become more rational as a fan, having your team ripped away can keep you stuck in the emotional jungle of a twelve-year old. Baltimore Sun columnist Peter Schmuck tried to give some soothing perspective today, but it doesn't sound like many of the old Colts are any happier than their fans.
The Bears certainly had their chances but couldn't capitalize enough on Indy's early turnovers. Losing running back Cedric Benson didn't help, but they just got pounded into the turf by the Colts' running game in the second half. And when it was time for Grossman to make a play, he got sacked, fumbled, tripped and threw a couple really bad interceptions. I'm not sure what the future holds for the young QB, but maybe he could take the Kevin Federline role in next year's Nationwide commercial.
Speaking of the commercials, the Bud Light ax-wielding hitchhiker got the only big laugh in the room where I was watching. K-Fed was alright, but overhyped (Wow? Really? Gotta be a first for that guy, right?), and Oprah and Dave was very clever. The Snickers ad brought an awkward silence and then puzzlement as the actors did something "manly" by ripping out their chest hair. Okaaay ... And a big boo to Career Builders for abandoning the monkeys in the office for the savage office environment. It was an original concept, as was whatever that was Robert Goulet did for the nut company, but it just didn't quite make it for me. None of these commercials came close to Terry Tate, Office Linebacker, let alone, "Thanks, Mean Joe."
The on-field pregame show certainly was festive and very Miami, I guess, but the feeling I got was more of a watered-down Olympics opening ceremony from a European nation, sort of like when a Hollywood studio remakes a foreign film like "La Femme Nikita" or "La Cage Aux Folles." And now I challenge you to find another Super Bowl review that references those two films. Billy Joel did a very nice, straight-up National Anthem, but do you think Marlee Matlin ever gets tired of being the only deaf celebrity? Seriously, I think this is a real niche growth industry. Prince put on a good show at halftime, live or Memorex. And Jehovah's Witness or not, he still worked in some phallic imagery playing the guitar in silhouette.
So let's see, Billy Joel, Prince, lopsided football game ... are you sure we didn't somehow journey back to the 1980's yesterday?
Showing posts with label Super Bowl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Super Bowl. Show all posts
Monday, February 05, 2007
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Super Marketing
Okay, after yesterday's post, I'm sure everybody is ready to lighten up a bit. I know I am. So, big game this weekend, but as Duane Thomas said, "If it's such a big game, why do they play it every year?"
When did the Super Bowl become such a major megacelebration? As usual, I am way behind on this one. When I was in college, twenty years ago. I worked in the office responsible for the fundraising phonathons for the Athletic Department, the ones that you've screened and dodged ever since you got Caller ID. Sunday nights were always considered great for catching people at home, but my boss made sure that we didn't schedule anything for Super Bowl Sunday. I remember wondering what the big deal was.
I think that was the same year the Giants beat the Broncos (maybe the greatest New York sports year, evah, with the Mets winning the World Series and the Islanders beating the Caps in a four-overtime playoff game). One of my roommates was actually angry at me when I told him I hadn't watched the game. Actually, I did watch it, I just wanted to annoy him, but I was taken aback by his vehement reaction.
This was two years after Apple's "1984" commercial for its new Macintosh computer, which most experts and blowhards point to as the beginning of the rise of the Super Bowl commercial era. In 1986, Refrigerator Perry used his Super Bowl fame to become the Peyton Manning of his time, appearing in a multitude of national TV spots. And in 1988, a reporter at Media Day asked one of the Denver Broncos, "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?" All of these nuggets apparently combined into a large boulder that began rolling downhill, and we have all fled its path of destruction, heading straight for the nachos and chicken wing platters.
So who do you like this weekend, Colts or Bears? Good guys in white hats or black-helmed Monsters of the Midway? All-American, milk-drinking, commercial-filming Super Manning or the antihero, Gross Man? The coach with the ordinary first name and funny last name, or the one with the funny first name and ordinary last name? (Have I mentioned that both coaches are black? Apparently, that's required by Internet publishing law. Great article this week about how that same circumstance went virtually unnoticed when Al Attles' Golden State Warriors swept K.C. Jones' Washington Bullets in 1975). Anyway, like I was saying, dome-stadium, offensive juggernaut or snowy, bare-armed, hard-knock defense?
Me, I'm going with the Bears. The Colts are favored, always a reason to pick against them. After living here for 12 years, some of the Baltimorean hatred of the Team That Left in the Middle of the Night has rubbed off on me. There's not much else to hate about Indianapolis, really, but it is my least favorite American -polis, well behind Minneapolis, MN, and Coraopolis, PA, home of the fabulous Knotty Pine Diner. The rest of Indy is similarly unoffensive - the Indy 500, the NCAA headquarters, ummm, that's it, right?
But, what's not to love about the Bears? The defense, the tradition, Papa Bear Halas, "Brian's Song" (always the original, never, ever, ever the remake), Da Bears, Urlacher (even the name is right out of central casting). And of course, "The Super Bowl Shuffle." There are so many versions of this beautifully awful classic available online that I'm not even going to bother posting a link. Not one, but two Saturday Night Live spoofs. The rapping and dancing of the all-star cast of Jim McMahon, Walter Payton, Mike Singletary, et. al., has held up just horribly over time. I could watch it again and again.
Alright, in case I forget: Bears 23, Colts 17.
When did the Super Bowl become such a major megacelebration? As usual, I am way behind on this one. When I was in college, twenty years ago. I worked in the office responsible for the fundraising phonathons for the Athletic Department, the ones that you've screened and dodged ever since you got Caller ID. Sunday nights were always considered great for catching people at home, but my boss made sure that we didn't schedule anything for Super Bowl Sunday. I remember wondering what the big deal was.
I think that was the same year the Giants beat the Broncos (maybe the greatest New York sports year, evah, with the Mets winning the World Series and the Islanders beating the Caps in a four-overtime playoff game). One of my roommates was actually angry at me when I told him I hadn't watched the game. Actually, I did watch it, I just wanted to annoy him, but I was taken aback by his vehement reaction.
This was two years after Apple's "1984" commercial for its new Macintosh computer, which most experts and blowhards point to as the beginning of the rise of the Super Bowl commercial era. In 1986, Refrigerator Perry used his Super Bowl fame to become the Peyton Manning of his time, appearing in a multitude of national TV spots. And in 1988, a reporter at Media Day asked one of the Denver Broncos, "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?" All of these nuggets apparently combined into a large boulder that began rolling downhill, and we have all fled its path of destruction, heading straight for the nachos and chicken wing platters.
So who do you like this weekend, Colts or Bears? Good guys in white hats or black-helmed Monsters of the Midway? All-American, milk-drinking, commercial-filming Super Manning or the antihero, Gross Man? The coach with the ordinary first name and funny last name, or the one with the funny first name and ordinary last name? (Have I mentioned that both coaches are black? Apparently, that's required by Internet publishing law. Great article this week about how that same circumstance went virtually unnoticed when Al Attles' Golden State Warriors swept K.C. Jones' Washington Bullets in 1975). Anyway, like I was saying, dome-stadium, offensive juggernaut or snowy, bare-armed, hard-knock defense?
Me, I'm going with the Bears. The Colts are favored, always a reason to pick against them. After living here for 12 years, some of the Baltimorean hatred of the Team That Left in the Middle of the Night has rubbed off on me. There's not much else to hate about Indianapolis, really, but it is my least favorite American -polis, well behind Minneapolis, MN, and Coraopolis, PA, home of the fabulous Knotty Pine Diner. The rest of Indy is similarly unoffensive - the Indy 500, the NCAA headquarters, ummm, that's it, right?
But, what's not to love about the Bears? The defense, the tradition, Papa Bear Halas, "Brian's Song" (always the original, never, ever, ever the remake), Da Bears, Urlacher (even the name is right out of central casting). And of course, "The Super Bowl Shuffle." There are so many versions of this beautifully awful classic available online that I'm not even going to bother posting a link. Not one, but two Saturday Night Live spoofs. The rapping and dancing of the all-star cast of Jim McMahon, Walter Payton, Mike Singletary, et. al., has held up just horribly over time. I could watch it again and again.
Alright, in case I forget: Bears 23, Colts 17.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Playoff Pleather
Oh, what a weekend! If I were a radio talk show host, I would say that I don't know if we are going to have time to cover everything that happened. Especially when you throw in the two-hour, one inch of snow, school delay this morning.
Let's start with the NFL. For a while in the first game, I thought I was watching a snowy rerun of the Ravens-Colts game the week before. Then I guess somebody told the teams they were allowed to score touchdowns, and the Bears listened a little better than the Saints. Pretty impressive watching Chicago run Thomas Jones eight straight times for the first TD of the day late in the first half, but equally impressive seeing Drew Brees march his team right back down the field to answer.
Reggie Bush strutted his stuff just a little too much for my liking when he turned to taunt the Bears' defense at the end of his fabulous 88-yard touchdown catch and run in the beginning of the third. And his flip into the end zone reminded me of the showy Superman TD dive he took just over a year ago against Texas in the Rose Bowl. His opponent got the last laugh in that game and this one as well.
The Saints wisely stacked their defense against the run in the second half and Chicago QB Rex Grossman failed to take advantage, going two-for-eight, until he caught fire late in the third period and completed four straight to put the Bears in the end zone and up by nine. The defense took over from there, forcing a fumble, an interception and two turnovers on downs. Thus endeth the Saints' magical journey.
Game Two gave CBS announcer Jim Nantz almost more drama than he could handle. I won't rehash the details, but when Peyton Manning broke the huddle to start the Colts' final drive, Nantz intoned, "This drive could change Peyton Manning's life," as if we hadn't been listening to the proclamations of every other pigskinhead for the last two weeks. Not much to say about Manning other than he rallied his team to the biggest comeback in playoff history and delivered in the clutch.
So the games were fun even if they didn't exactly stick to Hollywood studio scripts. The Saints couldn't continue to heal their battered and abandoned hometown, and the winning Colts' score wasn't Manning's or Adam Vinatieri's but Joseph Addai's. For me the greatest drama was whether Bill Belichik's trademark cutoff sweatshrt would survive. The way he kept clutching at the collar, I thought he was going to rip it right down the middle (okay, substitute hoped for thought, to make that last sentence more accurate).
So, who's ready for two weeks of mind-numbing Super Bowl overcoverage? As I wrote earlier, we got a dusting of snow yesterday and more is supposed to be on the way later in the week, which sets up two of my most hated media phenomena: local news team snow hype and Super Bowl mania.
The matchup is almost perfect for the media machines. The white-hatted heroes led by their heroic quarterback versus one of the most venerable franchises in NFL history, personified by the All-Pro middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. Seriously, what's the over-under on Dick Butkus references for the next two weeks, about a billion? Which is also the number of emails Bill Simmons is going to receive this week.
Next up, college basketball, including this week's Top 10 Poll.
Let's start with the NFL. For a while in the first game, I thought I was watching a snowy rerun of the Ravens-Colts game the week before. Then I guess somebody told the teams they were allowed to score touchdowns, and the Bears listened a little better than the Saints. Pretty impressive watching Chicago run Thomas Jones eight straight times for the first TD of the day late in the first half, but equally impressive seeing Drew Brees march his team right back down the field to answer.
Reggie Bush strutted his stuff just a little too much for my liking when he turned to taunt the Bears' defense at the end of his fabulous 88-yard touchdown catch and run in the beginning of the third. And his flip into the end zone reminded me of the showy Superman TD dive he took just over a year ago against Texas in the Rose Bowl. His opponent got the last laugh in that game and this one as well.
The Saints wisely stacked their defense against the run in the second half and Chicago QB Rex Grossman failed to take advantage, going two-for-eight, until he caught fire late in the third period and completed four straight to put the Bears in the end zone and up by nine. The defense took over from there, forcing a fumble, an interception and two turnovers on downs. Thus endeth the Saints' magical journey.
Game Two gave CBS announcer Jim Nantz almost more drama than he could handle. I won't rehash the details, but when Peyton Manning broke the huddle to start the Colts' final drive, Nantz intoned, "This drive could change Peyton Manning's life," as if we hadn't been listening to the proclamations of every other pigskinhead for the last two weeks. Not much to say about Manning other than he rallied his team to the biggest comeback in playoff history and delivered in the clutch.
So the games were fun even if they didn't exactly stick to Hollywood studio scripts. The Saints couldn't continue to heal their battered and abandoned hometown, and the winning Colts' score wasn't Manning's or Adam Vinatieri's but Joseph Addai's. For me the greatest drama was whether Bill Belichik's trademark cutoff sweatshrt would survive. The way he kept clutching at the collar, I thought he was going to rip it right down the middle (okay, substitute hoped for thought, to make that last sentence more accurate).
So, who's ready for two weeks of mind-numbing Super Bowl overcoverage? As I wrote earlier, we got a dusting of snow yesterday and more is supposed to be on the way later in the week, which sets up two of my most hated media phenomena: local news team snow hype and Super Bowl mania.
The matchup is almost perfect for the media machines. The white-hatted heroes led by their heroic quarterback versus one of the most venerable franchises in NFL history, personified by the All-Pro middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. Seriously, what's the over-under on Dick Butkus references for the next two weeks, about a billion? Which is also the number of emails Bill Simmons is going to receive this week.
Next up, college basketball, including this week's Top 10 Poll.
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