SPORTS: 2013 SUPER BOWL XLVII

0

2013 SUPER BOWL XLVII

 

Even though I didn’t have a horse in the race, (because my teams are the NY Giants and Jets,) I watched over twelve hours in a row of Super Bowl coverage yesterday! And, even though the team I was rooting for, the San Francisco 49ers, lost, the new Clydesdale commercial near the end made it all worthwhile.

First let me say that although the second half made this turn-out to be a really good, exciting game, I’m very disappointed that a team with an accused murderer on it was the victor. More on that in a minute.

Being that the day before marked exactly three years that I’ve been suffering with my major back issues, watching all the big, strong men pounding each other caused me some physical pain! I still don’t know how any of that, except for the running and scoring, feels good to them.

I always think of the Super Bowl as the one sporting event all year that appeals to everyone, football fans and nescients alike, because of the party aspect. But I do laugh every year, thinking of what my old friend Nancy said to me one time. We were picking-up burgers one day, and out of the blue, she turned to me and asked, in her slow and deliberate way, “What’s this Super Bowl you’re always talking about?” I just about did a spit-take with my shake! She was totally serious!

But, Nancy V. aside, I’m assuming you all know the basics, so I’m just getting right to my thoughts, rather than also giving a tutorial. Here goes:

THE PRE-GAME

Clay Matthews, but he looked much better than this on the commentator panel.

I have to say that Green Bay Packers player Clay Matthews, (whose team I’m not a fan of,) who was a pre-game commentator here, is really good-looking. I always suspected it, seeing him on the field, all dirty with stringy long hair, but seeing him on the telecast, all-cleaned up, but still sort-of gritty-looking, confirmed it for me. Even though he’s still really young, (twenty-six,) it’s good for him to get started on his post-playing career. It turned a bad thing, (missing out on this game,) into a positive. So, good for him. He handled himself well.

CBS filled the four hour pre-game show with many interesting features, including interviews and heart-tugging stories about some players and fans. I was thrilled to hear NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell say that they’ll start having neurologists on the sidelines next season, to help cut down on future concussion repercussions.

Perhaps the most compelling tale was of former Baltimore Raven, OJ Brigance, who now has ALS at only forty-three years of age, (which means he was diagnosed at only thirty-seven! How horrible!) He’s still a team presence, and it was hard to root against his team, knowing the win would lift his spirits.

RAY LEWIS

I hate giving this creep his own section, but, it brings us back to the accused murderer I spoke of at the top. Okay, here it is: I hate Ray Lewis. Plain and simple. In 2000, he was put on trial for his involvement in a horrible double-murder. (Good job, Karen—what murders aren’t horrible?) He got the charges dropped by testifying against the two other men, who were his pals. But he paid-off the families of the two dead young men, which I really don’t think an innocent person would do. He was definitely there and definitely lied to police and tried to cover it up. How anyone can root for this demon, I just don’t know.

Some unfairly accused or convicted people have the shadow of what happened follow them forever, but people rarely even mention Ray Lewis’ case, when he was a known part of a cold-blooded murder!!!

So, kudos to announcers Jim Nantz and Phil Simms (and CBS) for bringing-up the topic during the game.

Ray Lewis did a pre-taped interview with commentator Shannon Sharpe, whom I also must laud for nailing Lewis with some of his questions. Mr. X asked why I would even watch that part, but I’m always willing to be fair and give a fella a chance. But I was disgusted by his hubris and lack of remorse about the two unnecessary deaths. And he hides behind God. He makes me sick. He should have been kicked-out of the NFL back then.

Lewis is delusional; he indicates that he was falsely accused, which it’s been proven he wasn’t. He turned my stomach with this exchange: Shannon asked him, “What would you like to say to the families? [Of the murdered young men.]” Ray Lewis answered, “It’s simple, you know. God has never made a mistake. That’s just who he is, you see?” So, he’s saying that it was God doing the right thing that killed those innocent young men?! I hate Ray Lewis even more now! He made it about what happened to him, not the dead guys. Then Shannon asked him why he gave money to the families of the deceased; instead of really answering the question, he declared that he’s given money “to thousands of families, time and time again.” Yeah, I’m sure. What a creep! He should be the “greatest middle linebacker” in prison history, not NFL. And I have to give props to commentator Boomer Esiason for saying on national television that he’s “not buying the answer.”

THE GAME

So, with my hate for Ray Lewis fresh in my mind, I had to move on to the actual game. I wouldn’t have cared which team won if not for him. But I just can’t bare to see someone as rotten as he is be happy. (I guess this time, God did make a mistake!)

Victorious John on the left, shaking hands with younger brother Jim, post-game.

I think most, if not all, football fans found it interesting to see two brothers be the head coaches of the Super Bowl teams. I know I did! But I didn’t know enough about the Harbaugh Bros, John and Jim, to root for one over the other. Their on-field demeanor towards each other, cordial yet far from warm, was quite disappointing to me. I wish that they had at least had an emotional embrace after the hard-fought game. It turned-out to be a very-unsatisfying handshake and face touch.

The opening penalty against the 49ers kind-of set the tone for the rest of the penalty-filled game, unfortunately.

When half of the stadium lights went out shortly after the second-half kick-off, that actually lifted my spirits somehow. I think I needed the break from the Niners’ run of bad luck.

Toward the end of the almost hour and a half debacle, Mr. X said, “They need you right now, Ka.” When I asked why, he answered, “Because they’re trying to vamp!” I have to agree with him; filling dead air time is my specialty.

It turned-out to a great game, which is what I was hoping for. But I hated those bad non-calls near the end.

No matter what, I’m happy for often overlooked Baltimore Ravens quarterback, Joe Flacco. (I just can’t stand for Ray Lewis to be this happy. He may not have stabbed those guys, but he was involved and helped them get away and lied about the whole thing. It’s not like they got the wrong guy.)

And I’m happy that the 49ers didn’t let an awful first half define the rest of their game; they were down by twenty-two points at one point, yet lost by only three. That’s a big accomplishment for newbie quarterback Colin Kaepernick and his squad.

San Francisco just didn’t get a lot of calls that they should have. Former player, now commentator Dan Marino summed it up best when he said simply, (at almost the end of the post-game show,) “A bad set of calls down on the goal line with those four plays they ran.” I hear ya, bro, I hear ya.

THE MUSICAL PERFORMANCES

At the beginning, Jennifer Hudson sang her song, America the Beautiful, beautifully, as usual. I hate being the one to say this, but I did not like having the children of Sandy Hook Elementary School backing her up. Somehow, I felt that it was sort-of disrespectful to the families who had lost their children in that tragedy. If their own children hadn’t died, the rest of these kids would not have had this wonderful opportunity to be at the Super Bowl. I feel it was just rubbing salt in their wounds. I wish there was some way to know if those involved really felt this way, or if they were really okay with them being at the festivities.

Alicia Keys, getting into the National Anthem.

I loved Alicia Keys’ slow, thoughtful singing of the National Anthem! I’m pretty sure it’s the first time I’ve seen someone accompany herself on piano as she sang The Star Spangled Banner, and I found it to be really interesting, (although Mr. X was not a fan.) Nothing will ever compare to Marvin Gaye’s totally soulful rendition at the 1983 NBA All-Star game, (which you should all look-up this very second!,) but I think Alicia’s has moved up to second place for me.

That leaves us with Beyonce’s half-time show. Unlike most other people seem to be, I was far from enamored with it. Guess what? I’ve seen it all before. Many a time. I say, bring back Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction.” Now, that was a proper halftime show! We were screaming at the end of that one, not just thinking “okay,” like we did yesterday.

I feel like Beyonce’s lost a step, stamina- and sharpness-wise, since she had her baby. She was her usual excellent self, but she just didn’t seem as “wow” as she was pre-birth.

Having her Destiny’s Child compadres show-up was a smart move all the way around, although the shock factor was ruined by the internet leaking the news. And it made them all lie, denying it, in an attempt to keep it still a surprise. But it was a win-win-win; Beyonce got a little help, the other two got some work and exposure, and the audience got to see them together again. It was an okay half-time show, but nothing special, even though I’m sure everyone else is falling over themselves to praise Beyonce, like they are always wont to do, for some unknown reason.

Oh, I have to make quick mention of that “Fan-made” opening to her show that the announcers tried to make important: everyone in it was in their early twenties! That’s insulting to everyone else. I actually think that more older folks watch the Super Bowl than anybody, but, either way, it should have been mixed ages. It’s a small point, but it annoyed me enough to make a note of it.

THE COMMERCIALS

I’m too exhausted from watching it all to comment on every individual commercial, but here are my quick thoughts on some, in the order that they aired (except for the last one, that I moved down one spot, just to end on a high note for you guys):

The Audi one with a guy going to the prom alone, then grabbing the main dude’s chick and laying the mack on her: horrible! What bad form. So, owning an Audi gives you the right to be a douche-bag? Is that the message?

Good Doritos one with the goat.

Way too much violence on the Oreos and Coke spots. I question this all the time—why do advertisers think that violence is funny and/or sells their product? No wonder there are more and more criminals in this country!

The body on that Calvin Klein underwear guy was amazing. It made me so glad that I don’t skip past the Super Bowl ads! Finally, a guys underwear commercial for girls.

The Skechers one was great! (I seriously just found-out that there’s no “t” in the middle of that brand! So, we’ve all been pronouncing it wrong all these years! We all pronounce it with the “t.”)

Century 21–clever.

Hey, Axe advertising execs—I don’t want to see danger in the form of a shark as a joke!

Gildan tee-shirt spot—great!

Psy’s pistachio ad—brilliant on several levels!

The GM Ram Truck ad, using Paul Harvey’s ode to farmers was downright offensive! He’s turning over in his grave.

But, the hands-down winner, that no one else came even close to, was the Clydesdale ad, with the horse growing up and moving away. It’s the best commercial I’ve ever seen in my entire life!!! I was a sobbing mess, during it (and the subsequent ten times I played it in a row!,) and after it; I just couldn’t calm down. I cried for about ten minutes. But I need to know what happens after, even though I know the horse and trainer can’t get back together permanently. But I like to think the company gives him back to the guy (who was perfectly cast, by the way,) after he’s served them for a few years. And that would make this commercial have a much happier ending than this Superbowl did for me.

Share.

Leave A Reply