Saturday, January 31, 2009

High Holy Day

Normally, the Super Bowl -- or High Holy Day as it is known to my father, sister, and me -- is cause for celebration but frankly, I can't get myself worked up for it this year.

First, I really don't care about either of these teams though in a sense of morbid curiosity, I do wonder if Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger can match his miserable 9-for-21 performance in Super Bowl XL. The Steelers have never been of interest to me (seriously, can you get worked up about a team with a mascot called "Steely McBeam") while the Cardinals were chewed up, spit out, and turned into mulch by the Patriots this season so I've already seen them lose. Do I really care enough to see it happen again? Nope, not really. And yes, I know the Cardinals made the playoffs and the Patriots didn't but I doesn't mean I have to respect them in the morning.

Of course, you might say that the game is secondary to the spectacle. Some great commercials aired during the Super Bowl but in this economic climate, do we really have any interest in companies that spend $3.5 million for a 30-second TV commercial? Personally, the best Super Bowl ad this year is probably one that won't air -- a sexy commercial by PETA that was rejected by NBC, which I'm sure was PETA's aim the whole time given the tremendous Internet buzz and viral coverage they've received and all for far less than $3.5 million. Even the musical acts don't engender much interest. U2 was great in 2002 but I don't feel compelled to watch Springsteen hawk his new album with a greatest hits set during halftime tomorrow night.

So in the end, I don't really care much about Super Bowl XLIII but it is High Holy Day after all, regardless of who is playing so I'll see you all at kickoff.

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