Super Bowl History - A Mixed Bag

I've never been the world's biggest football fan. I don't watch college at all, and I only sometimes watch non-Patriots games. The Saint's involvement in this year's playoffs has been a major source of interest, both because T hails from Slidell, as well as the human interest in something of this magnitude happening for the city of New Orleans. The presence of the game's premiere talent (Peyton Manning) also carries weight. The NFC title game 2 weeks ago was monumental and if we are lucky, this year's Super Bowl will come close. But the games have always been a mixed bag, not just for the contest itself, but for the commercials, the half-time shows, and venues for watching the big one. For every Rams/Titans nail-biter, there is a Bucs/Raiders massacre that is over by the end of the 1st quarter. For every Springsteen dominated half-time, there is a series of creepy baby ads. A brief history then of some highs and lows from my personal viewing history . . .

1991: Buffalo Bills vs. Washington Redskins - The first Super Bowl I remember watching (at 10), I was excited to join a group of friends going to watch at JH's house. They had pizza and multiple TV's. Unfortunately, our host wasn't always the fairest of children and decided to ask each guest who he was rooting for upon entering his front door. Being behind Washington, those fans would gather downstairs in the basement with more space and the largest TV. The unfortunate handful of friends rooting for Buffalo were instructed to march directly to his mother's bedroom to watch in seclusion. I'm not kidding! Not only did I (along with 3 others) have to suffer the indignity of cheering for the eventual losers, we had to do so sitting on the edge of the bed belonging to our friend's mom. Giving in to this arrangement is not my proudest moment.

1996: Green Bay Packers vs. New England Patriots - Excitement filled the air in Boston, especially since no local team had reached its respective sport's final game in a decade. Along with 3 camp friends we drove to a party hosted by Cedar's owner, but the consensus after 30 minutes was we'd rather be elsewhere. I went home and joined my extended family, only to have the air lifted out of the room as Desmond Howard ran back about 14 balls for touchdowns if memory serves (it felt like that many). Quality pepperoni pies from the eternally underrated Newton Centre establishment "Pizza Man" softened the blow, even as our Bledsoe led troops lost 35-14.

2000: Baltimore Ravens vs. New York Giants - Yah, didn't really make it through this one. A college dorm party featuring 2 kegs and a suspect cooked ham ended my night around the 5 minutes mark of the 2nd quarter. I was literally unconscious when I felt my roommate CK poking my sides to move. I stumbled back to my dorm room with a little help from my friends and passed out fully dressed around 8pm. For what it's worth I picked the right game to miss. The Ravens/Giants debacle is perhaps the most lopsided Super Bowl of my lifetime. The night ended up being most memorable for my mom nervously wondering if I was going to die after my roommate telling her I'd fallen asleep at halftime. Bear in mind this was perhaps 1 of 5 nights total in which I fell asleep before 2AM during college. Needless to say, mom was relieved to hear from me the following afternoon.

2001: St. Louis Rams vs. New England Patriots - A low key year with only a single roommate (one was at the game live), SC and I watched with anticipation as my local boys jumped out to an early lead over the heavily favored Rams offense. We'd decided to chase some leftover codeine pills from my recent wisdom tooth surgery with my favored Coors lite, which did nothing at first, though we were mumbling jibberish after a while. Unfortunately, my dumb-ass also decided to eat an entire carton of chicken lomein, the combined effects of which forced me into the bathroom before U2's exemplary half-time show. I missed the entire 3rd quarter in the deserted Jackson Hall bathroom, returning only to find Kurt Warner and his troops charging back. But Adam Vinateri's dramatic heroics sent me running outside into the snow covered field and cheering triumphantly, soon matched by several Pats fans. It was pretty awesome, and led to a tremendous tee-shirt prize featuring the phrase, "The Silence of the Rams."

2007: New England Patriots vs. New York Giants - Ummm, yeah not much to say. A disastrous end to a brilliant season, in which David Tyree cheated by pouring a bucket of super glue all over the front of his helmet to catch an impossible pass from the Manning who looks slightly retarded. This game received it's own blog, though it was a fun night until the final minute, surrounded by good friends who all contributed to a pot-luck feast. I'm still knocking on wood that our gracious host AM, who took the loss a tad harder than the rest of us, didn't jump off his 10th floor balcony landing on an unsuspecting cab on Causeway St. Given the game result, the highlight of the night surely had to be T's superb baked salami. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

That just about brings us up to speed. The Patriots won 2 more, besting the Panthers & Eagles by a field goal apiece, cementing their status as the team of the decade. The Colts beat the Bears, bucking the trend that great defense always beats great offense. Janet Jackson flashed her goodies in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment prompting approximately 49 DVR rewinds in my parent's basement. And the Steelers bested Arizona in a 2009 contest that may have been the best of all. But this year it's just T and me (I know I'm supposed to use "I," but I like words that rhyme). We're rooting for New Orleans and for a good game. So far the best commercial by far involved a young black kid smacking an adult across the face as a warning not to touch his Doritos. I laughed aloud and know exactly how he feels. Other early winners involved the Lebron James/Dwight Howard update of the famous Larry Bird/Michael Jordan H.O.R.S.E. contest for McDonalds (with a "Legend" cameo), Betty White getting tackled in a Snickers ad, and the "Casual Friday's" ad for careerbuilder.com featuring employees celebrating in their underwear. Time to make some wings and cheer on a group of 75-year old British rock stars, whom my Dad just proclaimed look so old it might as well be him up there on stage.

"Teenage Wasteland!"

Enjoy the 2nd half.

P.S. T just taught me how to properly sing the "Who dat?" chant. I sound like a fool, but am now one with the culture.

Edit: Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints

Edit #2: A lot of people were itching for Manning to win a 2nd bowl, which would've helped justify their assertion that Manning had surpassed Brady as the great quarterback of his era. Funny how I don't hear a word from any of them today :)