February 5th, 2012
The Superbowl comes around once every year as a conclusion to the National Football League’s season. I’ve found myself watching it annually, even though I’m not the biggest football fan. It even hurts me to call it football. Soccer has always been the real football to me (anyone who thinks different is an ignorant ass). All of this nonwithstanding, the Superbowl is an event that I cannot miss, like the Oscars, or that show of shows, WrestleMania.
This year’s Superbowl featured the New York Giants taking on the New England Patriots. I immediately registered watching their first encounter four years ago, when New York snapped a season-long winning streak that the Pats had going for them. It was a huge upset, and now the Giants were once again the underdogs of sorts. So I knew that this would be a game of high tension. I was hoping for a killer show. Lets face it, the Superbowl is not just about the football game. There’s also the halftime show, and the commercials. So going into this Superbowl, I was looking for a couple of characteristics for a truly entertaining show: A killer halftime show, a bunch of entertaining commercials, and a thrilling game that hopefully comes right down to the wire. This year’s Superbowl did not disappoint one bit.
The Game
Just like the last time they met at the Superbowl, I decided to cheer for the Giants. Simply because I loved watching them win the first time around. The final score of the game was Giants 21 – 17 Patriots, so I was pretty pleased. The game had all the thrilling action I could hope for. With New York scoring the first touchdown and the score at 9-0, I was happy. After New England made their slow but sure comeback to set the score at 9-10, I was slightly pissed, but I hoped for the Giants to comeback. The Patriots then went to 9-17, I was concerned. However, in the back of my mind was this burning desire to see a great comeback. The one that rides on high emotions. And when the Giants brought the score to 15-17 at the end of the 3rd quarter, I began salivating for the comeback. And in the final quarter, Eli Manning came out guns blazing. A couple of astounding passes and astounding catches later, the score stood at 21-17, with 50 or so seconds to go until the end of the game. That last minute lasted for about a half an hour- at least it seemed like it. But the score stood, and I wound up with the result I hoped for: a truly thrilling game, with an awesome outcome.
The Half-time Show
Madonna. I can’t be the critical voice here, because I’m not entirely familiar with Madonna. I was never a huge fan, but I never really listened to a lot of her songs either. So I did not quite know what to expect when I heard she would be the performer for this year’s halftime show. I wasn’t expecting an incredible show by any means. Then she came out, in ridiculously flashy fashion, on a ridiculously flashy stage. I started to get into the performance when I realized how much work goes into that show. The stage, the lights, the FX, wait is that LMFAO? They wound up being one of a bunch of guest stars, that also included Nicki Minaj, MIA, and the always entertaining Cee-Lo Green. They definitely helped make the show cool. However, I think it was at the point when I saw Madonna and LMFAO engage in a little shufflin that I was seriously impressed by the Queen of Pop. She’s 53 years old. Damn that’s impressive. So needless to say, by the time she got to “Like A Prayer”, I was completely entertained. Madonna kinda rocked that show, totally exceeded my expectations, and may have found a new fan in me.
The Commercials
Now I must first and foremost express my serious disappointment with Canadian Television, since they do not air the same ads that the United States airs during the Superbowl. So I can’t really watch the Superbowl commercials, until I look for them online. Which I did, and I was pleased with what I found, but I would love to have an unabridged Superbowl experience that includes the commercials. As we all know, advertisers, tend to pull out all stops when the Superbowl comes around, since its viewed by an insanely large audience. So Superbowl commercials wind up being classics. This year featured a bunch of great ones, such as M&M’s clever “Stripping” commercial, or the exuberant commercial for Samsung Galaxy S. A commercial that deserves a special mention of course, is the now infamous “Ferris Bueller” Honda CRV commercial. But the one that I found the most impressive? That would Chrysler’s new “Imported From Detroit” commercial- a sequel to the one they did last year featuring Eminem. So who did they cast in this commercial? whose gravelly, gritty voice did they use to hook you? The most iconic man alive, Clint Eastwood.
“This country can’t be knocked out with one punch. We get right back up again and when we do the world is gonna hear the roar of our engines. Yeah, It’s halftime in America. And our second half is about to begin.”
Talk about stirring words. I have no idea who wrote this ad, but they knocked it out of the park, just like Clint Eastwood did. Simply incredible.
The Show
So to sum up, this was one hell of a show. It met all my expectations. and even exceeded a few of them. The Superbowl is most definitely not just for football fans. It should be seen by everyone. It’s a huge spectacle that will make sure it pulls out all the stops in order to provide unbridled entertainment. This year’s show did just that for me. So I must offer some final words of congratulations. To Madonna, to Matthew Broderick and Clint Eastwood, and to Eli Manning and the rest of the Patriots.
Enjoy your place in history.
calvindsilva 