quote:Everything You Wanted To Know About Football But Were Afraid to Ask
By Peter Carlson Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, February 6, 2005; Page D01
Today in Jacksonville, two tribes of huge, hulking men, clad in elaborate armor topped with colorful uniforms and helmets that mask their war-painted faces, will meet on a field of painted grass to beat, pummel, smash, maul and mug each other as 78,000 witnesses scream with joy.
<snip>
Here is an interesting article that analyzes the Super Bowl from a "different" point of view. Perhaps this has been posted before, perhaps not-- but it entertained my bro and I greatly last year when it was first published.
It's on the Washington Ppost website, so you may need a bugmenot to get in.
posted
" 'The Super Bowl is the most successful secular holiday to be invented for the American calendar since Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday,' "
I just wish they would give in and make Monday a national holiday. We have hangovers to recover from, darn it.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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My daughter just handed me this "proposal." (This is her thing, lately)
Proposal: Today is the SuperBowl. For boys-HEaven! For us girls-Boretown! Nanny McPhee is out in theaters and I have been waiting and waiting and waiting to see it and so has (friend's name). It would be sort of like a girly get-together we could have while every male in the world watches football. All expenses would be my pleasure to handle, and before we go, we could prepare junkfood and snacks for the boys. Don;t say no yet. Just promise me you'll give it a good ten minutes of thought. Call upstairs when you have your answer. Oh, and one more thing...
Please, Mama!
OK, I'm done.
Love, (my daughter)
Well, dear, you miscalculated. I happen to love watching football on Super Sunday. Sorry.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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On a Super Bowl note, I got told I wasn't a man because I didn't really care about the Super Bowl. That was news to me. Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Originally posted by pfresh85: On a Super Bowl note, I got told I wasn't a man because I didn't really care about the Super Bowl. That was news to me.
John Lennon was right. They do keep us doped on religion, sex, and tv (that's "Working Class Hero", by the way). And sports, too. And if you don't go along to get along, you aren't a "real" man (or insert other category as appropriate). The Stones described it very well in "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction": "But he can't be a man 'cause he doesn't smoke/The same cigarettes as me."
To put it anthropological terms, we've still not risen above the level of tribalism, not really. We just define our tribes differently.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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I was pretty disappointed in the Hawks. Hasselbeck kept waffling, hardcore, and Alexander wasn't up to his usual par. The Steelers played a pretty darn good game, too.
Then again, don't get me started on some of those calls...
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Yeah, I know. The Steelers won a touchdown they didn't score, the Seahawks had one taken away from them, and in call after call (especially in the first half) the refs were unbelievably biased in favor of the Steelers.
Still, I won $10 on the score bet. But, damn. It would've been nice if I won my money on a straight game.
Posts: 3293 | Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:But make no mistake about Super Bowl XL, the performance of referee Bill Leavy and his crew overshadowed Pittsburgh's heroics and Seattle's blunders.
Paul Tagliabue's league has an officiating crisis. Bogus, inconsistent flag-throwing and rule-interpreting is making the national pastime difficult to take seriously. So far, only Joey Porter has demonstrated the necessary courage to address what we all see.
Many of these part-time, 50-year-old referees don't know what they're doing and can't keep up with the action.
Porter fumed when the refs nearly stole Pittsburgh's playoff victory over Indianapolis by overturning a Troy Polamalu interception.
Porter probably won't address the first-quarter touchdown that Sunday's referees stole from the Seahawks. Hasselbeck avoided pressure and hit Darrell Jackson in the back of the end zone with a beautiful strike. The Pittsburgh cornerback immediately turned to back judge Bob Waggoner and begged for an offensive pass-interference call. After a couple of seconds of thought, Waggoner granted the Pittsburgh request and erased Seattle's hard-earned touchdown.
The Seahawks settled for a field goal. Had they not been robbed of the four points, they would have ended the game with the ball and the opportunity to drive for a game-tying touchdown.
Seattle was victimized by two other questionable first-half calls_including the 1-yard TD run the refs awarded Roethlisberger when he seemed a few inches short of the goal line_but the final backbreaking call helped set up Pittsburgh's game-icing, reverse, wide-receiver-pass-to-Ward touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Ike Taylor intercepted Hasselbeck deep in Pittsburgh territory. Hasselbeck stopped Taylor at the Pittsburgh 29 with a perfectly executed form tackle across Taylor's knees. The refs flagged Hasselbeck for illegally "blocking" Taylor across his knees and gave the Steelers 15 additional yards.
The Seahawks justifiably can complain that Sunday's one-sided officiating disrupted their offensive rhythm and undermined their focus. The officiating had to creep inside their head.
And NFL fans need to acknowledge that there's something terribly wrong with professional football. This year's playoffs were horrible. Sunday's Super Bowl stands as an appropriate symbol of the 2006 playoffs_boring and poorly officiated.
quote:Porter probably won't address the first-quarter touchdown that Sunday's referees stole from the Seahawks. Hasselbeck avoided pressure and hit Darrell Jackson in the back of the end zone with a beautiful strike. The Pittsburgh cornerback immediately turned to back judge Bob Waggoner and begged for an offensive pass-interference call. After a couple of seconds of thought, Waggoner granted the Pittsburgh request and erased Seattle's hard-earned touchdown.
Whining about calls is for losers. The Jackson call was a push off. I didn't think it shoulda been called, but the replay clearly showed him pushing off with one hand. That would have been a good no-call, but you certainly can't argue that he didn't push off. And the ref didn't take a second to think about it; he never signaled TD and was reaching for his flag as soon as BJ caught the ball. He fumbled for it, which was why it seemed like a late flag.
That said, the playoffs were plagued with poor officiating.
And Big Ben's TD was close. It looked like he got it by about a half inch, but even if he didn't they'd kick the FG on fourth and nothing and win by 7, not 11.
If you want a reason or two why Seattle lost, how about 5 dropped balls? Or the D giving up two huge plays? It was a sloppy game, but they just flat out got outplayed.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Consumerism is the national pastime. When was the last time advertisers shelled out millions of dollars for commercial space during the World Series?
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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It was, but baseball has gotten progressively more boring and inaccessible over the last 15 years. The NFL's popularity has skyrocketed during that same timeframe, due in large part to savvy TV deals (and a much more entertaining product).
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Officiating has been pretty bad. There were too many bogus calls. I wasn't really rooting for either team, so I didn't really care.
I liked the little Dr. Seuss thing they did at the beginning with Harrison Ford. In my opinion, the commercials this year weren't anything special. The point of Super Bowl commercials is to be bigger, funnier, better than the previous one. There were a few that were creative, but it didn't seem like they went all out. No one brought their A game.
On a different note, I vote Hockey as the new American pasttime. Sure, its technically a Canadian thing, but its not like they'll fight us if we steal it, right? Posts: 298 | Registered: Sep 2004
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My favorite was the Hummer commercial. I liked the cell phone crime deterrent one too, but the Hummer commercial was not only funny, it was VERY clear what it was advertising. I was thinking that the phone commercial was for Verizon.
Obviously all the local talking heads are going on about the calls yesterday, but ultimately, the score board told who won. The 'hawks didn't get it done. I'm grateful for the fact they made it to the Superbowl...for the first time, I am sorta starting to 'get' football (I couldn't get the whole 'down' thing, but yesterday it started to make some sense), and though it was depressing, I did enjoy watching the game.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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quote:The Jackson call was a push off. I didn't think it shoulda been called, but the replay clearly showed him pushing off with one hand. That would have been a good no-call, but you certainly can't argue that he didn't push off. And the ref didn't take a second to think about it; he never signaled TD and was reaching for his flag as soon as BJ caught the ball. He fumbled for it, which was why it seemed like a late flag.
I would also like to add that this was a pushoff, no matter how minor... and he did it right in front of the back judge. Anywhere else on the field, and it wouldn't have been called, but in the end zone and in front of the back judge - it had to be called.
quote:And Big Ben's TD was close. It looked like he got it by about a half inch, but even if he didn't they'd kick the FG on fourth and nothing and win by 7, not 11.
I completely agree. In the goal line slo-mo, as Ben's about a foot off the ground, the tip of the ball crossed the very outside plane of the end zone, which is really all that needed to happen. There's also no way it could have been overturned, since there was no indisputable video evidence to do so.
quote:quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I thought the Dr. Seuss promo was creepy, and Harrison Ford looked like a pirate. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When the HECK did he get that earring?!
Several years ago, actually. He's had it for ages. And yes, he looked like a bad old pirate.
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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My son wanted to know who he was, and he didn't believe me when I told him 'that guy' was Han Solo. That gray goatee with the earring just made him look as old as Mick Jagger did, though certainly better looking. (I looked it up just now, Ford is older than Jagger...so I guess he has a right to look as old as him...LOL)
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Oh man, and how could I forget the Emerald Nuts druid commercial? And the MACGUYVER MASTERCARD commercial? Oh, they had so many good ones this year.
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I didn't see all the game, nor did I see the halftime show, but Ivygirl told me that she and her friends were totally squicked out by the way the Rolling Stones looked and how they tried to look sexy and show skin when they are so old. I guess they left the room because they thought it was disgusting (even though the like the music)
quote:Originally posted by Farmgirl: I didn't see all the game, nor did I see the halftime show, but Ivygirl told me that she and her friends were totally squicked out by the way the Rolling Stones looked and how they tried to look sexy and show skin when they are so old. I guess they left the room because they thought it was disgusting (even though the like the music)
FG
I totally concur with Ivygirl. Except for the watching the Superbowl part. But the Rolling Stones? I find it hard to believe they were ever attractive, I can barely look at Mick Jagger without gagging.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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erosomniac, thanks for posting that link. I saw a few there that I hadn't known about (since I didn't watch all the game). Some pretty good commercials!
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