National Review Online asked a few folks to provide their thoughts on the Super Bowl. My contribution was the following:
The Super Bowl is supposed to be an epic clash of titans. Unfortunately, the game itself often fails to live up to the hype. Blowouts and snoozers are as common as nailbiters. The New England Patriots have put in some memorable performances, winning games with fourth quarter heroics, but don’t forget about the Baltimore Ravens pasting the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV, or the Dallas Cowboys’ back-to-back shellacking of the Buffalo Bills in XXVII and XXVIII. As a Philadelphia Eagles fan, I am forced to endure memories of the Iggles’ collapse in Super Bowl XV against the Oakland Raiders. (What a week to play their worst game of the year!) In past years we’ve still had much to look forward to besides the game: Super Bowl commercials! Given the stratospheric cost of gametime spots, many advertisers pull out all the stops, debuting new campaigns and their best promotional efforts. In the past few years I’m not sure the ads have quite measured up, but there’s still hope that if the game is a snoozer, capitalist spirits will provide some excitement (at least until all the beer’s gone).
The full symposium is here.
UPDATE: I knew it! Robert Goulet has been messing with my stuff! [Kudos to Emerald Nuts for the funniest ad of the night.]