(no subject)

[shadowkat]

1. So who else skipped the Superbowl and watched a bad movie instead? ;-) (Mainly because I forgot it was on. I may have watched, because the Eagles have never won, and are a home team (from age of 3-12, I lived in PA, and my Dad's family are huge fans.)

Since I forgot to watch and the stupid News didn't reveal who won -- I ask cubicle mates.

ME: Who won the Superbowl?
Lando: The Yankees. (Cackles)
ME: I may not be into sports, but I'm not stupid.
Poe: The Eagles.
Me: YAY.
Poe: Yep. Hate the Patriots.
Me: Yep. As long as the Patriots, the Broncos and the Chiefs don't win -- I'm happy. (Although do have a preference for the Giants and the Eagles.)
Lando: Dang it, I almost got her.
Me: Sigh. The Islanders weren't playing Lando, sorry about that.

For those who skipped?

The Best and Weirdest and Most Complicated of the Superbowl Ads

My favorite is The Tide ad, that had me cackling and is by far the most effective and clever of the ads. I agree the Ram Truck ad really does not work - I left it confused and irritated.

Although the Groupon Ad is weirdly funny. The Matt Damon ad doesn't make much sense.

Mother said they had some interesting ads, understatement. Parents watched -- because, hello, the Eagles. And well they hate the Patriots.

Mother: It was a great game, sorry you missed it.
Me: Yeah, well, I'm not a huge football fan. It irritates me -- too many breaks in the action. That, and I completely spaced it. I forgot it was this weekend.
Mother: Some nice plays. And the Eagles won for the first time ever.
Me: And apparently Philadelphia went nuts and did some major damage, specifically to the Ritz Carlton Hotel.
Mother: Yep, there was some celebrating or so we heard. Justin Timberlake did the half-time show which wasn't bad. Lots of costume and set changes, which was interesting. And since it was in Minneapolis, there was a huge tribute to Prince.

Family was happy on FB. Co-workers were happy.

Mother: Were your co-workers happy that the Patriots lost?
Me: Yep.
Mother: Unless you live in Boston and love the Patriots, you're happy they lost.
Me: Because they are a nasty ass team?
Mother: Well no, mainly because they've won too many times. And The Eagles were the underdog.

For those who missed it The Superbowl Half-Time Show -- because honestly, who cares about the actual game? (grins evilly)

2. Black Lightening - the latest superhero series on the CW. This one is sort of DC's version of Luke Cage. I actually like it better than Luke Cage. A little less derivative, and not as stereotypical. In particular? The hero is a school principal, not an ex-con. He has two daughters, one of which is a medical student, teaching, into activism and lesbian. She manifests a version of his powers. While the other is a troubled 17 year old teen. The bad guys are a gang (that unfortunately does fall into racial stereotype) with a white guy leader. But outside of that guy, and a few cops, it's a black cast.

It's more adult than the other CW shows, and far darker. Similar in tone to the Marvel series on Netflix -- albeit without the same heavy production value and casting. Although I do like the lead far better than the guy playing Luke Cage. And there's some good supporting female characters in there.

Comments

[cactuswatcher]

I quit watching pro football long ago. It was getting blatantly phony in the later years of the (in)famous commissioner Pete Rozelle. In the late 1950's a very famous game was won by a long pass in the closing minutes. Everybody talked about that game back then the way people talk about Superbowl now. Rozelle saw a chance to make the NFL more popular and basically changed the rules to make it easier to do long passes. That worked and it wasn't a particular problem, at the time. But to keep making the game more exciting, it was clear by the 1980s that something was being done without the fans knowledge to keep them watching. Basically the officials were cheating, ignoring fairly obvious fouls committed by teams that were behind to keep the games close and everyone watching. I began to keep track of how many games were being won by teams that were behind by 10 points or less with 5 minutes left in the game. What I found was ridiculous. About 80% of the time the team that was behind then was winning the game. The teams weren't necessarily cheating. They still had to make the throws and catches. But it was becoming far too obvious that fouls (mostly holding on pass plays) against the team behind were being ignored and close calls were consistently going in favor of the team that was behind. Once teams learned they could get away with blatant holding on pass plays when they were behind late in the game, they all did it. The game had become a joke, but most fans never suspected a thing.

Oddly the one game a year that was always officiated fairly from start to finish was the Superbowl and year after year the Superbowl ended up being a dull game.

Perhaps all that nonsense with the officiating ended many years ago. There have been a few new commissioners since Pete Rozelle, and the push for officials to use replay to get close calls right, certainly would have eliminated some of the favoring of the team that was behind.

But frankly I find pro football boring. It's too much all the same. There is very little difference between the way the teams approach the game and I just don't need to see it any more.

I'm still addicted to college football. It's got all kinds of problems of its own including too much money being thrown at it, hoodlums being recruited and discarded as they disgrace themselves with the universities acting as if they had no part in bringing them in, and schools being encouraged by well meaning rules to dumb down their curricula so more athletes can graduate. It's just hard to convince myself to stop watching. I doubt the horror that has been revealed at Michigan State with women's gymnastics is the only unthinkable mess that has been going on.

[shadowkat]

I'd have to agree. I prefer college basketball and football for the same reasons. Once the big bucks get involved, the game loses some of its...respectability. As I stated below to cjlasky -- too much emphasis on winning not enough on how you are playing the game.

It's interesting to note that the Eagles won prior to the Superbowl being initiated. They've also won numerous National Championships. Not sure what that means in respect to your post above.

I only tend to watch the Superbowl, and an occasional college game, but overall I find it boring. Too many commercial interruptions, and I lose patience.

[cactuswatcher]

Yes, I remember when the Eagles won the "World Championship," which was the title game before the other league, the AFL, got absorbed. And yes people oohed, and aahed over the Eagles' quarterback back then just like they have been over the current one the last few days.

I don't think the league was playing favorites. They were just making it very difficult for either team to build up a modest lead in a game and keep it. And that was something that happened more often than not before Commissioner Rozelle started messing with the game.

[cjlasky7]

I don't watch nearly as much football as I used to. In the late 80s, my (now ex-) brother-in-law used to take me to Jets games where we nearly froze to death in the mezzanine. (Good times.)

I guess the turning point for me was the death of Junior Seau. A gifted athlete, and from all accounts, an exemplary human being--shooting himself because his brain had degenerated from the cumulative hits taken (and given) during his career.

I look at the games now and I wonder: how many of these men will end up like Seau (or suffer milder but still debilitating damage)? Yes, they know the risks. But I don't think the NFL really acknowledges the extent of the danger and minimizes it whenever possible.

Would I let my son play football? Maybe 20 years ago, I would've bought him the uniform and pushed him on to the field. Now? No way. How many other fathers have changed their minds? If they're like me, football may be on a slow but inevitable decline.

[shadowkat]

Maybe not...a co-worker is currently viewing school bidding to have her son join them on a Football Scholarship. He's the premiere Linebacker on Long Island and has made the papers various times. They are basically rolling out the carpet for him and giving him full scholarship. Backup plan? Sports Management.

Whether he'll go on to the NFL is another issues. College is a whole different game as cactus watcher notes above.

There's a lot of problems, racial and others, that the NFL seriously needs to fix. Not that the college sphere doesn't have issues too.

[cactuswatcher]

I wouldn't know how to fix the game of football. The head injury problem is indeed scary. I understand that headers are now recognized as a real long term danger for women in soccer. I wouldn't be surprised if the same is true for men.

[shadowkat]

I prefer baseball or basketball, much more civilized sports.