Super Bowl Ramblings

In the 15 months that I've had Twitter, I've become quite fond of the social service. However, I do think there is a limit on how much tweeting people should be doing. I just don't need that many updates. I feel like around five per day is a good number, so when I had four tweets in the first ten minutes of the Super Bowl, it occurred to me that I needed to stop myself or it was going to get out of hand. As such, I took the rest of my random thoughts to here.

-As I wrote yesterday, I expected the Packers to throw, throw and then throw some more. But, even I didn't expect them to only run the ball nine times in the first three-and-a-half quarters. I thought they should have sprinkled in a few more runs, if for no other reason than to keep the Steelers defense honest. It nearly came back to bite them, because they couldn't run out the clock and giving the Steelers two minutes and a timeout to drive for the winning score is normally not a smart idea. That's the scary part for the rest of the NFC: imagine if Ryan Grant is healthy next season. The Packers could be even better next year.

-I am an admitted National Anthem snob and a tough grader. Therefore, due to her propensity to over-sing things, I was not expecting Christina Aguilera to meet my high standards. I did, however, expect her to be able to get the words to the National Anthem right. Perhaps if she wasn't thinking ahead to how she was going to turn 'brave' into a 15-syllable word she would have been thinking about singing the correct lyrics. But, if it is any consolation to Ms. Aguilera, she did just become the answer to a trivia question: name the last performer allowed to sing the National Anthem live at a Super Bowl. They will all be pre-recorded from here on out.

-Just a decade ago, any musician seen in a commercial would have been killed among their peers for destroying their credibility in the name of making a quick buck. I remember various musical acts (but especially rappers) crushing MC Hammer for appearing in Pepsi ads, saying he had sold out. However, when one of the 'hardest' rappers in the music industry can appear in two commercials, first for luxury cars and then in claymation form for iced tea, it is very evident to me that times have changed. Perhaps Eminem should send Mr. Hammer a check in gratitude. (Plus, I think MC could use the money.)

-For the second year in a row the podium at the end of the game was used as a reminder that I should never be given a national stage, because I hold grudges way too long. Just like last year when Drew Brees refrained from reminding San Diego that they were wrong to get rid of him, Aaron Rodgers was very gracious in not asking the world what Brett Favre was doing right now. (If he had done it with the wrestling championship belt slung over his shoulder that would have been a nice touch, giving it a heel-turn feel.) I can not guarantee I would have been able to control myself in that situation. It would have been an airing of the grievances for all to see.

-The halftime show was a little too elaborate for my tastes, but I assume if you are a fan of the Black Eyed Peas it was right in your wheelhouse. (You know my take on elaborate stage shows - artists do it when they know they don't have the musical talent to pull off anything more stripped-down.) The people I feel the worst for are Packers fans, because when your team win a Super Bowl you always feel a special connection to the artist that played the halftime show and that is who they got stuck with. Patriots fans got U2 and "Beautiful Day" as our anthem, Packers fan now have to pretend to like "I Gotta Feeling" for the rest of time. You'd almost rather lose (I said almost).