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zwolanerd

I guess I just like liking things

(Skipping what would normally be a “Music Monday” to be topical. Sorry if this messes up all your plans.)

I’m a guy who doesn’t sports much. I mean that in the sense that I don’t play any in real life (except some softball occasionally) and I don’t engage much in the culture of sports.  I don’t mind that other people do, but I do mind that sports seems to be the major focus of educational institutions to the point that it takes precedence over meeting other educational needs.  That is most like a whole different post than the one I’m trying to make here, so we’ll just move on.

If I am going to watch a sport it will be American football. I’ve been a Cowboys fan since I was a kid, so I sorta keep up with them, but I can watch a bit of most any decent game. I played on our high school team fora  few years and I’ve played enough videogame football to understand what’s going on. And, like most people, if you give me a random matchup, I’ll be able to tell you who I hope would win, even if I don’t know much about either team. Rarely will I make it a point to plan ahead to watch any particular game, though. I don’t plan my schedule around football games, unless someone has invited us over to have food and watch a game. At that point it’s more about hanging out than it is about football anyway, at least for me.

The Super Bowl, though, is different. It’s not really so much a game as it is a cultural event. I’ll generally plan to watch it, and I’ll generally plan to watch it with friends. The commercials and halftime show are as much a part of it as the game itself, regardless of what any sports fan tries to tell you. Without those things the game wouldn’t be near as big a deal, I’m convinced of it.

So, yes, I watched the game last night. And here are just a few of my thoughts about it:

  • The game itself was one of the most un-fun ones I’ve ever seen. I was rooting for Peyton Manning to be the first QB to win Super Bowls with two different teams, so I’m sure that was part of it. I don’t mind blowouts when it’s the team I like winning.
  • My two favorite commercials were the Radio Shack ad with ALF, Q*bert, and a bunch of other 80s people/things, and the Toyota commercial with The Muppets.
  • I also quite enjoyed the ad for Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee that was a teaser for the full episode with George Costanza. I just wish Elaine and Kramer had showed up, too.
  • I don’t much care for Bruno Mars’ music, but his show seemed energetic and flashy enough. My wife liked it. Mixing the Red Hot Chili Peppers in was nice.
  • The episode of New Girl featuring Prince after the game was really good.
  • Twitter enhances the experience of large cultural events like this, for me, at least. Yes, there are vocal gripers, but a lot of funny things get said and it’s always nice to enjoy things with friends, even if your friends aren’t in the same room (or state, or country, even) as you.

What’d you think of the whole deal?

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