SUPER BOWL LII 2018
There are just a few main things I want to say about that amazing Super Bowl, and then I’ll get more into my full review of all of the proceedings.
But first of all, I can’t believe what I just saw! That was the absolute most exciting Super Bowl I’ve ever seen! And I didn’t even have a real dog in the race, although I was totally rooting for the Eagles all the way! So, yay!
Secondly, how is anyone ragging on Justin Timberlake’s Halftime Show??? I don’t get that at all—that was the best one I’ve ever seen!
The only one disappointment of the entire day, (and trust me—I watched all the coverage from sun-up to just about the next dawn,) was the weakest crop of Super Bowl commercials ever foisted upon us.
So, let’s examine it all.
THE GAME
I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I don’t think anyone could figure-out who was going to win until the game clock hit double zeros. (And even then I wasn’t sure for a few seconds there.)
That was unbelievable that the Philadelphia Eagles, who were true underdogs the entire post-season, could beat perennial winners New England Patriots. This was one of the truest David vs. Goliath sports competitions ever!
Photo by Karen Salkin.
For those of you who don’t follow football, the quick story is that the Eagles quarterback, Carson Wentz, got injured with just three games to go on the season. So Nick Foles, the back-up quarterback, had to take over. And he didn’t exactly inspire confidence. I saw a video of one of his teammates crying on the way back from the game where Wentz got injured, saying something about Foles not being up to the job.
So Nick Foles is the first back-up quarterback to win the big one since Tom Brady in Super Bowl 36! (This is #52, in case you can’t read Roman numerals.)
Ah, but what’s to become of him next year??? More on that topic in a bit.
Even though the Eagles were the #1 seed in their conference, they were the underdogs all through the play-offs, and even moreso in the Super-Bowl!
That was a really exciting first half. And a strange one, featuring lots of odd plays.
JLo and ARod, looking pretty spiffy. (I wrote about them further down, but had no where else for this pic. And seeing them in any spot is always fun, right?) Photo by Karen Salkin.
When the Eagles finally lost the lead in the second half, I think we all flashed back to what happened last year, when the Atlanta Falcons were beating the Patriots by what we all thought was an insurmountable lead.
So that the Eagles came back to win it was truly the shock of all sports shocks.
If the Patriots were not such poor losers, (more on that in a very quick second,) I would actually feel a tad bad for them.
But all I have to say is: Major Congratulations to the Eagles and all their long-suffering fans!!!
AFTER THE GAME
So, speaking of sore losers, Tom Brady did not seek out Nick Foles after the game to shake his hand!!! I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before at the end of a Super Bowl. (And no, Tom—admitting that you’re a “bad loser” does not absolve you! Man up, for goodness sake!!!)
The Eagles on-the-platform post-game celebration. But where was the actual team???
Actually, in their press conferences, and comments elsewhere, as well, all the Patriots seemed to be bad sports. What a shame.
I’m kind-of disgusted with the powers-that-be that planned the trophy presentation, as well. They didn’t let the whole team up on the stand!!! Outside of just three players, the rest of the team were made to stand down on the field behind the makeshift stage!!! But some of the bigwigs’ kids and wives were allowed up there! How is that fair??? It’s actually disgusting. Viewers wanted to see the entire team celebrate together! It’s part of why we love to watch sports—to see the group happiness afterwards. That was just creepy of them.
Victorious Eagles Super Bowl quarterback Nick Foles.
I’m sooooo glad that Nick Foles was voted the MVP; it would not have been fair if he had not.
But what’s to become of him next year??? Wentz plans to be back on the field for the very first game of the 2018 season, but his knee injury was so severe that I sort-of doubt if that’s possible. Either way, does Nick just accept taking a backseat after leading this team to its first Championship since 1960?! Or does he ask to be traded to a team that will want him as their main dude, (if there is one?) It’s a major conundrum for everyone concerned.
Speaking of team shake-ups, what will happen with the Patriots next season, as well? Both their offensive and defensive coordinators are leaving for head coaching jobs. Tom Brady will be forty-one by then! And second place team star Rob Gronkowski says he may retire. On top of that, coach Bill Belichick screwed-over defensive major player Malcolm Butler by sitting him out of this big game at the last minute, with no reason given…to anybody. (That one was a major head-scratcher.) So, is this the beginning of the end for the New England Patriots? (And will we ever find-out why that was done to one-time team hero Butler?)
Speaking of head-scratchers, in the week leading up to the Super Bowl, I kept reading that the entire Eagles team had the flu! Everywhere I looked I saw that concerning story. And then never was it mentioned even once during the over twelve hours of coverage I watched. So, did NBC and ESPN not know about it? Did they know and just decide that it was a non-story? Or was it not true to begin with? Even though it’s a non-issue now, I really do want to know the whole story!
Last words on the “bad sport” topic: After the loss, Tom Brady’s wife Giselle was shown saying, “My husband cannot f***ing throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time.” Talk about throwing shade at her husband’s teammates! What a bad sport! [Note: Even though ESPN showed this as something happening right then, while they were on the air, my research shows that this is perhaps an old clip from after his last Super Bowl loss. But it’s disgusting, either way. On the plus side, though, for Giselle, she looks exactly the same now, if this is, indeed, an old clip.]
THE HALFTIME SHOW
Justin Timberlake and dancers.
The first half of the game was so good that I totally forgot that Justin Timberlake was coming up!!! But up he got, so let’s get to that now.
Justin always puts on such an incredible music and dance show that, unlike the previous halftime shows, he didn’t need a gimmicky guest artist to help him out. [Note: Just as I was writing that, the duet with a hologram of Prince came on. So, yeah, maybe one gimmick!]
I became a blubbering mess during the Prince section.
Hologram of Prince, with Justin at the piano. (Note that the entire stadium is purple for the occasion!)
Speaking of which, I know that some idiots think it was disrespectful of Justin to do that, but I really do believe that he did it as a tribute, not just to Prince and his many fans, but to the city of Minneapolis because that’s where the Purple One lived and worked. I thought it was a lovely idea.
I also loved that there were so many surfaces with so many dancers and musicians. It was all fun, exciting, and well-done. I loved the music, the dancing, and being reminded of just how multi-talented Justin is.
So, outside of where he exposed Janet Jackson’s nipple all those years ago, (which Mr. X and I thought was fantastic, by the way,) this was my favorite halftime show ever!
THE COMMERCIALS
About an hour into the game, and very many commercials, just as I was making a note of how dull the ads were so far, I went on Twitter to complain about just that, and saw a tweet from one of my favorite comedians, Rocky LaPorte, saying: “I wonder what time they’re going to start airing the good commercials.” I hear ya, bro!
Unlike the game and halftime show, this was the most boring, unsatisfying crop of Super Bowl commercials ever! So, here’s just a quick rundown on some of my thoughts on the best and worst, in order they were shown:
The Mass Mutual one about all different people was sort-of touching.
The Rams truck ad with the Vikings looked like they thought the Minnesota Vikings were a shoo-in to make the Super Bowl! But they spent all that money, so they had to air it. Stupid.
The creepy girl (and her nerdy wardrobe) from the flavored Diet Coke spot. Photo by Karen Salkin.
I’m scratching my head over why that ad for flavored Diet Cokes would feature that way-too-skinny girl and her awful wardrobe. (And her visage was pretty bad, to boot!)
The many Tide spots were fun, though.
Okay, I know that the family of Martin Luther King, Jr. approved using his speech for that Rams truck commercial, but I found it offensive to use something like that for selling cars. Shame on everyone involved with that idea.
The first really fun one was the fake Crocodile Dundee one, for Aussie tourism. It almost made me want to go there, to support them for a good job!
I have to admit that the Toyota “we are one team” ad got me a tad choked-up.
Even though I’m not really a Lindsay Vonn fan, I am an admirer of hers, so I loved that they used This Girl is on Fire to show her many accomplishments in one of the zillion promos for this week’s Olympics!
Perhaps the best one was the Dirty Dancing spoof featuring the Giants’ Eli Manning and Odell Beckham, Jr. But, as good as it was, I have no idea what it was for, so I guess it defeated its own purpose!!!
NEITHER HERE NOR THERE
Robert Kraft’s teeth and nose hair, neither of which he knows to fix! I hope you weren’t eating when you saw this! Photo by Karen Salkin.
How disgusting are Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft’s teeth? And nose hair??? That guy has more money than most of us can imagine, so why doesn’t he fix those vomititious teeth already??? And he should buy a nose-hair-remover while he’s at it!
I loved host Al Michael’s expression “semantics samba” about Bill Belichick’s not giving us the real 411 on the Malcolm Butler sitch. I never heard that one before.
It was so nice that Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez dressed-up for the occasion. Shamefully, no one else did.
Danny Amendola and his neck. Photo by Karen Salkin.
I just hope that the excitement of his team’s nail-biter victory didn’t kill the eagles ninety-nine-year-old fan that the organization brought to the game!
How gigantic is Patriot Danny Amendola’s neck!!! He’s kind-of a short, thin guy, but has a Bluto-esque neck! As the title of this section says, this thought is neither here nor there, so no judgement on it; it’s just an observation.)
TWO SHAMEFUL SITUATIONS
This is the perfect time to remind you all about the evil that is former NFL star, Peyton Manning. I have no idea why he’s been getting off scot-free during this slew of revelations about sexual misconduct by famous males! I guess he’s one of those “teflon” creeps, like Orange Hitler seems to be. But I want to keep the story alive, so I really hope that all of you will read what I wrote here last year, and help the story get out: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/footballkarens-rant-peyton-manning-scandal. I’m ashamed of myself for rooting for him in the 2014 Super Bowl, even though it was before I knew of his sexual misconduct, and even worse his follow-up torture of the victim.
Not only did my stomach turn when I saw Peyton Manning in a commercial on the broadcast, but I was also sickened when I saw Ray Lewis on the field, as one of the newest inductees into the Football Hall of Fame. How was that allowed to happen?!
In case you’re not familiar with his criminal history, here’s a quick primer on the subject: In 2000, he was put on trial for his involvement in a double-murder. He got the charges dropped by testifying against his two pals who were apparently the trigger men. But Ray was definitely there and definitely lied to police and tried to cover it up. He got off, but the NFL knows all this, and obviously turned a blind eye when they put him on the HOF ballot. I’m sure there are way more deserving former players. So this is yet another mystery in the ways of the NFL.
But, to finish this review on a high note, let me go back to congratulating the Philadelphia Eagles on their amazing Super Bowl victory!!! You guys flew the highest!
