Pitch
So to answer the question asked of me by every British person I saw last Monday, "Yes, I watched the Superbowl last night." Well, half of it anyway. It was boring, the Seahawks had too many penalties to be contenders, the refs were awful, and I was tired.
That said, I must let the Brits know that the version of the Superbowl they get (despite being broadcast live) is an utter rip-off compared to the well-packaged American version.
1. I'm sorry but British commentators of an American football game is by far the most hilarious thing I've seen in 2006.
2. NO COMMERCIALS! I say no, but what I mean is there were only about four. Most commercial breaks did not cut from the stadium, but instead up to a booth were a very concerned looking British journalist put his hand over this mouth and nodded intently at some ex-American football player meathead they dragged from off some street. This segment's purpose was clearly to explain the game to a country that doesn't play it. Ok then.
Other commercial breaks that actualized in commercials had the same lame ones over and over: Reebok, Coor's Light (oh God how embarrassed am I that this American travesty of a beer has made it across the pond?) and maybe "join the Territorial Army" or something equally uninteresting.
In America, I'd say 75% of the people watching the game (wives, girlfriends, people who hate football but want to go to a party, people whose favorite teams didn't make the final) watch for the commercials. It is the one time of the year companies pay millions and millions of dollars to unleash the most outlandish and memorable commercials possible. In fact, most water cooler talk at work Monday mornings dissects the commercials (good? bad? funny? worth the fuss/cost?) and not the game. It really rattled me, and I'd dare say a Superbowl without the commercials is not worth watching.
That said, I must let the Brits know that the version of the Superbowl they get (despite being broadcast live) is an utter rip-off compared to the well-packaged American version.
1. I'm sorry but British commentators of an American football game is by far the most hilarious thing I've seen in 2006.
2. NO COMMERCIALS! I say no, but what I mean is there were only about four. Most commercial breaks did not cut from the stadium, but instead up to a booth were a very concerned looking British journalist put his hand over this mouth and nodded intently at some ex-American football player meathead they dragged from off some street. This segment's purpose was clearly to explain the game to a country that doesn't play it. Ok then.
Other commercial breaks that actualized in commercials had the same lame ones over and over: Reebok, Coor's Light (oh God how embarrassed am I that this American travesty of a beer has made it across the pond?) and maybe "join the Territorial Army" or something equally uninteresting.
In America, I'd say 75% of the people watching the game (wives, girlfriends, people who hate football but want to go to a party, people whose favorite teams didn't make the final) watch for the commercials. It is the one time of the year companies pay millions and millions of dollars to unleash the most outlandish and memorable commercials possible. In fact, most water cooler talk at work Monday mornings dissects the commercials (good? bad? funny? worth the fuss/cost?) and not the game. It really rattled me, and I'd dare say a Superbowl without the commercials is not worth watching.
I agree. It's not the Super Bowl without the commercials. Most of them were pretty great by the way, if you haven't seen them. Thanks for the link for flats. I think it will be very helpful. -Rachel
Posted by
Anonymous |
6:21 am, February 12, 2006
Ahh Superbowl - everyone at work assumes I'm an expert on football, because of my accent. I always send them the Wikipedia entry for it.
Posted by
deanne |
2:21 pm, February 12, 2006
You can't watch a sport without ads to break up the flow of the game? Now thats back to front if ever I heard it.
Now I agree that the ads are probably better than american football but if the best bit about a sport is the ads don't you ask yourself if its time to find a more interesting sport?
SJ
Posted by
Anonymous |
5:19 pm, February 13, 2006
please don't ever front on Coor's Light again... for us out in Colorado, it really is manna from heaven.
-roberto
Posted by
Anonymous |
7:55 pm, February 13, 2006
A Super Bowl sans commercials is worth watching... if it is condensed into the hour-long game that it is supposed to be.
Also, I feel terrible pity for Roberto.
Posted by
Chris Cope |
11:03 pm, February 13, 2006
Thats what makes American Football such great fun. The pageantry! Such a curiously homoerotic spectacle as well. The women conveniently marginalised and wearing skimpy clothing. Hmmm
I saw a game on my brief exchange in the states, I couldn't get over how when the visiting team came out there was silence except for a few jeers. However, when the home team ran out there was cannons, ticker tape, parachutists, acrobatics and a man in a bear suit on a quad bike. In all the English sports we're too stuck up to do that kind of stuff. I'd love to see them do that before a cricket match. You Yanks know how to do spectacle.
Posted by
Chris |
11:38 am, February 14, 2006
SJ- American football can be utterly awesome; just the superbowl can be over hyped for a game that often doesn't live up, and so the spectacle, as Chris rightly says, can outdo the game. Anyway, I'd take a superbowl with no commercials over a nil-nil soccer football game any day.
Rob- Time to move back to the east coast, bro.
Posted by
Monica |
6:16 pm, February 14, 2006
Heehee. You called it soccer football. Next you'll be saying stuff like "Sudden Death Penalty Strike Zonal Quadrant".
Posted by
Huw |
7:14 pm, February 14, 2006