Tag: #NFL

  • Personal Reflections: The Super Bowl, Commercials, and Bad Bunny

    Personal Reflections: The Super Bowl, Commercials, and Bad Bunny

    The Super Bowl sucked. Let’s just start right there. Not that it was bad so much as it was boring. Defensive battles, or whatever people are calling it, are dull to everyone except defensive players and defensive coaches.

    In the end, I’m glad that Seattle won, as I do think they were the better team, not just in the game last night, but the best team for the whole season. And it was a rather exciting NFL season, with lots of drama and close games. Which makes this “meh” of a Super Bowl such a letdown.

    But that’s sports for ya!

    This bring us to the commercials, and for the life of me, I cannot remember a single one. Nothing stood out as particularly interesting or creative. Just felt like the same old slop. And there was lots of AI slop on display, too! The impression I was left with is that America is a sickly nation that needs more drugs and screenings, likes to bet on everything, and still thinks crypto isn’t a scam. There might be something to be said that the cost for a fifteen to thirty second commercials is so expensive now, that it has made brands, marketeers, and ad wizards hesitant in trying anything new, as so much money is on the line. This situation has made what used to be entertaining advertising into something that is homogeneous now.

    Which gets us to Bad Bunny who was the real big winner of the evening. (Other than the Seahawks.) I’m not going to go into the controversy, because there was no controversy, because Trump only said the stuff that he said to try and create a distraction from the Epstein Files/Poll Number/ICE, and Turning Point USA was just a little too thirsty to get involved and in the end created a half-assed badly lip-synced train wreck of a dumpster fire that 6 million people watched which isn’t bad if you consider that 12 million tuned in for the Puppy Bowl…

    But I’m not going to get into it.

    What I will say about Bad Bunny’s show was that it was fun, and cool, and was exciting to watch and had guests and Easter Eggs, and what I thought he did was show off how wonderful, and complex Puerto Rico’s culture and people are, AND he did that really great thing that great performers do, which is makes his audience feel connected and vital to the show being performed. It was great.

    But I did make Buffalo Wings, and they were really good.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Sports Jerseys, Let Me Get to That, and Pre-Autumn

    ODDS and ENDS: Sports Jerseys, Let Me Get to That, and Pre-Autumn

    (Will our ball club win the pennant?)

    Today at school, the kid could wear a sports team jersey if she so desired. Being that she is in middle school, and the school has sports teams, sports are now a bigger part of her academic experience. Funny thing is that the kid doesn’t own any team jerseys. She asked me if I had a jersey that she could borrow for today, and sadly, I also don’t own any team jerseys. What I do own happens to be a Dallas Cowboys (Let me get to that in a bit), and a Tottenham Hotspur t-shirts. I was hesistant to give her the Cowboy shirt because clearly, the Cowboys aren’t a well respected team here in New York City. So that left the Tottenham shirt, which I offered to her. She declined the shirt, stating that the people who know who Tottenham is will only end up making fun of her, and it wasn’t worth it to her. I tried to explain that Frank is taking the team in a new direction, but the kid wouldn’t hear it.

    (Best if you read this part in a very thick Texas accent, which I have after drink several Shiner Bocks and getting all rilled up.) I jus’ wanna say this to Mr. Jerry Jones, which is that I think he is bein’ a damn fool when it comes to Micah Parsons. Now, Mr. Parsons is a franchise super star caliber player, a type of player who can change the momentum of a game, and if the Dallas Cowboys have any intention of reclaimin’ a Super Bow’ – they need Mr Parsons. To that end, Mr. Jones should’a paid Mr. Parsons what he wanted. Now, this whole idea that Mr. Jones is puttin’ out there that, this is all part of some “master plan to win a championship” is what is known in the civilized world as a damn lie! Y’ain’t foolin’ anyone Jerry! You gone and screwed up the team again! What is this, like our 30th rebuilding year?!?! Could you possibly get the cart outta the way of the horse for a change so we might have a chance of just winning the Division? Good lord man! You takin’ years off my life…

    I’m pulling out my sweaters and sweatshirts. Might have to wash my flannel shirts this week. I know it’s 78 degrees today, I don’t care. I want Autumn

  • Ode to the Cowboy Fan

    Did you see that game yesterday? That humiliating game where Dallas shit the bed to the Green Bay Packers? That game? Yeah, that was awful, and embarrassing.

    Ung… here comes another few years of rebuilding. Possibly a new quarterback and a new head coach. Which sucks.

    I get why all other NFL football fans hate Cowboy fans. Yes, we are cocky with nothing really to show since 1996. But we sure act like we will win the Super Bowl every year, and there is an endless joy in watching us Cowboy fans break down in tears in the first round of the playoffs, year after year, after year, after year…

    And I was angry at that Cowboy team yesterday. I sat through 18 weeks of a season, with solid play from the defense and uneven play from the offense. But through all of it, at least that team didn’t lose at home. Home field advantage meant something, and coming into the playoffs in ranked 2nd, all of their games, save possibly one, would be at home. No, nope, not at all… they choked. Time came to show up, and they all ran away…

    My friend had the best line last night; “Green Bay better go on to win the Super Bowl, proving that no team stood a chance.”

    I can respect that logic.

    But here I am, Monday morning after the worst loss in Dallas Cowboy Playoff history, and I am forced to muster the energy to mutter, “Next year… We’ll get ‘em next year.”

  • Super Bowl Reflections

    I like football, and I also happen to be the worst kind of football fan; a Dallas Cowboys fan. So, for those two reasons, I watched the Super Bowl, but didn’t enjoy it. (In fact, the real Super Bowl was Kansas City v. Buffalo. Am I right?) Good for LA, but if it went the other way, I would be saying good for Cincinnati, right now.

    The only thing that made this Super Bowl memorable was that my daughter was excited about it. Not that she cares about football, though she did try to sit through a quarter for the purpose of trying to understand how to play the game. Her conclusion; too many rules.

    Now, what the kid was really excited about was the gluttony, commercials and the halftime show. The gluttony part made sense because Thanksgiving is our family’s favorite holiday. We made guacamole, and queso with Ro-Tel and Velveeta. We had hot wings, nachos, and mozzarella sticks. The kid was not impressed with any of the commercials, and I have to agree. They used to seem inventive, but the commercials feel predicable; the “surprise” celebrity cameo, the quirky comedy, and ya-da ya-da. As for the halftime show, the kid thought it was cool, and I agree with that. What I took away from the show was that rap and hip-hop are now embedded in American mainstream culture.

    And when it was all said and done, it was just okay. I know a good part of that had to do with not having a team to root for, but the other side of it was that the whole thing felt removed from what is happening around this country. Like it was living in another fantasy world where everything was normal. I am aware that was what the NFL was trying to sell everyone, but it also felt a little hollow. Maybe that’s what makes the Super Bowl such an American holiday; it’s fun if you don’t look too hard at it.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Josh Hawley is Still Stupid, Aaron Rodgers, and Gyms

    “ODDS and ENDS” is my continuing series of random thoughts and follow ups…

    This morning as I was sitting in the car for the street sweeper, and I read Josh Hawley’s Op-Ed in the New York Times. If you have forgotten, Josh Hawley is the Republican Senator from Missouri who tried to help overturn the 2020 Election and was pro-riot at the Capital. You know, that Josh Hawley. As you can tell, I’m not a fan, but out of fairness, I read his Guest Essay, “The Only Way to Solve Our Supply Chain Crisis Is to Rethink Trade.” First of all, I love how conservatives rally against liberal media like the NY Times, but still want their opinions published in the NY Times. Second, the awful trade deals were created by both parties, not just Democrats like Josh claims. Third, jobs going overseas started forty years ago, which clearly doesn’t make it a new phenomenon. And last, if I understand Josh here, he is a person that doesn’t want government telling business what to do, but in his essay he  wants government to tell business what to do. Right… You still stupid Josh. Not for suggesting government regulation. No, you stupid for thinking that if it comes out of your mouth, it’s not a liberal idea. Stupid.

    So, does Aaron Rogers look he’s having the most fun playing football in the NFL?

    I have never been to a gym. That shocked my wife, but I really don’t workout, ever. I might have to join one soon though. Just saying…