America’s pastime celebrated its national holiday and another Super Bowl has come and gone. The Super Bowl can create some anxiety for nerds. Everyone is going to be talking about Manningham’s catch but all nerds will want to talk about is the new commercial for The Avengers. If you’d rather talk about the Hulk then these talking points will help you participate in a conversation about the game itself.
Tom Brady
Tom Brady is the quintessential jock. He’s good looking. He’s married to a super model. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL’s history. Had I gone to high school with Tom, I imagine he would have been sitting at the cool tables in the quad while I hurried from the lunch window to the safety of the yearbook room. If you want to have a conversation about Tom Brady, discuss how he hasn’t won a Super Bowl since the Patriots were caught filming their opponents. Or you could also say that you wanted the Patriots to lose because Brady reminds you of the jock who once threw you in a trash can.
Jason Pierre-Paul
Every year the producers of the Super Bowl hope for one really good human interest story. A number of professional football players were born into football families and their destinies have been set since their first Pop Warner touchdown. Eli Manning’s father, Archie, was a quarterback in the NFL. Eli’s brother, Payton, is a Super Bowl winning quarterback. Eli’s road to the Super Bowl was paved before he was born. Jason Pierre-Paul, though, a defensive end for the New York Giants, didn’t have that kind of football heritage. Pierre-Paul’s parents immigrated to the United States before he was born. Not only was Pierre-Paul’s father not an NFL quarterback, but he is blind, a story NBC couldn’t help but share. If you want to get beyond the x’s and o’s of the football game, talk about Jason Pierre-Paul and show your warm, emotional side.
Madonna
I grew up in the 80s so I have a special place for Madonna in my nostalgic, musical heart. It seemed like most of Madonna’s performance was lips-synched, I’m not terribly excited about LMFAO and I didn’t like her new song that much. When I heard the first notes of “Like a Prayer”, though, I was completely sold. “Like a Prayer” is my favorite Madonna song and its video is one of my favorite videos ever. I didn’t think she was going to sing the song but it was a great conclusion to her show. Cee Lo Green and his tyrannosaurus arms were a great accompaniment as was the choir. Even if Madonna hadn’t performed “Like a Prayer”, her halftime show would have been infinitely better than the Black Eyed Peas last year.
There are a few talking points for the water cooler to make it look like your nerdy heart cares more about first downs and interceptions than John Carter and Earth’s mightiest heroes. Whether you cared about the game or not, hopefully you had an opportunity to watch the game with friends and inject some community into your super Sunday.
What did you enjoy most about the game? What commercials were your favorites?
Not that Madonna has ever been one for humility, but her new song seemed a very shameless celebration of the ego, even for her. But, I’ll agree, better than the Black Eyed Peas (whom I cannot stand).
I liked the post-Mayan Apocalypse Chevy commercial, as well as the dog bribing its owner to keep silent about what happened to the cat with the Doritos. Too bad all the best commercials came in the first quarter! (Well, the Star Wars cantina reveal one was pretty good, too.)
Maybe it’s just me, but the amount of sex in the commercials seemed markedly increased from previous years, especially that one commercial with the guy drooling over the hot Spanish woman who turns out to be a car. Can’t get much more objectified than that, I guess.
The game itself was a pretty good one, I thought, though, especially that fourth quarter!
Is that commercial objectifying women or anthropomorphizing cars?
As a Christian, having ” a special place for Madonna”?
http://vigilantcitizen.com/musicbusiness/madonnas-superbowl-halftime-show-a-celebration-of-the-grand-priestess-of-the-music-industry/