Thoughts on the Super Bowl

If you like basketball, you probably liked Super Bowl XLIV.

If you like watching the CPU play the CPU in chess on your PowerBook, you probably liked Super Bowl XLIV.

If you live along the gulf coast or were personally affected by the horror of Hurricane Katrina or really any other major catastrophe which has left you in need of spiritual healing, you probably liked Super Bowl XLIV.

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I liked it well enough, in that there was no disparity in talent, and it really was a fair fight at the highest possible level of the sport.

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I didn't like the lack of a story line outside of the volleys of offensive production. There was nothing to do with physicality in this game, and there was no offense-defense matchup to develop over the course of the game.

Some examples of what I like out of a football game:

-The conference championship games two weeks ago. Great story line in watching the Saints hit Favre after every throw; we all kept wondering how many more of those could he take before he was throwing off his back foot and into coverage; then, we found out. Or even in the Colts-Jets game, watching Manning go after Revis, fearlessly, and just work on him with routes that he couldn't cover.

-The Patriots-Giants super bowl, where the New York D-line surprised the hell out of the Pats' O-line, and put Brady completely on tilt. Even though there wasn't a defining defensive play, there was a development that progressed as the game went on. Meanwhile, you have Eli and his offense scrapping together just enough to pull off an upset against a far superior unit on the other side.

-Last year, when you had the best offense versus the best defense, and saw both rise to the challenge and make adjustments right up until the end.

That's really the point I'm getting at here: there weren't any major adjustments made in this match. It was pretty much just brinkmanship, and waiting for a mistake.

I will say this: props to New Orleans for the onside kick, and good for both teams going for it on 4th down. Also it was vaguely noteworthy to follow Dwight Freeney's condition as the night went on, and kind of mentionable that the Saints came out nervous and then settled down.

Other than that, it was just basketball.

p.s. The commercials mostly sucked.