This One Really Was Super!

Well, maybe not, unless you’re from Wisconsin. The game was kind of sloppy, the ads weren’t all that good, but at least it’s over and we can get on with our lives.

But oh, the clichés! I was watching one of the pre-pre-pre-pre-pregame shows TV while on an elliptical machine at the gym on Super Bowl Sunday. Such a plethora of platitudes, a banquet of banalities, a feast of formulaic fancy. Hey, a guy’s got to fill space, right?

These poor athletes and sports journalists face a similar dilemma, needing to stretch an hour or two of material into two straight weeks of non-stop, 24/7 news coverage.

“Statistics don’t matter. Winning games is what it’s all about.”

“He’s a big game player, and that’s what it’s all about.”

“He’s a blue collar, grind-it-out guy with a great work ethic, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Everyone seemed to have an idea of what it was “all about,” but there wasn’t a whole lot of insight or anything that was terribly interesting. The teams and the players change, but I wonder what percentage of the commentary is precisely the same from year to year. Especially from the players, big guys who get paid to hit other big guys, not to be insightful, articulate or eloquent.

The commercials followed suit. How many ads were based on borrowed interest? A lot! Even that really good one with the kid dressed as Darth Vader.

At this point, the pundits have all held forth about this year’s game and crop of ads and I don’t have much more to add.   Not to sound too cynical (but not as cynical as using a rebellious rap star as the face of a Big 3 Car Company or leverage human suffering to promote online coupons), I’m glad the hype is all over.

The best thing about the Super Bowl for me is that it marks a transition to a better time of year. I’ve always preferred warmth to cold, sunlight to darkness, Spring to Fall and baseball to football.

A time of rebirth, maybe we can let Spring inspire us to say goodbye to the clichés, get out of our comfort zones and start innovating in earnest.