Oh, did I mention the friendly wager I made with my old college roommate? We’re both Eagles fans, but he chose the if-you-can’t-beat-em-join-em route and began rooting for the Packers. I chose the Steelers to go all the way.
(NFL Championship Sunday, The iPINIONS Journal, January 24, 2011)
I suppose I should thank my lucky stars that the only thing at stake for me was ribbing rights with my old college roommate. But oh what an exciting game tonight!
To be honest, though, I thought it was all over with less than one minute left in the first half when the Steelers were trailing the Packers 21-3.
But then the Steelers scored, which not only produced a more respectable halftime score of 21-10, but turned momentum in their favor and raised expectations for a comeback in the second half as well. Never mind that the halftime host put a damper on things by letting us know that no team in NFL history has ever come back from an 11-point deficit at halftime to win the Super Bowl.
Nonetheless, those expectations were summarily vindicated when the Steelers began the second half by first stopping a Packers drive and then scoring a touchdown on their first possession, coming within four points at 21-17.
In fact, all was going well until early in the fourth quarter when the Steelers blew a chance to take the lead by turning over the ball for the third time, which ended up (for the third time) with the Packers driving for a touchdown and a now-virtually insurmountable 28-17 lead.
I thought for sure it was all over at this point, but back came the Steelers, scoring a touchdown and then a two-point conversion, which brought them back within three points (28-25) with 7:34 to go in regulation time. I could barely contain my nervous excitement.
But talk about answering the bell: back came the Packers driving the length of the field and just missing a game-killing touchdown by a fingertip. They settled for a field goal, extending their lead to 31-25 with 2:07 to go.
This meant that the Steelers had to top the Packers by driving the length of the field (beginning at their own 13-yard line) and actually scoring a touchdown to win. Unfortunately, they never made it to midfield….
Incidentally, it speaks volumes about the yoeman character of both teams (one named for steel workers, the other for meat packers) that there were no spectacular plays, yet this game will probably go down as the most exciting in Super Bowl history; well, of the ones that I’ve seen at any rate.
Anyway, congratulations to the Packers on winning their fourth Super Bowl championship!
This brings me to the non-football features of this sports spectacle:
Christina Aguilera should have gargled before singing because she sounded like she had a frog caught in her throat. What’s more, she could have shown a little more respect for the National Anthem, not to mention her profession, by learning the damn lyrics. (Of course, she probably grew up singing the wrong lyrics. But the greater shame is that nobody along the way, not even in rehearsals for this biggest performance of her career, was aware or brave enough to correct her….)
I thought the Black Eyed Peas put on a terrific halftime show – easily the best since Prince performed four years ago.
But it probably betrays what little appreciation I have for their music that I found their light show featuring formation dancers far more entertaining. And they really could have done without Usher dropping in to do a miming bit in the middle of their gig.
As for the overhyped commercials, the only one I thought was worthy of the $2.9-million tag for each 30 seconds was the claymation featuring Eminem for Lipton Brisk iced tea.
On the other hand, for a guy who has made a career out of dissing stars who do commercials, which happened to be the theme of his Brisk commercial, Eminem had me scratching my head when I saw him, this time in the flesh, pitching another one for Chrysler. Of course, he would probably argue that, being from Detroit, he was merely performing a public service on behalf of the embattled Motor City. And I would buy that. It was actually a very compelling commercial, paying homage as it did to the working-class folks of the American auto industry much as the Steelers and Packers did to steel workers and meat packers, respectively.
As for the others, well, I don’t see how watching a guy suck cheese dust off his buddy’s fingers would make anyone, except junk-food eating gay guys, want to rush out and buy Doritos. I know if I were eating Doritos when I saw this commercial I would have been more than a little put off by that kind of homo-erotic association with my chips.
Ozzie Osbourne and Justin Bieber were a disaster for Best Buy; and Pepsi selling its brand by hurling cans at a guy’s balls and at a Becky’s head was just stupid.
I will say, however, that Dr. Gregory House of FOX’s House did a pretty good take on the famous Mean-Joe-Green-Coke commercial by throwing his famous cane to an admiring kid – nearly breaking his collar bone. But I hope it did not ruin things for his fans who probably had no idea that his cane was nothing more than a prop; i.e., that he could always walk just fine.
Finally, since almost all of my 16 siblings are die-hard fans of the Dallas Cowboys, brotherly love compels me to commiserate with their obvious resentment over watching the Steelers and Packers play this Super Bowl game in the Cowboys’ brand new, one-billion-dollar stadium.
After all, Jerry Jones, their flamboyant owner, promised that they would properly christen this stadium by ending their first season in it as Super Bowl champions. Instead, they may have jinxed it by ending up 6-10 record and not even making the playoffs. he-he-he….
NOTE: It could only have added seething envy to his notorious fall from grace for bona fide Packers legend Brett Favre to watch his former backup, Aaron Rogers, over the past few years not only erase him from the hearts and minds of Packers fans, but now win the one award Favre never did; namely, MVP of the Super Bowl.
Related commentaries:
NFL Championship Sunday
* This commentary was originally published last night, Sunday, at 10:40
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