Monday, February 6, 2006
Super Bowl
Well, the Steelers did what most pundits thought they would do, but it wasn't pretty. The two teams seemed to neutralize one another, leaving for the viewer a pretty blah game until the end. I was pulling for the Steelers so I was glad about the outcome. It was surprising that the most traditional coach, Cowher, was the one most enamored of gadget plays. Those plays have a real entertainment value — and they worked. That Steeler wide receiver throwing a perfect touchdown pass was a reminder of how really great quarterbacks might have enlivened the game.
The style of the spectacle is some sort of wacky mind-merge of Las Vegas convention decor and the zombie like slick soulless corporate culture expressing its false energy technologically. The Rolling Stones looked like withered oaks trembling in the breeze. The sound was terrible, the crowd noise sucked the melody out of the music — fittingly, it was a shell of hype; somehow, buried beneath it all, the communal aspect of so widely watched an event and the sporting nature of the venue made it tolerable.
Michaels and Madden are an okay team, although I think Madden is better seen as a “character” playing a commentator than as a provider of much insight. Madden has the odd habit of pointing out something about a play that isn't there: see how he pushed him there, if he didn't push him, the play would not have worked; then they show the replay and no one pushed anyone. Yet Madden sticks to his story. Madden may be goofy, but he is likable — no doubt the reason he is there.
The story lines of the player's lives retailed in the press, the loyalty of Cowher, the wisdom of the Rooney family in letting the coach run the team, had me rooting for the Steelers.
The only commercial that worked for me was the one with the two monsters courting — I think it was for Hummer. It made no sense and was funny — perfect, considering the context.