"The first and most important thing to say about John Dominic Crossan's work is that it is bad history."
- D.A. Carson
Monday, February 4, 2013
So, what did you think of the Superbowl? I thought it was pretty memorable. When the lights went out, I had a feeling it would help San Fran get themselves centered again, but it always bugs me when something like that happens and seems to have such an effect. Yes, the announcers were saying "these men are professionals, this will not affect them". But, of course, it did.
Who were you rooting for? Before the game, I was slightly Ravenish, mainly because they are AFC, my team beat them this year, Flacco has paid his dues, and it was Ray Lewis' last game. But as the game went on and I compared John Harbaugh's sideline cool to Jim Harbaugh's childish tantrums, I got more and more firm on my Ravens pick. Plus, they were - for most of the game - the better team. I think the fact that San Francisco was able to make it a game, and that the game was in doubt up until the last few seconds, made this one for the books.
The one time I saw John Harbaugh lose his cool was when he was banging away on that hapless suit on the sidelines after the lights went out. I feel for that guy, but - seriously - how do you lose the lights like that? What if all of them had gone out, or if they hadn't been able to get them back on? This is the Superbowl!
So, do you think the refs should have called pass interference on San Francisco's last offensive try?
Halftime - I barely watched it, but I hear it was good.
Finally, the commercials . . . did you have any favorites? Here were some of mine:
- On the 8th day, God made farmers
- The Toyota Genie commercials with Penny from the Big Bang theory
- The M&M commercial
- The quiet rumble in the Library over Oreos
- And there were some others that I liked that escape me at the moment.
Here were my least favorite:
- The godaddy supermodel-makes-out-with-nerd commercial. May they go out of business.
- The Calvin-Klein underwear commercial. Maybe I'm just jealous that I don't look like that guy, but - criminy, man - please remove your gr01n from my TV screen, wouldja?
- The one by company whatever that had the dude waking up after a meaningless one night stand and trying to get his T-shirt back from skank-girl.
Your thoughts in the comments.
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Comments on "Superbowl Retrospectives":
2. Bill
- 02/04/2013 1:29 pm CST
Karl,
Good points on the maturity vs. talent thing. I think you're on to something there. I think the 49ers are going to be very dangerous going forward. If they can keep that group together for a few more seasons I think they could win it all - maybe even next season (and I'd be rooting for them, most likely).
I didn't watch halftime because I knew I wouldn't know most of the songs and because I knew it would be one long peep-show. Wish they didn't feel they had to do that.
3. Karl
- 02/04/2013 2:08 pm CST
Bill,
Agreed about the 49ers and their future chances. Lots of young talent to work with, and I think Jim Harbaugh is a great coach. Not good - great. What he did at Stanford was impressive. I got to watch his Cardinal team totally manhandle and demolish what was a pretty talented Virginia Tech team in the Orange Bowl a few years back. As great as Andrew Luck was, that Stanford team was so much more than just him. They won games in the trenches, with tough and smart and disciplined play and beat the daylights out of teams like USC and Oregon and Virginia Tech on the line of scrimmage. He has molded the 49ers into an NFL version of the same sort of team in a very short time.
But John Harbaugh has the same philosophy, has had more years to work on it with the Ravens, and had a more mature team to work with plus the inspirational leadership of Ray Lewis.
4. Shrode
- 02/04/2013 9:50 pm CST
Dear NFL and ad time sellers and super bowl ad makers and those who plan and approve the half-time show,
Does it occur to you that people younger than 18 might be watching the superbowl? Does it occur to you that people might want to watch it with their families? Does it occur to you that children as young as 4 years old are actually watching this with their families?
Would you want your elementary school student to be watching the stuff you put on TV?
We flipped to ABC and watched America's funniest home videos during half-time. I had a "Phineas & Ferb" queued up in the DVD ready for 22 minutes of hilarity, had there not been another alternative to the third year in a row that yesterday's female pop star dressed in black lingerie and gyrated on stage.
How bout some variety people?
I think it's time Weird Al Yankovic got to do the half-time show. That guy is always relevant.
5. Bill
- 02/04/2013 10:11 pm CST
Weird Al would be AWESOME! I'd watch that!
"He who is tired of Weird Al is tired of life" - Homer Simpson
6. Neo
- 02/04/2013 11:29 pm CST
I didn't even realize it was on. I guess that's what happens when you're spending time at a church fellowship at the same time (pesky church functions preventing me from watching muscular men brutalize one another while half-naked women dance and cheer. On the Lord's day.)
7. Nathan
- 02/05/2013 3:13 am CST
Heya, I didn't see it cos it's not that big a thing in the UK but this business with the Calvin Klein ad: Karl's comment - YES. You could almost argue it's good for us to have to see that cr4p sometimes because we get a little of the nasty, negative nonsense our sisters/wives/daughters/female friends have to put up with seeing about themselves ALL THE TIME. And we wonder why girls have such poor self-image...?
Anyhow, feminist rant over. Wish I could comment on the football but didn't see it but hot dang the Six Nations rugby is good this year =o)
8. Bill
- 02/05/2013 8:27 am CST
Wish I could comment on the football but didn't see it but hot dang the Six Nations rugby is good this year =o)
Great to hear from you Nathan!
Rugby is a sport that has always intrigued me. I admit I don't understand it very well; I understand soccer (or should I say FOOTBALL) much better.
I had the privilege of visiting England twice in the past few years, and have been impressed with the enthusiasm and vigor around the Premier League. You haven't lived until you've been in a British stadium listening to the singing and chanting of the crowd and the enthusiasm they bring to the sport.
I spent the first half of the Superbowl this time explaining the game of American football to a friend from India. I got the sense our game is bewildering to him. I have a number of friends who dislike soccer - which is a sport I love! - and I've tried to explain that for all the enthusiasm we bring to our sport of American football, people throughout the world bring even more to the sport of soccer, and that often times they look at our sport and consider it too complex and boring to enjoy.
9. nhe
- 02/05/2013 8:57 am CST
I mentioned before, as a Falcon fan, it was just hard to get up for this one. I had less of a "dog in the fight" than I can ever remember in any Super Bowl.
That said, it was a good game. Anquan Bolden has become my favorite NFL player not on the Falcons. He is so old-school and so clutch - I want him on my team, whether we're playing Candy Land or football.
I'm officially over Ray Lewis. I would have a better memory of him if he had retired after his gut-wrenching, inspirational post game locker room speech after their kicker missed a field goal and they lost in the playoffs last year. Now I just find him to be a spot-light grabbing prosperity gospel freak.
Best serious commercial - Paul Harvey, hands down - that was an all-timer.
Funniest commercial - The Tide Joe Montana stain - I love the guy in the 1849er beard who came out of the house saying "I saw the stain"! Cracked me up.
10. Nathan
- 02/05/2013 10:17 am CST
Hey Bill - aw, what a lovely welcome back! Now I'm not a huge soccer fan myself - partly because I'm very clumsy and can't play it, so therefore I don't always appreciate just what amazing skills the people on my TV are displaying for me, and partly because there's so much money in it that could be better spent that it makes me a little queasy. I am enjoying the FA cup this year, though - I love the sheer unpredictability of the draw, so that multimillionaire, slick, international Premiership sides get sent to some windy shed in Lancashire with a bumpy field to play against a side who look like they've never been on a plane before, and everyone on both sides is playing out of their comfort zone and giving it their all.
I don't know much about your football but my understanding is rugby is a bit similar but (and here's the crucial thing) with less substitutions (so the offence players sometimes have to dig in and play defence and vice versa) and with much, much less stopping. There's a belief in Europe (which may not be true) that they have so much stopping in American football in order to fit more adverts in. I doubt that's true, but we certainly love to watch a good long period of play with lots of changes of fortune, and you certainly get that in rugby. Plus England might win it this year, which is a delightful novelty!
11. Bird
- 02/05/2013 10:58 am CST
Bill, the game was good. I was rooting for the AFC. Didn't watch half time or commercials, so no idea there. I found myself wanting SF to make a surge (which they did) and to make it a close game (which they did), but ultimately I'm glad the AFC won. Back to normal life now. ;-)
12. damien
- 02/05/2013 11:12 am CST
being from maryland and surrounded by ravens fans you'd think that would settle it for me. but i'm a hopeless redskins fan (they actually play in maryland) and so i have painful memories of losing to the 49ers back in the day. i simply did not want to see those niners acquire a sixth lombardi trophy. so i was pulling for the ravens just because of my sore loser, bad (envious) attitude toward san fran. they've had more than their fair share of great quarterbacks, great coaches, and superbowl wins. so i'm glad the ravens prevailed.
13. Tony
- 02/05/2013 1:46 pm CST
damien, I thought the same way. 49er's had their day with Montana and Young - going for Ravens all the way.
Very memorable SB: 109, no wait 108 yard kick off return; very first fake field goal in SB history; over 60 combined points; and a black out that brought about all sorts of conspiracy theories.
Somewhat funny commentary this morning on the radio concerning Beyonce's half-time show: Part lingerie, part costume from Xena warrior princess. They were expecting any moment, a giant dance pole to come out the center of the stadium.
Great no hold call towards the end. I dislike it very much when a penalty decides the outcome of the game.
14. Karl
- 02/05/2013 3:40 pm CST
I had a kind of surreal moment a couple of days before the super bowl when discussing the super bowl with a colleague's teenage son (who is a high school football player and a sports fan).
The young man remembers the Ravens' first super bowl win, but he asked me: "the 49ers haven't ever won a super bowl before, have they?"
I realized then that to him Joe Montana is just some old guy in commercials and Steve Young is an aging, middle-aged football analyst who talks like maybe he played football before. Of course when I mentioned those 80's and 90's-era SF teams to him, it did ring a bell and he was a little chagrined. But that's ancient history to him, as he wasn't even born yet.
15. Bill
- 02/05/2013 7:13 pm CST
Karl,
Yes, younger people can lose the history (although my fifteen year old is a sport-encyclopedia and has a good grasp of SB history - largely from watching America's Game and those Top Ten shows).
I forgot to mention one of my favorite plays - the "take 8 seconds off the clock" safety. A commentator later made the point that the ravens were all holding - because if called for holding it's still a safety.
16. Karl
- 02/05/2013 7:39 pm CST
Bill,
I spotted that holding on the replay and realized what they were doing and thought - brilliant! Of course they don't care if the flag gets thrown and a safety awarded, but the play will go on (and the clock run) as long as the punter is running around so why not hold to let him run around longer! Maybe not in the highest spirit of the game, but I don't mind that kind of gamesmanship if you can make the rules work for you.
When I think "history of the game" I think of the Steelers-Cowboys super bowls when I was a kid, or the first Green Bay super bowls that I didn't see but read about. It's a blow to realize just how much Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Jim Kelly, Steve Young are all relegated to "history" now, too!
18. Karl
- 02/06/2013 8:08 am CST
re. Bill's comment in #8, I was once in a hotel in London on a layover and the only thing on the telly was a cricket match. I tried to understand what was going on for about 15 minutes but was completely lost, as the announcers kept throwing out all kinds of important-sounding but meaningless-to-me terminology and statistics. It could hardly have been more confusing or less meaningful to me. But it was apparently a huge match, as the crowd was enormous and rabid and the announcers were intensely into it. I realized that's what non sports fans in the US must feel like when a baseball, basketball or football game is on.
19. Bill
- 02/07/2013 11:39 pm CST
Bill - who did you see play?
Thanks for asking, Nathan
In England I saw Fulham play Aston Villa, Arsenal play Udinese, and Stoke City play Chelsea.
In Spain I was privileged to see one of the best football matches ever: Barcelona played (and beat) Real Madrid in the second leg of the SuperCopa. It was an amazing game (Messi scored twice, Renaldo once)
If you're interested in the details, you can read about my trip here.
20. Nathan
- 02/13/2013 3:32 am CST
Aw wow!! You went to the Nou Camp? That's like the St Peter's Basilica of football (or "futbol", as they call it).
Just had a read of your blog entry - you make me want to go back to Barcelona! Beautiful, relaxed, relentlessly devoted to fun, and yet scratch the surface and everyone's got a story about courageous resistance under the Franco regime. Mrs Nathan and I went there last March in a camper van - best holiday ever =oD
21. Bill
- 02/14/2013 10:08 am CST
Nathan,
Yes, went to Nou Camp. I remember thinking that for the Barcalonans it's probably like Yankee Stadium or something.
It was a fantastic match. Messi scores twice. Ronaldo once. It was Fabregas's first game with Barcelona. Second leg of the SuperCopa. I really gained an appreciation for how enthusiastic the Barcelonans are about their team.
Sounds like your vacation was fun.
On another topic - I hope to make it back to Merrye Old England soon!
Leave a Comment:
Loved the super bowl. I was rooting for the Ravens going in, and Jim H's antics compared to John H's generally cool demeanor did nothing to sway me otherwise. I did want it to be an entertaining game though, so I was glad the 49ers were able to come back and make it close. I'd have been more angry about the power failure and its effects on the game if SF had actually pulled off the victory, which they almost did. No question the 34 minute delay had an enormous impact on momentum, allowed SF to collect themselves and gave the Ravens time to lose focus.
The Ravens looked like the more composed team for most of the game, but I think it's up for debate (or definition) whether they looked like the better team. SF looked more dangerous and more talented for much of the game to me, but kept shooting themselves in the foot at inopportune moments especially in the first half. They outgained the Ravens by what, 100+ yards on the night? But the Ravens did look like the more poised team. To analogize to a different sport, it felt like watching a college basketball final between a Coach K Duke basketball team laden with upperclassmen (and plenty of talent in its own right) against an even more-talented but less disciplined Kentucky team full of freshmen and sophomores about to leave for the NBA. Which will win out in the end - good talent + poise and discipline, or the team with even more talent but a little less discipline? It was a close call.
When the power went out my first thought was "terrorist attack?" My second thought was "I bet the New Orleans power grid infrastructure couldn't handle what Beyonce just did at halftime." I wonder whether the halftime show was a factor in the outage.
I think the non-call on the PI call was correct, even though by definition what the DB did was pass interference. The hold wasn't blatant, the WR could have played it better to either fight through the contact or make the contact be more severe and force a flag to be thrown, and in that situation I'd rather see the refs keep the flag in their pocket and let the 1-on-1 battle between the players decide the game unless a foul is egregious. Also for the most part, I thought the refs were pretty consistent in allowing the players to play and not throwing a flag every chance they had.
Not a huge fan of the halftime show - as you all know from past discussions of ours, I'm not usually among the first to get upset about seeing skin on tv, but still I wasn't crazy about scantily-clad Beyonce thrusting and shaking her backside and cleavage all over the place while my 3 young daughters watched.
Hated the godaddy ad and the calvin klein ad. Wondered if ads showing sexy girls in bikinis make women squirm the same way the Calvin Klein ad made me squirm.
The screaming goat Doritos commercial was a favorite of mine, possibly because we just watched the actual youtube screaming goat video a few days ago at our house and were laughing at it. Also liked the "farmers" commercial. Have to admit the old people's crazy night out Taco Bell commercial with "Tonight We are Young" sung in Spanish struck my funny bone. Definitely enjoyed the genie commercial from Toyota, too.