Every year, many people ask if the Super Bowl lives up to the hype. Were the teams evenly matched? Did the referees call it well or did they blow it? Were the commercials worth it? What about the halftime show?
Call it one man’s opinion, but I think that there are many facets of this year’s game to look at. My intent is to examine them one by one.
Commercials
So what were the highlights this year in the area of ads? In my opinion, there were few. We keep hearing about Puppymonkeybaby, but I have to ask, am I the only one that finds this ad disturbing? I get that these things by themselves are cute and that YouTube is built around such things. Still, there is a line not to cross. Granted, I am not a Mountain Dew customer and I am not likely to be in the future, so I am clearly not in their target.
Among some of the best, in my opinion, would be the ad that featured Hyundai.
This is a commercial that has stuck with me for a couple of days. In addition, we heard from a friend who said their teenage daughter insisted that they not get a car like that one. I think that this is the kind of thing that hits the mark all the way around. It features the product in a funny way that is memorable.
Other ads that deserve a mention would be one of Doritos’ entries.
The reasoning on this is the same. It’s fun and causes you to laugh and more importantly, remember the product. It’s all you could ask for.
Also an honorable mention to T-Mobile with their Steve Harvey commercial. They managed to slam the competition, poke fun at Steve Harvey and highlight their product in one spot. It was fantastic and fun for all, including the aforementioned Mr. Harvey, who appeared to have the time of his life poking fun at himself.
Halftime Show
This was strictly a yawner. It wasn’t like last year’s show, it wasn’t like when Bruno Mars headlined it a couple of years ago and thank everyone involved it wasn’t like the Black Eyed Peas show that essentially ended their career as a band.
This show featured the music and it was decent. It also hearkened back to other shows to show off what they had done (anyone else notice a certain lack of Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake in the retrospective video they played on the stage?). In the end, when you are trying to mix different great things and make them even better together, unless you happen to have a mix like chocolate and peanut butter, you miss it every time. Everyone was average and watching it, I can only tell you that I will likely not remember much about it a month or so from now.
The Game Itself
This was the best part of the whole evening. The game was a classic battle and while it won’t rank in anyone’s top 5 (unless you happen to be a Denver fan), it was one that felt like a titanic struggle. Neither offense did much and it was ultimately the defense that saved the day for Denver. For someone like me that loves to see a lot of scoring, it is rare to hear the words “Great Defense” come out of my mouth and yet, that is what I found myself saying over and over about both sides at some point in the evening.
Denver’s defense should scare a lot of people and they will continue to as they approach next year. Their offense will not, but we all know that defense win’s championships and that was evident in this game.
Post Game interviews
Could everyone please stop asking Peyton if he plans on retiring? Even if that is what he is planning, he needs the space to think on it. Leave it alone. Of course, if CBS had not asked him about that (twice), we would have all wondered why they didn’t ask, so I guess it’s a real Catch 22 situation for them.
As for all of the words that people have had for Cam Newton and his post game interview, I count myself as one of the few that will defend him.
He has just played in the biggest game of his career to this point and tried to carry his team on his shoulders. He is clearly dejected and clearly wants to be anywhere else. Still, he sat and answered a few questions, walking out at the end. Was it nice? No. Still, we have to remember that this is a guy that just lost in front of millions of people that has been in the league for, what, 5 seasons? He’s young and talented and will be back. He will also learn from mistakes that he made, and make no mistake, he made some of them. He will come around from this.
The final analysis
It was a pretty good evening that focused on the product that the NFL produces the best, football. There wasn’t much in the way of questionable officiating or anything else to get in the way. Just good, solid football. That makes it one that we will remember…at least until we get somewhere close to week one of the next season.