Can They Repeat?

Honest to Pete, what's with media people that the first question they ask in the after-game analysis is can New Orleans do it again next year? Perhaps the majority of the viewers are still basking in the glory of THIS win, hardly thinking ahead to making it to work tomorrow, but the prognosticators want to know about next year. I doubt I can handle an entire year of sports analysts asking that question, much less listening to the inane "answers" to it!!

The first half was, as so many first halves are, so-so, but the second half was energizing, perhaps as an antidote to The Who. Sure, it's better to be out there, to be willing to give it one last big public hoo-rah, but The Who? Yeah, I recognized the CSI theme, probably more for the pre-recorded sound track than the old-timers gyrating and windmilling on the stage while holding instruments. Whatever happened to the marching bands, the drumlines, the intricately choreographed performances? To the pep squad and song routines that are historically a part of the football experience? Hyping these big band gigs earns megabucks for the performers, but as an annual viewer, I'm so not impressed.

And, yes, before you ask, there was no "wardrobe malfunction": that was a planned sneak peek at Janet's expensive cosmetic enhancements. Too much time, effort and money go into costume construction for there ever to be a "wardrobe malfunction." That was a planned tear-off that generated just a little too much negative publicity and had to be explained away. Else why did JT even reach for that part of the costume? Hmmmm?

I'm sorry that the game had to end with a Brett Favre moment: the intercepted pass turning the game into the home stretch. I was torn between Brees and Favre in the semi-finals, knowing that it is Brees' time, but wanting Favre to have this one last moment of glory. Manning sat on the bench for most of this Super Bowl moment, generating frustration, rather than momentum, so it's not totally accurate to say that he lost the game; it's just that Brees went onto the field and won it several times over. Even the Saint's kicker made 3 field goals that put his name into the record books. It was just that kind of a day for the team, as well as the coach, who went for the win in unexpected ways, which added a layer of intensity and excitement that is far too often missing in the Big Show.

As for the commercials, I loved the young neighbors, a Clydesdale and a bull, running with the fence between them: it was cute, it made a subtext point about differences not determining relationships, and the final shot of the grown-ups running together pulled the message together. I hated the building of a human bridge to get the beer delivered. The subliminal message here is that beer is more important than people, an iffy choice for a media message. Additionally, there are far too many young people who will see that animation and think it is real -- and then try it for themselves. When we plant seeds in the minds of impressionable individuals, we should not be shocked when we see the fruits they bear.

As was said in the media all week, the Saints were the sentimental favorites, but everyone knew that the Colts would win. Or not.