Super Bowl: Extended Reaction

Okay, the shock has worn off, so let's go through some specifics.

First off, thanks Will for hosting a great Super Bowl party; plenty of food, beer, and good times.

My overall take on the game: pretty dull, except for an exciting opening drive from each team, and an intense final 30 minutes or so.

Best play of the game: David Tyree's 33-yard catch, using his hand and his helmet, on a throw Eli Manning got off after escaping a near tackle by three Patriots. Well played, boys.

Special shout-out to Wes Welker as, in my opinion, he was the MVP if the game. But the Patriots lost, so no one is really talking about him, aside from the fact that he tied for most Super Bowl catches, with 11 receptions.

Let's talk halftime show; who else liked the vaginal beating heart under Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, which was (inevitably?) penetrated by the sperm- (and penis-) like arrow-guitar? It wasn't at the same level as Nipplegate or Prince's demon phallus, but funny nonetheless.

(Tangentially, something which is like a vaginal is "vaginal," like an ovum (or many ova) is oval (!), or like a phallus is phallic, but something which is like sperm is only "sperm-like." Bullshit.)

Plenty of good ads, and plenty of weak ones. Tops include Tide's "talking stain" ad, and Coca-Cola's "balloon" spot, while parts of both the Budweiser "Rocky/Clydesdale" and the Pepsi "Timberlake" commercials were pretty damn funny. The Doritos "Mousetrap" spot was beyond horrendous, and the two SalesGenie ads ("Panda" and "Double Sales") were offensive and borderline racist.

But my top pick for absolute worst ad goes to Toshiba's HD-DVD spot; not only was it an older spot that's been running for months, not broadcast nationally, and aired during the halftime pre-show recap, but it wasn't even in high definition! That's right, folks; Toshiba's multi-million dollar ploy to convince the country that HD-DVD is viable was a stale and uninspired commericial that was 4x3 letterboxed, small and paltry on the HD sets owned by the very people they're trying to attract as customers.

A heaping portion of Suck, with a healthy dollop of weak sauce.

Frequent readers will know that I love me my Daring Fireball, John Gruber's excellent web site/column. But to his comment on tonight's game, I have only this to say: Bite my ass, Yankees fan.

And for your daily dose of irony: on the Spike website, where I found all of these ads for your viewing pleasure, you occasionally have to watch a hosted advertisement before you can watch the Super Bowl ads. Sweet.