Superbowl LIV…a quick recap of good, bad, and ugly

First off, I want to say congrats to the Kansas City Chiefs for winning Superbowl LIV

50 years is a long time to wait, but hey, some teams are still waiting for their first time to even make it to the game.

I’m not planning on this being a long post, but I do want to hit on a few points about the game (and other things involved with the proceedings).

‘Murica

The National Anthem is one of the hardest songs to sing. Many people don’t realize this when they rush to criticize singers. There are those that totally nail it, like Whitney Houston in the ’92 game (i may be off on that year). On the flipside, there are those that butcher the song beyond recognition, like Roseanne (ironically, i think she was the year before or after Whitney) or Fergie( her rendition was at an NBA All-Star Game, but it still counts).

I’m not one of these people that bows down to the almighty US National Anthem or believes that a piece of fabric is a holy relic that should be worshipped and revered above all else like some people in the country. I do have respect for those that have fought for our freedoms and what the song and flag stand for. Also, a great rendition of the National anthem is a great rendition and Demi Lovato killed it! Have a quick listen, if you missed it

Commercials

Every year, it seems that the big game is overshadowed by the halftime (more on that soon) and the commercials. This year was no exception.

Some were funny, some were weird, some were emotional, and some were…well, you see that pic of Jason Momoa. That’s all I need to say. Oh, and we got our first glimps of the Marvel Disney+ shows!

I do have to bring up the political ads, though. Understanding that this is an election year, these things will become more and more commonplace as the year goes on. However, I prefer to just watch and enjoy the game without hearing the children that run or want to run this country telling us that they would do the best job. Just let me have some peace for a few hours before I am forced to endure this for the next 9 months.

Halftime

Ever since the infamous Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake incident, the NFL has been scared to take any chances with the halftime show. This explains why for a period of time, they trotted out legends who, while respectable, weren’t as big of an attraction as they were when they were in their prime.

It wasn’t until recently that they’ve started to bring in more recent artists. Yes, they are still playing it safe, but they’re not bringing acts that have one foot in the grave out there, anymore.

This year’s show featured Shakira and Jennifer Lopez in a Latin explosion of fun and excitement! These two ladies tore the place down with medleys of their greatest hits. As a matter of fact, the songs Shakira performed skyrocketed to the top of iTunes after the performance.

Of course, this isn’t without controversy. People are complaining about JLo using her daughter, kids in cages, showing too much skin (even though Adam Levine was shirtless for most of last year’s halftime), and one guy is even threatening to sue to the NFL because it will “keep him out of heaven”. I’m not even going to touch that one.

Leaving this topic on much higher note, it should be mentioned that these are two middle aged women doing things that girls half their age wouldn’t dare try. Impressive to say the least!

The game

I remember when I was little watching Super Bowls and seeing blowout after blowout after blowout. As a Denver Broncos fan, it was hard to watch, let me tell you. Just as I was about to give up on them, my Dallas Cowboys rose to power and well, I won’t go into a whole history lesson on the Super Bowl.

Neither the Chiefs or San Francisco 49ers are my teams. At the same time, they aren’t teams I hate, either. I was cheering more for the Chiefs, though, mostly because Patrick Mahomes and Damien Williams were on my fantasy football teams and pretty much carried me into the championship.

This was a back and forth game with two of the best teams in the league. The first half flew by! I swear it only took about 45 minutes to get through those 2 quarters with these prolific offenses.

The second half is where it really became exciting. In the 4th quarter, the Chiefs had fallen behind. Mahomes threw two interceptions and it looked as if the Niners had it locked up. Anyone that watched the playoffs this year knew better, as Mahomes has led come from behind victories with larger deficits against arguably better defenses.

I went to the kitchen to make a last snack and the next thing I knew, they were back in it. This guy really is the future of the league!

Alas, the 31-20 victory signaled the end of football season

The XFL starts this weekend, so there is that. I might be one of the handful of people that watched it the last time and enjoyed it. In the meantime, the countdown begins for college spring games. With LSU just a few blocks away, I can more than assure you they are still celebrating after their championship win last month and will probably be doing so until the season actually gets going.

On a final note, this is Randi Martin

 

No, that’s not his girlfriend. She’s Mahomes’ mom!!!

Ok…I’m up, I’m up!!!

While most people here in Louisiana were butthurt about the Saints being “screwed” out of the Super Bowl (i question how many of them actually gave a damn in the not so distant past when the team was struggling to win 2 or 3 games a season, but that’s a topic for another day), I actually watched the game like a good NFL fan.

The level of disappointment in this game, though, will take a while to be matched.

First, let me give props to both teams for making it through a grueling season, defying the odds, pundits, and talking heads to play in the biggest game. For some, they may never get this chance again, so kudos.

Congrats to the Patriots for winning

Now, with that said, this was a boring game to watch. If you were a fan of defense, then this was the game for you. However, I find it ironic that the league is pushing for offense because it is more exciting that we end up with a battle of defensive superiority. It sucks that defense equals total boredom, but that’s the way it is.

Usually with these games, I’m invested from the National Anthem through the post show, but with this one, I found myself turning on Netflix and watching Monty Python’s Flying Circus, The Punisher: War Zone, and Girl Meets World, rather than enjoying the “action” on the field.

Speaking of the National anthem,

Gladys Knight not only sang the hell out of that song, she did it without going on for half an hour with vocal acrobatics. She made it her own while also keeping the integrity of the piece. Unlike what Fergie did last year at…was it the NBA All-Star Game or Finals?

Let’s move on to halftime, shall we…

Before I get into this, let me say that I have no problem with any of these artists. Maroon 5 was a fine choice to headline, Big Boi was a hometown favorite (like Gladys Knight), and Travis Scott is a name for the younger audience. With that said, I can’t help but think of 2 things…
1) This was an extremely safe performance. Ever since “nipplegate” with Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake some, what was that 20 yrs ago now, the league has been scared to take a chance with the halftime show. Add that to the volatile political climate we currently live in and you have your answer for why this show was so milquetoast.
a)Speaking of Janet and her nipple, with each song, Adam Levine, lead singer of Maroon 5, took off an article of clothing until he was shirtless. Ever wonder why we can see male nipples until the cows come home, but even the hint of a female’s areola and its as if we are seeing animal sacrifice to the demon lords or something!
2) Leading up to the game, there was a petition to have “Sweet Victory” from Spongebob Squarepants. Before Travis Scott made his appearance, there was a 10 second clip of the cartoon, but no part of the actual song that people wanted to hear. It was like a big tease and F-U to fans. What was the point of this all? Your guess is as good as mine!

Finally, the commercials. Sakes alive, these things were underwhelming. 3 days removed and I can’t recall what any of them were. In years past, there are usually a few that stick with you. Nope, not this time. I mean, I remember the Bud Light commercial involving Game of Thrones, but that was because it was tied in to a show that I’m counting down the days for it return.

For some reason, advertisers have chosen to go with more inspirational commercials rather than funny or memorable ones. Maybe those would be great if this were some Hallmark or Lifetime channel movie, but this is the freakin’ Super Bowl!!! Give us something we can enjoy.

There was one commercial that caught my attention, though…

All in all, this should have been an event where I was able to sit on the couch with my snack and watch a good, exciting game of football. Instead, I think i would have been better off watching a documentary on –insert the most boring thing you can think of–.

Maybe next year, we’ll get a better game (hopefully with the Cowboys!!!)

Until then, I guess I have to deal with the fact that football is over until the end of August and I need to see what’s going on in the NBA and start thinking about my NCAA tournament bracket possibilities.

Joy!