Super Bowl wrap-up

Wow what a game! For two years in a row, the NFL Championship actually managed to live up to it's overwhelming hype, something that's happened about five times in 43 years (and twice in the four times the game has been played in Tampa). This, from a match-up between teams that if it had been a regular season Monday night game, would have inspired very few people outside of Pennsylvania and Arizona to stay up late.
Since I wrote exclusively about the madness going on around town leading up to The Big Day...and since I didn't leave the confines of my apartment yesterday (which I may not have been able to do anyway, since I live less than two miles from the stadium)...today I'm going to give my opinion on the presentation of the game itself as seen on my television.

• When I found out that there would be at least one commercial in 3-D and I wouldn't be able to get glasses (see above), I briefly considered not watching the game.
• Since I live directly due north of the stadium, it's always fun to watch the military flyovers right before the game starts. With the delay, at about the time you see the jets flying over the stadium on tv, they're actually flying over my house. Plus, it freaks the cats out, which is always good.
• I think the era of the really clever and innovative Super Bowl ad might be over. Honestly, when was the last time we saw one that was really good? Bud-Weis-Er Frogs, anyone?This year, there were a few that were funny but not all that special. And I'm getting really tired of Danica Patrick ho'ing herself out for GoDaddy.com.
• Exactly how stupid does NBC think the audience is? Several times it was announced that the half time show...excuse me, the Bridgestone Half Time Show featuring Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band! would be coming up at half time.
• I think it's finally time for John Madden to at least consider retirement. Regarding the incredible 100 yard interception return by the Steelers James Harrison that concluded the half, Madden said, "James Harrison runs like James Brown!" What in the hell does that mean?!? Was he saying that Harrison's running evoked memories of the amazing dance moves by The Godfather of Soul? Or was he saying that Soul Brother Number One was renowned for his Olympic caliber sprint times? Neither one makes sense. Hey John, we know your whole schtick is being blustery and emphatic but the words you use to express yourself are still supposed to make some kind of sense, ok?!?
• Speaking of that half time show, people seemed to either love it or hate it. Personally, I'm not the world's biggest Springsteen fan, but I thought it was pretty good. Definitely better than last year's show with Tom Petty, and I am a Petty fan. Plenty of energy and the band sounded good. What do you want from a football half time show? Let's say that the scale you use to measure the quality of the show starts with Up With People and works up to the FAMU Marching 100, it would look like this:

Then I would rank The Boss's performance about here: Of course, it should be noted that the REAL scale still looks like this (just sayin'):

• But as a friend pointed out, why do so many artists think a big production always needs a gospel choir? And is there some kind of law that requires any group of five or more African Americans who want to get together and sing to don choir robes? Unnecessary and cheesy.
• I tend to root for underdogs in any contest where one of my teams isn't playing, so I was kind of disappointed that the Cardinals lost. As a Rays, Lightning and Bucs fan (three teams that were considered to have no chance of ever winning anything, but did), I know exactly how Arizona fans have felt during this stretch, so I would have liked to have seen them win. Plus, quite frankly, a lot of the Steeler fans I encountered last week were obnoxious. Not Eagle fan obnoxious, but still pretty bad.
• Nice to see that Joe Namath didn't perform any of his patented wacky, drunken sideline hijinks during the trophy presentation. Nice to see that NBC didn't let him speak.
• As I'm writing this, the game and 2008-09 season have been over for about twenty four hours. That means ESPN will start comprehensive 2009 draft coverage about this time tomorrow.