Super-Dud

By Aussiegirl

Well, never let it be said that Aussiegirl does not try to be as true blue American as the next person when it comes to traditions. She even has been known to enjoy the great American pastime baseball and has cheered on her local Redskins team from time to time. And to keep the rest of her fellow Americans company and to take the cultural temperature of the country she loves, she forces herself to watch the Super Bowl, usually a very mystifying and rather boring game surrounded by even more mystifying and boring traditions.

First the endless buildup for weeks and weeks and weeks as the local TV stations try to gin up a sense of tremendous excitement -- interviews with the players and everybody within reach of the insatiable TV remote camera and microphone as to who will win, and why, and what are the strengths of the teams, etc. Then comes the big day and the pre-pre-game shows. Then the pre-game show. Then the complete life bio of every overgrown hulk to burst through the paper thingie. OK -- it's tradition, it's admittedly strange, but oddly sweet in that charming American way.

At least one can usually count on the half-time show to be good for a bit of fun or controversy, and a bit of water-cooler chatter. Granted, we can harldly expect a Janet Jackson moment every year, but at least it was unscripted (maybe, maybe not) and Janet's bouncing and strangely rectangular silicone implant was at least worth a rewind on the old TIVO.

But tonight's game really ended the Super Bowl for me. The officiating was so abysmally bad that it completely ruined the game. The Seahawks were robbed of at least one touchdown and then a questionable holding penalty robbed them of a caught pass at the 1 yard line with goal to go, not to mention the touchdown which wasn't a touchdown awarded to the Steelers. The Steelers played well, but it would have been a much more exciting game without the meddling of the officials who left the impression that they were the 12th Steeler on the team. It left a very bad taste in the mouth, as the officials did not even bother to make it seem fair.

And can we find no American talent to showcase at halftime? We had Paul McCartney last year and the geriatric Stones pathetically strutting about like aging toothpicks in jeans this year. Couldn't we have had a Motown Golden Oldie retrospective with all those great and talented bands from Detroit who were all put out of business by the execrable English sound of the Beatles and Stones? That would have been really entertaining. Or just bring back the marching bands -- always a sure fire entertaining spectacle and what could be more American?

And I don't remember any of the commercials except one about the Stone Age and dinosaurs.

Instead, the whole thing seemed moribund, corrupt, forced, geriatric and bloated with too much money -- and the tortilla chips gave me heartburn.