Congratulations to my friends who are Eagles fans, you finally have a legit reason to brag. Just remember, it is only one and probably not worth destroying an entire city over…or maybe it is, I mean, it is Philadelphia. Not like anyone would miss it. I kid, Philly is a cool place.
I will try to make this quick…here are my stray thoughts on the game and other stuff.
-I had no idea who to root for in this one. I was seriously rooting for both teams at different points in the game. When the Eagles sacked Brady and forced that fumble, I was excited. When Brady put up the Hail Mary, I was hoping Gronk would catch it. I guess I just wanted to see a good game and in the end, that is what we got.
-I agreed with the refs on both plays that were reviewed. I thought this officiating crew did an outstanding job. I hope that the league does figure out the catch situation in the off-season. Both plays tonight were catches (the one at the end with Ertz was similar to the Jesse James play and I think the refs got it wrong in that situation). This group of referees decided that at that moment, the receiver has become a runner. The other play was a little more about did the ball shift around, but to me, it looked like he had control and the ball moving was a result of him moving it, as in shifting it in his arm to keep it secure. That takes control.
-I was surprised by the lack of defense by either team. I mean, how many times did we see a receiver catch a ball while stopped downfield because no was near them? At least four times. That was weird. This game also made me wonder what it would have been like for Nick Foles had he not been traded to the Rams. I am sure he wonders the same thing.
-I used to say I hated Justin Timberlake. If someone asked me, I would be like “ugh, stupid boy band loser, I hate his music.” But then they would mention a song, and I would be like “alright, that one is okay. And I guess that other one is too. And well, he is always funny on TV.” At some point I just stopped trying to deny and admitted to myself that I like JT. And you know what? I am a better person for it. I thought the halftime show was fantastic. The Prince tribute brought a tear to my eye. The entire spectacle of the performance was huge, but not to the point of being AHHHH (does that make any sense?). I enjoyed it. I only wish that after he did the Super Bowl selfie with that kid that he would have said “Super Bowl selfie, your move Ellen!”
-The commercials were good. My favorite were the Tide ones with David Harbour. What is it about the guy? He is just so damn awesome in Stranger Things as Hopper that you just cannot help, but love the guy. I am excited for the new Hellboy movie because of him. He does funny things (the whole senior picture story) that make you like him even more (watch the behind the scenes stuff from season two…). Anyways, those were my favorite commercials, especially since it caused me to expect him to pop in every commercial saying “this is a Tide Ad.” Also, the Amazon one was pretty funny. Gordon Ramsay screaming at a guy for asking how to make a grilled cheese was great.
-I am now very excited for Castle Rock, the Cloverfield 3 Netflix movie (is it a movie or show?), and obviously Solo. I thought that Marvel made a mistake with the teaser for Infinity War. Why not use the first trailer for your big Super Bowl promo and use this one as the teaser? I mean, in the other trailer we get “and get this man a shield!”
-So this was the first Super Bowl of Al Michaels & Chris Collinsworth. As most people know, I hated Buck and Aikman, so this was much better. I realize that Steelers fans hate Collinsworth, but I actually do not mind him. The funny thing is that people are trying to say that Collinsworth was clearly rooting for the Patriots. Yet for most of the game, I thought he did a great job of pointing out great players from both teams. I swear he got a boner every time Kelce did something “he is easily the best center in the game.” Fletcher Cox, Chris Long, Malcolm Jenkins…and do not get me started on how much he slobbered all over Doug Pederson’s knob the entire game. Oh, and he definitely praised Nick Foles a thousand times. Even on passes that were absolutely awful, Chris was like “oh, Nick Foles is feeling it tonight, he is throwing at the tiniest of windows.” The purpose of a color guy during the Super Bowl is to provide football insight and I thought Collinsworth did a great job. He explained some of the plays and what was happening for people who are not THAT into football, but at the same time still had plenty of things for those of us who know what is going on during a game. And the idea at the end of the game that he was rooting for the Patriots? He is a football fan. He wants to see awesome football games. What better thing than to have a team drive it 91 yards or whatever, with 58 seconds left and tie the game on a Hail Mary? That has to be a broadcaster’s dream scenario. I am sure they practice that call in the mirror at nights. Aside from Eagles fans, who were absolutely not wanting Tom Brady to score, who else out there was watching that final drive and deep down wanted to see some miracle play? It is okay to admit it.
-And finally, I cannot wait to find out what the ratings were like for this Super Bowl. Did all of you people boycotting actually make a difference? I am betting no.
