Super Bowl Stuff

Super Bowl Sunday is nearly upon us.  Broncos vs Seahawks. Offense vs Defense.  The Super Bowl is always one of the most watched events of the year, and with that comes a plethora of media coverage leading up to the big game.  Nearly every storyline is dissected and analyzed.  Here’s my take on a few of the stories that have garnered much of the attention.

Richard Sherman:

One of the first Super Bowl stories started with the play that helped crown the NFC winner – the potential game-winning pass to Michael Crabtree batted away by Richard Sherman.  (Side note: Has anyone mentioned that it was Malcolm Smith’s heads up effort to follow the entire play and actually make the interception that essentially ended the game?  It was 1st and 10 at the time, so the 49ers would have had a few more chances to get into the endzone.)  It was a phenomenal play, but it was the Richard Sherman interview following the game that really roused a lot of attention.  Check it out here if you haven’t seen it.  And check out this hilarious version even if you have seen the original.

The reaction to this interview was crazy.  People immediately jumped on Sherman and called him a “thug” and much worse for the explosive interview.  Others quickly came to his defense, pointing out the high emotion of the game, his rough up-bringing, Crabtree’s off the field comments, the fact that Sherman graduated with a high GPA from Stanford, that he is a master at his craft  (arguably backing up the claim that he is the greatest at his position), and that he puts in a great deal of time and research.  He’s also a pretty great writer, see here. (His claim in that article, that Manning throws “ducks” is, by the way, 100% accurate. As a huge Manning and Colts fan who has watched his entire career, I know that every game, Peyton will throw at least one or two balls that wobble — you just hope that those throws aren’t picked off.  This has become the newest story — trying to stir up the “ducks” comment)  After the interview, the media has been dying to get more out of Sherman, but he hasn’t given them that satisfaction.  He has appeared at the required media events but hasn’t said much, and kept his time minimal (at one of the events, only staying around for about 6 minutes).  I don’t blame him and see this as a smart move on his part – the media is only trying to get another reaction or quote from him and he isn’t going for it.  Instead we’ll see what he does on the field against one of the all-time great quarterbacks — that should be the story that matters, the one that happens on the field.

The Venue and the Weather:

This year the game will be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where both the Giants and Jets play.  This is an outdoor stadium in the northeast.  This matters, in large part, because the entire country has had an unusually rough winter.  The Polar Vortex in the Midwest and Northeast along with large amounts of snow could make for an interesting Super Bowl weekend if the next batch comes in at the wrong time.  Most experts agree that this kind of rough weather, be it strong winds or snow, would be an advantage favoring the Seahawks.

looks chilly (the polar vortex in chicago)

Sure, both teams would have to play in the same conditions, but the Broncos record breaking passing attack would almost surely be slowed, while the Seahawks’ ground game would likely be much less affected.  As for now, the weather forecast doesn’t seem terrible (low 40s to start the game and dropping from there), but we won’t know until it happens.  Additionally, some people are saying that NYC is too big for the Super Bowl.  It’s such a large city with so much going on, that the Super Bowl isn’t even center stage; it’s eclipsed by the usual hustle and bustle of the Big Apple (even though the stadium is technically located in Jersey, it’s still the New York Super Bowl).  With all of the critiques of the outdoor venue in such a terrible winter, if you are the type of person who loves the old school play through blizzard smash mouth football, then you better enjoy this Super Bowl, because I think that the NFL will stick with domes and/or warmer weather for the next several years.  (If Peyton sticks around after this year for a few more seasons, I think he will appreciate that if he finds himself in future Super Bowls.)

Manning:

It’s all about Peyton, let’s be honest.  Manning is considered an all-time great quarterback on nearly everyone’s list, but his playoff record has been mediocre (11-11, also see here), especially given his high level of success during the regular season. He has been to two super bowls and has won one, so this wouldn’t be his first ring.  But after this game he’ll be 2-1 or 1-2 in Super Bowls, a huge difference.  So it’s an important second ring for Manning.  It’s especially big because he’s never been in a position where he’s had access to such an impressive arsenal of weapons.  Receivers, tight ends, a pretty good running game, and a pretty good defense to back him up; he never had it so good in Indy.  If he doesn’t come out of this Super Bowl with a victory, all of the regular season records and accolades will be for naught; the entire year will be a failure.  That seems drastic, but I don’t think it’s overstating the position that Manning and the Broncos are in, even though they are facing a talented and physical defense and secondary in the Seahawks.  I’m a Manning fan, and I’m hoping he’ll play well, regardless of what the Seahawks (or the weather) throw at him.

The Betting:

Of course, it’s always fun to keep on eye on some of the betting that gets action.  Here are just a few Super Bowl bets that you can put your money on (credit here):

Over/Under for Renee Fleming to sing the National Anthem: 2:23

Over/Under times Eli Manning is shown on TV: 1.5

Over/Under number of times Peyton Manning says “Omaha” during the game: 27.5

Over/Under passing yards for Peyton Manning: 289 yards

Over/Under rushing yards for Marshawn Lynch: 92 yards

The actual spread is Broncos: -2.5

Happy Betting!

For me, I want a good game, though I do have a horse Colt Bronco in the race.  I’m a Colts fan, and a Manning fan.  I harbor no bad feelings or bad blood towards him as a Bronco.  He put the team on the map, and gave us a lot of great football and success over the years.  Plus, if he wants to eclipse Tom Brady (which I desperately want for him), he needs to be 2-1 and not 1-2, as stated above.  Go Peyton!  Go Broncos!  Broncos win: 27-17.

I’m a Denverapolis Broncolts fan for this one!

 

Super Bowl Ad: Sex Ed

Some people are 49ers fans, others are Ravens fans.  Many are neither but want to see the last football game of the season.  Lots tuned in for Beyonce, and many watched for the infamous ads.

Regardless of the particular reason, lots of people watch the Super Bowl.  This year was no exception, with a huge audience tuning in (it was the third most watched TV broadcast, behind only Super Bowl ’12 and Super Bowl ’11).

Suffice it to say that advertising during the Super Bowl gives you a national worldwide platform of viewers.

One of the best was the Oreo argument in the library, when despite all of the ruckus, everyone obeyed the “quiet voices” library policy.

 

Sure I am probably a bit biased, and I was almost certainly a bit obnoxious as I sat next to my soon-to-be-librarian girlfriend giggling and poking her asking her if that’s what she would do in that situation…

I think regardless of whether you happen to have a connection to a librarian, it’s a pretty entertaining commercial.  There were a few other commercials that were reasonably funny and several that made no sense at all to me (perhaps more on these later).

But there was one other commercial that caught my eye, and maybe not for the right reasons.  It was the “where do babies come from?” Kia car commercial:

 

Ok, so it is kind of funny.  But why?

For starters, the pretty obvious allusion to sex is apparent throughout.  We have “rockets ready for lift-off,” we see a fleet of sperm rockets approaching the egg earth, and we find out that they are trying to “penetrate” the atmosphere.  And that’s how babies are made.

Alright, funny enough.  But the situation itself is a little bit disappointing and says a lot about our culture, and the taboo nature of (legitimate) sex information in America.

Here we have a young kid ask a very innocent question about where babies come from.  Instead of answering the question with any semblance of the truth, we see the young parents become immediately flustered and come up with a complex web of lies involving distant planets and rocket ships that carry babies.

I’m not saying that you have to get down to the nuts and bolts or specific diagrams of how things work, but a reasonable response wouldn’t hurt.  “Well, Timmy, when two adults care about each other they may want to have a child together.  Men have half an egg, and women have half an egg, so they can put them together to have a baby.”  It’s a little vague, it’s reasonably accurate, reasonably responsible, and there’s nothing dirty or shameful about it.

The final punchline of the commercial is that we find out that little Timmy already knows better than the story that his parents tell him.  He starts to reply by saying that his friend told him… at which time the parents immediately shut down the conversation and crank up the “Wheels on the Bus” children’s song.  It’s ironic that the kid has obviously shown his sexual knowledge/curiosity to be beyond this children’s song, but the parents try to ignore this and appear to soothe themselves with an innocent and appropriate children’s song.

Again, instead of addressing the issue in any reasonable way, they decide to completely ignore the kid and shut down the conversation.  They don’t even bother to find out if the information that little Timmy’s friend gave him is in any way accurate.

Both the complex web of lies as well as the “shut it down” attitude of the parents also give off the idea that sex is dirty or shameful – or at the very least inappropriate.  It also allows for any bad information to go unchecked.

Now, I get it – it’s a commercial.  And it’s supposed to be funny.  And there is some humor to it.  But the basis for the entire commercial being humorous is that we can all relate to this situation as “awkward” or “weird.”

In a culture where we are bombarded with sexual imagery and situations via tv, advertising, movies, and real-life, isn’t it a bit ironic that there is such a taboo surrounding (legitimate) sex information?!  Because, let’s face it, if little Timmy isn’t getting legitimate information from mom or dad or some other knowledgeable individual, he’s going to get it from somewhere – whether it’s through the media or his peers.

And as little Timmy gets older and might have more pressing questions or concerns regarding sex, he’ll know where to go – and it’s not his parents or other (allegedly) more responsible individuals.  It’s his peers, movies, tv, or the internet.

Perhaps that’s one reason why we are ridden with such a great deal of misinformation regarding sexuality in America.  There are people who think you can’t get pregnant on your period or in a hot tub, that condoms are largely ineffective so why use them, and who have little knowledge as to how STD/STIs are transferred.  This past election cycle, we even had a slew of grown senators and congressman claim that women couldn’t get pregnant from rape.  Maybe the taboo surrounding legitimate sex information and communication is problematic and shouldn’t be ignored.

So yes, it is a commercial.  But it says something about our society when we look at the lengths that parents will go to avoid talking about sex – even when we’re “joking” about it.