Sunday, February 4, 2018

Done!

With a Hail Mary heave batted down in the end zone, Super Bowl LII comes to an end with the Philadelphia Eagles taking their first title of the Super Bowl era, the 2017 NFL season closes and the league can start trying to figure out how in the heck it can regain the viewers it has hemorrhaged over the past two years. I have no advice for them on this matter, having become one of those more indifferent viewers, but any plan that starts with telling Roger Goodell to go get a job has got to be a step in the right direction. After that, I'd suggest stop PO'ing your audience and lying about head injuries, but they can take that under advisement.

In any event, Super Bowl LII (which is tough to resist pronouncing, "Super Bowl Lie") brings forth the following observations:

-- This was really a great game of football. Not a lot of flags (although a little too much replay), top players making top plays, a game that really does come down to the very last play of the game, enough defense to make the helmet-head stat wonks happy but not so much the game gets boring. Too often the only "Super" is in the name, but not this year.

-- Justin Timberlake's fans enjoyed his performance, which was nice for them. His climb into the stands and selfie with a young fan was a good touch. Although a Minneapolis show might seem a natural fit for a Prince tribute, the "duet" with a recording of His Royal Badness just highlighted how good the late Purple One was in his own Super Bowl halftime show, and the comparison was not friendly to Timberlake. Also, the short routine towards the end with dancers in bright red, yellow and blue jackets was a reminder that we were watching a Mouseketeer, and highlighted the question, "Why are you on this stage?" Of course, the same question was relevant in 2004, when Timberlake disrobed Janet Jackson onstage. It's a little sharper question in a year of the "#MeToo" movement as to why the male half of that controversy is performing again while the female half is not, but that tone-deafness could be one of those things that firing Goodell could take care of.

-- Kudos to Pink for fighting through the flu to sing a fine rendition of the National Anthem.

-- If Cris Collinsworth had been with Al Michaels on Feb. 22, 1980, he would have said, "Yes, Al, I do believe in miracles, and I remember watching one in a game a couple of years ago..." and started a story that would not have ended until someone clocked him with a puck.

-- Commercials? I dunno; I was on the treadmill at the gym and switched on some podcasts when they came on.

-- The most important thing about the game is that pitchers and catchers report a week from Wednesday.

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