Super Bowl XM

I'd be remiss in my blogging duties if I didn't comment on the recent Super Bowl in Detroit. Here are my 3 cents.

The advertising was predictably okay to less-than-good. I have said it before, but I'll state it here again: we have jumped the shark in Super Bowl advertising. The clichés and lowbrow humor have taken firm grasp on our expectations, and thus we are still waiting for someone to zag within every brands attempt to zig. From monkeys to middle-aged-men-seeking-humor-in-their-maturing-lives, it was all there. I will note there seemed to be far less in the way of car commercials, which I can't say is a bad thing. Overall I'd say there were few surprises and my personal favorite goes to the Budweiser wave - but don't put too much in that.

The game itself under-delivered big time. This should have been a fabulous match up and it turned out to be a penalty-ridden, ho-hum affair. Both teams seemed to be distracted. Maybe it was Aretha Franklin's ear-popping rendition of the Star-Spangled banner... maybe they all secretly wanted to be in the Rolling Stone tongue at half time... either way, Seattle lost the game more than Pittsburgh won it, and the refs were a big factor.

Seattle had 50 more yards of penalties in the game - surprising for a team with the least number of penalties in the league all season. A lot of those penalties negating great punt returns and/or big passing plays. The refs blatantly blew two plays (Big Ben's touchdown and Hassleback's illegal block/tackle - what the fuck was that?!).

But Seattle definitely didn't do what it takes to win - execute. Pittsburgh did just enough to get two big plays and that's all it took. If you look at the statistics, you'd say Seattle won. They only came up short in one category - third down conversions. Congrats to Pittsburgh for playing well on the way there (minus one Bettis fumble - thanks Ben!).

Other than that I'd say the best thing to come from the Super Bowl was that they sold me on watching Grey's Anatomy, and it was worth it. Except for that woman from Sideways. She is really annoying. I probably have two more episodes in me before I become completely bored by their patient neglection.