Superbowl XLIV

Superbowl! And what a game it was! This was probably the best game (taking excitement and quality of play) I saw this entire season. Actually, I have a couple of thoughts of the season in general, but that’ll wait for next blog post. For now, this is all about the game last Saturday.

By far the highlight was the Porter interception of Manning’s pass. As that happened, I was hooting and hollering, clapping and jumping! Not only was I rooting for New Orleans, I have this very powerful dislike towards Peyton Manning. To see the Superbowl decided on an interception returned for a touchdown by him was heavenly.

Some preliminaries. Going into the game, I was very much pro-Saints. Since Drew Brees went to that team and a huge effort was made to make the Saints a powerful, dynamic offense, I’ve had a soft spot for them. I liked watching them play and sort of rooted for them. If you add in, the whole Katrina mess, and how that team has meant so much for the city and its people, I was very much in favor of them winning on Sunday.

I can’t say that it was all the Saints though. Being honest, aside from the Vikings, I would’ve rooted for any team that would’ve made it from the NFC. I don’t like the Colts and I specially don’t like Payton Manning. Why? I’m not completely sure. I’ll be the first to admit that my dislike of him is irrational. He’s not only an amazing player, but he seems to be a nice guy, he’s not showy, he’s responsible and not a grandstander; these are all reasons why I should like him, but I don’t. Regardless, I don’t want this to turn into a ‘down with Manning’ rant.

I was very nervous as the game started. The Colts were clearly the dominant team in the first quarter; hell, the first half belonged to the Colts. Down 10 to 0, things didn’t look good for the Saints. Later on the Saints added 3 points, but turned the ball over on downs failing to get a in the end zone. At that point, me and the people I was watching it with: Jon and Dani (sorry Fercho, sleeping in front of the TV doesn’t count as watching it) were screaming at the TV and calling for the heads of everybody on the Saints sideline. Fortunately for them, the defense held and they were able to get another 3 points.

Looking back, that decision to go for it on 4th down was probably the reason why they kicked the on-side kick to begin the second half, so I guess that it wasn’t so bad after all.

And what a huge momentum turner that was. It caught the Colts off-guard and further increased the time Peyton went without touching the ball.


The Saints made some very good adjustments and kept the game very close. The game wouldn’t be either a blow-out or an offensive shoot-out as every sports commentator said it would; just like the Patriots didn’t blow-out the Giants and just like the Cardinals weren’t destroyed by the Steelers. Curiously enough, I haven’t heard a single radio guy (radio being the medium that I am exposed to the most) comment on how wrong they were on their projections.



Near the end of the game, with the Saints up 7 points, you’d think that I would feel a good about how things were going, but with 4 minutes left, that lead felt like a deficit. With Manning at the helm (he lead the Colts to victory 7 times while losing in the 4th quarter during the season), you knew that a victory was far from a done deal. That’s why the interception was unbelievable. This was my wet dream realizing itself in front of my eyes. On the biggest stage, with the biggest prize up for grabs, Manning throws a pick. It was near orgasmic. When my Packers beat the Colts last season, was the closest I had felt to that feeling.




Still, it wasn’t over. There were 3 minutes left on the clock. Knowing Manning and the Colts offense, a 14 point deficit, with that much time, they weren’t mentally defeated. I told Jon how incredible it was that I was feeling so nervous about the outcome of the game despite the point differential and how little time was left. Only the Colts could do that.

You know how the rest of the game went. Less than a minute left, Colts in the red zone, 4th and goal and nothing. Incomplete pass and the Saints have the ball. Game over. Let the celebration for New Orleans commence!


It really is a good story, and regardless of who anyone was rooting for, you have to realize that few cities deserve a win like N.O. A lot of people can say that this is just sports, that it’s all meaningless and has no practical importance. In a way they’d be right. But the morale of a whole city can be tied into a sports team, and the Saints really do represent the city. After Katrina, the city was a huge, huge mess. The Saints, a football team, became a rallying force for a whole community. And this didn’t only relate to morale, the Saints have brought in so much national attention, has kept the city relevant and very importantly, has contributed to the city’s economy. Good for them.

Anyways, what else is there to mention? The half-time show of course!

How was that? It sucked!! It was bad, really, really bad. I have heard that there was a good amount of people who were so disgusted with the spectacle that they either changed the channel or went off somewhere and they actually missed the on-side kick as a result! Fortunately for us, we had Jon’s laptop and were looking up stupid stuff and not paying attention to the TV other than to comment on how old and sad they looked.


I was left wondering something. What is worse? Having a boring, old, IRRELEVANT, act for a show, or having a stupid, inane, and bad act? Would I have preferred watching The Who or Lady Gaga? How about next year? Little Richard or Beyonce? Before the whole Janet Jackson fiasco, we were treated with the pop performers of the moment. They were usually bad, but at least there was a connection with some part of the audience; there wasn’t a disconnection that there now is.

What else? The commercials! Most of them sucked. Doritos saved a lot of money in getting other people to do their commercials for them, but what they got was stupid, groan-inducing ads. I’m sick and tired of the Go Daddy crap. While I was glad to see the Clydesdale, that commercial wasn’t good at all. That one commercial that ripped off The Hangover was insulting and I thought was the worst. Coca Cola’s were pretty bleh too. There were two commercials I did like. One was the Dove commercial for skin care products for men. It had a great setup and was pretty entertaining; was surprised when they showed what they were promoting. My favorite was one I didn’t see from the beginning but having seen it again, thought it was really smart and simple: the Google search bar one. It didn’t have to do much, not that many bells and whistles, not much flash, just simple, concise and smart.



Well, that’s it for Superbowl 44. I’m done.