That Was a Super Bowl?

As the minutes ticked by on yesterday’s Super Bowl, I was struck by a strange feeling of disconnect and I don’t think it was just the remnants of the 7 Long Island Iced Teas I had the night before. From the pregame to the ads to the game itself I was completely bored and for the first time in my life I can say I’m glad football season is over.

I didn’t have a rooting interest but that’s never stopped me from enjoying the game before. In fact after the Bears ran back the opening kickoff, I found myself cheering them on a bit. The first half was sloppy but exciting while the second half felt slow and predetermined. A lot of people will say the Bears beat themselves or perhaps more accurately Rex Grossman beat the Bears, but the Colts certainly weren’t firing on all cylinders on offense either so we should be happy the game didn’t get a whole lot uglier.

In the past when I’ve not had a team to rally around, I’ve at least been able to enjoy the spectacle of the Super Bowl but unfortunately that wasn’t the case last night. Can I tell you how under whelmed I was by the ads this year? Except for the face slapping Bud Light commercial and the NFL Network’s Chad Johnson Super Bowl spot, I can’t name any other commercials that stuck with me. Hell, by the fourth quarter I was flipping channels and watching a special on Noah’s Ark on the National Geographic channel during the breaks. Perhaps the biggest disappointment for me was the lack of big Hollywood trailers. I know in this day and age of YouTube and Quicktime one can find all the trailers they can handle on the web but I’ve got fond memories of watching premiers during the Super Bowl. This year all the trailers were for movies that are already out there in one manner or the other. Even the 5 hours of pre game provided less memorable moments then usual. I don’t spend a lot of time watching the CBS crew during the regular season but I thought their buddy, buddy chemistry came off faker then usual. Oh and I know the NFL is trying to reach out to a wide spectrum of fans but Cirque De Solei as pre game entertainment? After about 30 seconds my eyes were burning and I quickly flipped channels.

In a stunning break from form, the brightest spot of the whole event was probably the halftime show. Sure I’m a Prince fan but I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone who wasn’t impressed by that performance. For a Super Bowl, I thought the staging was relatively restrained. The fake fans that they brought on to the field really seemed to be enjoying themselves and the interaction Prince had with the fans in the stands was amazing. No where was that give and take more evident then in the closing number as he belted out Purple Rain in the pouring rain. It was also nice to see him pull out some different songs and not just do a best of medley. His cover of the Foo Fighters’ “Best of You” was an especially pleasant surprise.

So another year of football has come to a close and for the first time in my life I didn’t feel the pangs of withdrawal after the final seconds ticked off. Maybe it was the lackluster game, or the lack of spectacle around the event. Maybe it’s the fact that my Wisconsin Badgers are the #2 ranked college basketball team in the country and I’m already focusing on March. Maybe it’s the fact that, try as I might, I can’t bring myself to believe that the parody in the NFL will really make it possible for my beloved Minnesota Vikings to turn it around in and hoist the trophy next year. No matter what the reason, yesterday left me completely happy to put football aside…at least until April and the draft.