The Superbowl and everything about it sucked...

[WayAbvPar]

Sure. I should be done steaming any ice age now.

[Evangolis]

I'm glad to see others validating my view of the ads.  I was afraid my disappointment over the Bears poor play was coloring my view of the ads.

How did these guys not realize the ads sucked?

[Strazos]

Too many "Yes Men"?

[Bunk]

Being a Bears fan, I decided I wanted to put some money on the game. As I am not a regular sports better, I just went with our local lotto's sports betting thing. The simplest one they have requires you pick the winner of a minimum of two games. So, I figured I'd find a sure fire winner to go along with my pick of the bears.

I put $30 on the Bears winning, and the Pheonix Suns winning over Utah in Pheonix. I'm mean really, Pheonix won something like 17 out of thier last 18, right?

Sigh...

As an aside to you Pheonix guys - the Suns are the only team anyone in western Canada follows, thanks to Nash. He should grow back his hockey hair though.

Oh, and Robert Goulet spidermanning accross the ceiling nearly made pulled pork come out my nose.

[CmdrSlack]

I'm glad to see others validating my view of the ads.  I was afraid my disappointment over the Bears poor play was coloring my view of the ads.

How did these guys not realize the ads sucked?

THe wrong guy won in the promotion pit, I guess.

[Margalis]

Prince used his left hand to hammer some notes (or whatever you call hammering on a guitar as opposed to a bass) so that is why you didn't see his right hand moving. Not sure if he was really playing or not, I'm sure there was at least a backup track they could patch in if trouble hit.

First half of the game was good. Game went as expected.

I hear that the NFL has black players now as well...

[Rasix]

Superbowl ads peaked with cat herding.  Since then, it's hard to care.

The game was fun until you realized there was no way in hell Rex could win it. Down one score, sure!  Down two.. umm.. no. 

I'm glad Peyton has a Superbowl ring now.  Having him on my Fantasy Football team for his 49 touchdown season was special.

[Lt.Dan]

I don't think Australia has much football violence.  (although it pains me to say football and Australia in the same sentence  )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvMFHXcd0yQ

[Signe]

Well, that's not football and I  rugby.  My favourite team for ANYTHING is the All Blacks.  That might have something to do with the HAKA, though. 

[Calantus]

At least we didn't riot and kill any cops.

The only serious sports violence Australia gets is when Croatian and Serbian teams play soccor against eachother.

Also, most of those tackles in that "Rugby" youtube were actually from LEAGUE. Get it right people.

[Lt.Dan]

Yeah, yeah, I know (being a NZer living in Australia - I should!) but there's a certain amount of spine-tingling that comes from watching big hits in Rugby League.  Plus it proves a point - pads are for marshmallows.

And just for Signe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD1_puuceg0

(music most definitely NSFW)

[Teleku]

I watched it in an Irish Pub in Osaka at 8:30 in the fricken morning.  Watching the Superbowl with Japanese announcers made it a hell of a lot more humorous I must say ("Dan Marino San").  Especially when they would cut to their nerdy looking sideline guy to explain some aspect about the sport during lulls.  At first I was kind of let down they had no commercials at all (Not even Japanese commercials.  They just played the entire thing with no break at all, except for a news break during halftime before Prince came on), but after looking at youtube, looks like I didn’t miss much.  Game was lackluster, but it was still enjoyable, and we had that Pub completely packed with energetic fans wearing what ever Jerseys they had.  So it was a good atmosphere, especially when they started fumbling the ball left and right.

Listening to the Irish pub owner trying to explain in his very thick accent how football worked to one of his Japanese bartenders (who had an amazing rack for a Japanese chick I will add) was also a highlight.

[Strazos]

Seriously, how many games does an average pro Rugby player play throughout their career?

[eldaec]

Seriously, how many games does an average pro Rugby player play throughout their career?

The English rugby union league season runs for 22 matches, plus some number of knockout cup matches.

I'd guess over 12-15 seasons you could get up to somewhere north of 300 matches for a decent career without too many injuries.

Plus up to maybe 50 internationals if you are good enough.

[NowhereMan]

The Super Bowl confuses me. Seriously any sporting event where people spend as much time looking forward to and discussing the adverts almost as much as the actual game is lack something of sporting appeal.

That said I don't begrudge people watching and enjoying it but I wonder how many people actually watch it because they enjoy it and how many watch it just because it's the 'Super Bowl'.

[Teleku]

The Super Bowl confuses me. Seriously any sporting event where people spend as much time looking forward to and discussing the adverts almost as much as the actual game is lack something of sporting appeal.

That said I don't begrudge people watching and enjoying it but I wonder how many people actually watch it because they enjoy it and how many watch it just because it's the 'Super Bowl'.

I don’t know, I think World Cup would be about 100 times more entertaining if they played hilarious commercials during the long sessions of grab ass in the middle of the field, and then just cut back in when they actually are doing something important near the goal. 

But yeah, Super bowl gets a lot of views just for being the media extravaganza it is I think.  Football is insanely popular in America though, so much of it is genuinly warranted.  However, I’m sure it gets a lot of people like me that enjoy the sport, but don’t actually sit down to watch games that often unless they are important (Key playoff games for teams I like, or Super bowl).

[Yegolev]

I need to get myself transfered to Japan.

[El Gallo]

I need to get myself transferred to Japan.

[Hokers]

What the hell.  I am a Bears Season Ticket Holder and I took it better than some of you.  It was a good game until the interception that was returned for a score.

[HaemishM]

I thought it was a decent, but not spectacular game. It played out EXACTLY as I expected, just like any other Indy victory this year. The Bears really shit the bed early though, and it started with coaching decisions. For some reason, on 2 straight 3 and out drives, they ran on first down, threw on second down and then with 3rd and long, they ran on 3rd down. Why? Had they just not watched Indy during the playoffs at ALL? Indy with Bob Sanders can stop the run. What it did was not only give Indy the ball back, adding more wear to the defense, but it kept Grossman from getting into any kind of rhythm. Even more, it made sure that Grossman knew his coaches had no confidence in him. So by the time he really has to make throws, he's shot. His head is fucked, his feet get happy and he starts chucking. Grossman didn't execute, but Lovie Smith and his O coordinator gave him no shot to win the game at all. They just decided to put the whole game on the defense. Indy wanted that to happen, because as the Ravens game showed, Indy can beat any defense given the chance. ANY DEFENSE. Chicago's D is not as good as the Ravens was. Their corners can't play physical man to man, and their scheme is not as confusing. Game over, Colts win. YAY!!!!

As for the ads, they were overall lackluster, with a few good ones. Budweiser, Careerbuilder and Coke all had the most memorable set of ads, with FedEx, Doritos and the Robert Goulet Emerald Nuts ads being good too. Nothing standout, though. ETrade had some good ones as well.

Prince kicked ass on the halftime show. It was easily the most entertaining halftime show ever. No sagging boobies needed. I'm pretty sure Prince was both playing and singing live, as there were pauses and guitar sounds that would not be made otherwise. If it wasn't live, it was a fantastic approximation. They should just let him do the show from now on, everyone else before him has sucked monkey ass.

[SnakeCharmer]

What the hell was that monstrosity running around on stage in white spandex, white tank top, and white top hat???




There is no comparison between the contact in rugby and the contact in football.  None whatsoever.  I've played both (football for 12 years, rugby for 6 years).  I've never, ever been hit harder in rugby than when I was hit in football.  You don't have guys that weigh 250 lbs that run a 4.6 second 40 yard dash.  You don't have guys that weigh 200 lbs that run a sub 4.5 40.  That kind of mass moving at that rate of speed is going to do some serious damage to whatever it hits.  And that sort of contact happens on EVERY play.  Besides, nowadays, the only real padding the guys have is in their helmets.  Hardly anyone wears thigh pads, knee pads, and there is very little padding in the shoulder pads anymore.

[Nebu]

There is no comparison between the contact in rugby and the contact in football.  None whatsoever. 

I played football and rugby at the division I level and have to agree with this statement, at least in this country.  American football is significantly more brutal despite the presence of pads.  Stepping on the football field against Nebraska (at home) in the second game of my college career when they were ranked second in the nation was an experience in brutality the likes of which I've never again encountered in my life.   

[SnakeCharmer]

TV doesn't do the absolute speed of football justice.  You have to see it first hand, ground level to really comprehend it.  It's like watching NASCAR or any other racing on TV; it seems to slow waaaaaay down.

 

[sigil]

rugby for 6 years).

I use to go to their matches, I'll have to make time to go again.

[Tale]

I'm not sure I understand the discussion of "rugby" in this thread. Most people seem to be talking about Rugby Union, which is a different game from Rugby League. The video posted was of Rugby League tackles, which tend to be more brutal. Then we have people who have played Rugby Union posting their opinions about "rugby" being not as brutal as American Football.

Traditionally, Union is known as Rugby and has the favour of upper social classes - private schools, conservatives, etc. League is a hard-hitting working class game, kind of a crash-or-crash-through gladiator contest. League is popular in northern England, eastern Australia and the Pacific islands. It's glitzy, commercial and lucrative at club level. Union is popular in more places, including those where League is played. Union has more amateur players, but its pro international matches are much bigger than League.

Their different rulesets produce totally different approaches to gaining ground and dealing with breaks in play, which produces a more brutal result in League. In League, you're tackling to stop the player, so they are ruled "held", producing a break in play (and if this happens six times, the ball is handed over to the opposing team). In Union, you're tackling to interrupt and delay progress, but there is no break in play from a tackle unless the ball was lost forward, forced out of bounds, or cannot be reached under the bodies. So in the Rugby League video linked, you're looking at players trying to take each other out of play, whereas in Rugby Union, less is needed from a tackle. It's still the same physical process, but need not be as brutal.

[tazelbain]

Having breaks sounds like it'd less brutal not more.

[NowhereMan]

Union is more athletic thanks to less breaks but because the aim is to make the other side lose posession or simply stop progress towards your goal line, the tackles needed are far less hard. You just need to bring the man with the ball to the ground, not pound him into it so tackles aren't aimed at taking them out.

[eldaec]

Having breaks sounds like it'd less brutal not more.

The breaks are what gives the enormous forward players time to catch up with you. And by break, it's basically 2 seconds to get off the floor and pass backward, it's not like the sort of field reset you have between 1st and 2nd down in NFL.

If you are playing as a back you really don't want forwards catching up with you. For one thing, being an ugly fucker might turn out to be contagious.

I'm probably using the wrong terminology, but my feeble attempt to translate to Gridiron Football would be, Forwards = Tackles, Backs = Wide Recievers.

[Sky]

Oh, for fuck's sake.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070206/ap_en_mu/prince_super_bowl

[Signe]

If only.  Le sigh.

[Calantus]

It's been too long out of the limelight for these people, they're getting desperate.

[Samwise]

In the sensitive post-wardrobe malfunction world...

SAJSHDLSKKJSHDKJFHKSJH:KSJHLKJFD

[schild]

There aren't words for how close I am to snapping after reading that Yahoo thing. How the fuck does the press get off even covering such nonsense. They should be ashamed.

ASHAMED.

"questioning whether a guitar was just a guitar..."

HEY, FUCK YOU.

[Sky]

Things like that make me want to be a 'journalist' and just come up with the most stupid polarizing shit I can conceive to assure I show up in the 'news' often.

Are cats telepathic? Are they beaming your thoughts to Al Kaida RIGHT NOW?! Stay tuned and find out. Now a word from The Gap.

[penfold]

The Super Bowl confuses me. Seriously any sporting event where people spend as much time looking forward to and discussing the adverts almost as much as the actual game is lack something of sporting appeal.

Last year, on another forum,  I think i said something like wtf? dont you switch over or make a cup of tea or something during the ads?  and got shot down as its ingrained in American culture and tradition or something.

Pretty sad when all you can put on a plate with regards to your countries culture and tradition is some adverts. Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Beethoven, Van Gogh and Wagner must be shaking in their boots. 

Marketing types have it so easy in the states, I never seen so many people who get upset when you mention you hate ads and marketing, or a good percentage population so receptive they actually want this shit shovelled down their throats 24/7 and flame the hell out of you when you suggest that perhaps you don't want the hard sell integrated into every aspect of your life (BF2142 for teh win)

(no, the cynics and haters on f13 dont really count in the above statement)