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CHICAGO — After a great NFL season, it’s not a stretch to predict that Super Bowl LX will be the worst ever.
Everything is falling into place after Sunday’s conference championship games gave us another New England Patriots-Seattle Seahawks matchup, assuring America of the return of Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, Pete Carroll and Malcolm Butler to rehash the wild ending of their matchup in Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Ariz.
In case you’ve forgotten, that was the one in which Russell Wilson had the Seahawks on the Patriots 1-yard line with a chance to win on the final play, only to have Butler intercept his pass to Ricardo Lockette and seal a 28-24 New England victory. Carroll never lived down his decision to have Wilson throw instead of handing off to Marshawn Lynch, arguably the worst call in Super Bowl history.
Reminders of that play are unavoidable with two weeks to fill before kickoff on Feb. 8, not to mention several hours of pregame programming that afternoon on NBC. I’d advise fans to turn off their TVs now and tune back in when Carrie Underwood starts singing that night, but even then it promises to be a yawner.
The Chicago Bears could’ve saved us from this matchup and made it a Super Bowl to remember, but there’s no sense in dredging up the gory details of why they lost in overtime to the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional playoff game at Soldier Field. Suffice to say communication is a learned skill.
The Denver Broncos could’ve spared us from seeing and hearing obnoxious Boston sports fans, most of whom have podcasts and call themselves Barstool Tony. But the Broncos didn’t have a decent backup to quarterback Bo Nix, who was injured on the final drive of the divisional playoff win over the Buffalo Bills, and were forced to use someone who seemingly never had played the game before in Sunday’s 10-7 loss to the Patriots in the AFC title game.
So here we are with the Patriots and Seahawks, a matchup that begs you to go clean out the garage or spend the evening bowling. All the Cris Collinsworth-created hype in the world can’t make this one interesting to fans outside of Seattle and New England.
Of course, the game itself is only part of Super Sunday, and many will tune in for the commercials, the halftime show and the chance to see celebrities.
Alas, they are doomed to be disappointed, judging from the early previews.
Budweiser on Monday unveiled its Super Bowl LX commercial, and it’s everything you hate in a Super Bowl ad — and in a beer. The ad debuted on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” which is two hours of product placement for Disney Co. movies, TV shows and theme parks, interspersed with 10 minutes of real news and a half-hour of shopping tips.
The Budweiser ad features a Clydesdale nurturing a baby bird that eventually grows into a bald eagle that takes flight off the horse’s back to the soundtrack of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s classic, “Free Bird.” A farmer watches and asks another farmer, “You crying?” The other farmer responds, “Sun’s in my eyes.” It’s not too subtle: Bud loves freedom and America!
The ad is meant to celebrate Budweiser’s 150th birthday and the country’s 250th birthday, making us feel patriotic and thirsty. It didn’t work here, and considering the national mood these days, they probably should’ve used Skynyrd’s “Saturday Night Special” instead of “Free Bird.”
Several other Super Bowl ads were teased during Sunday’s games, including Ben Stiller and Benson Boone as brothers faking Italian accents and singing off key for Instacart, and Matthew McConaughey repeating the tired Uber Eats joke about football being a conspiracy to sell food. Lame and lamer.
Every year the big stars come out to create new Super Bowl ads, and every year they’re less and less funny. When was the last time you laughed out loud at a Super Bowl ad?
At least we have the halftime show to look forward to, as long as you like Bad Bunny and/or Green Day. I’m not too familiar with Mr. Bunny’s songs, but he seems to be an annoyance to many people my age, so I’m willing to give him a listen. M-m-m-m-my generation had our turn with The Who playing in Super Bowl XLIV, and Prince killed it in XLI, so we have no reason to complain about Mr. Bunny’s generation getting its turn.
Green Day has been playing the same hits since the ’90s and is the equivalence of comfort food for Generation X. But they’ll take a back seat to Mr. Bunny, whose appearance has been controversial since it was announced last year.
“There’s a lot of people right now who don’t like Bad Bunny being in the Super Bowl halftime show,” NFL chief marketing officer Tim Ellis said in October. “Well, not everyone has to like everything we do. Bad Bunny is f−−−ing awesome.”
Not everyone agrees.
“I’m anti-them,” President Donald Trump said of Bad Bunny and Green Day while informing us he won’t be attending the game because “it’s too far away.”
They are anti-him, so look for some political messages that are certain to further divide the nation. Maybe the patriotic Budweiser ad with the Lynyrd Skynyrd song will run in the second half and unite us again, making it a wash.
Eventually we’ll be able to turn our attention from the Patriots, Seahawks and Mr. Bunny to the 2026 season, starting with the NFL scouting combine.
Hopefully the Bears can save America next year.
They’re our last chance.
____
Continue reading...
Everything is falling into place after Sunday’s conference championship games gave us another New England Patriots-Seattle Seahawks matchup, assuring America of the return of Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, Pete Carroll and Malcolm Butler to rehash the wild ending of their matchup in Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Ariz.
In case you’ve forgotten, that was the one in which Russell Wilson had the Seahawks on the Patriots 1-yard line with a chance to win on the final play, only to have Butler intercept his pass to Ricardo Lockette and seal a 28-24 New England victory. Carroll never lived down his decision to have Wilson throw instead of handing off to Marshawn Lynch, arguably the worst call in Super Bowl history.
Reminders of that play are unavoidable with two weeks to fill before kickoff on Feb. 8, not to mention several hours of pregame programming that afternoon on NBC. I’d advise fans to turn off their TVs now and tune back in when Carrie Underwood starts singing that night, but even then it promises to be a yawner.
The Chicago Bears could’ve saved us from this matchup and made it a Super Bowl to remember, but there’s no sense in dredging up the gory details of why they lost in overtime to the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional playoff game at Soldier Field. Suffice to say communication is a learned skill.
The Denver Broncos could’ve spared us from seeing and hearing obnoxious Boston sports fans, most of whom have podcasts and call themselves Barstool Tony. But the Broncos didn’t have a decent backup to quarterback Bo Nix, who was injured on the final drive of the divisional playoff win over the Buffalo Bills, and were forced to use someone who seemingly never had played the game before in Sunday’s 10-7 loss to the Patriots in the AFC title game.
So here we are with the Patriots and Seahawks, a matchup that begs you to go clean out the garage or spend the evening bowling. All the Cris Collinsworth-created hype in the world can’t make this one interesting to fans outside of Seattle and New England.
Of course, the game itself is only part of Super Sunday, and many will tune in for the commercials, the halftime show and the chance to see celebrities.
Alas, they are doomed to be disappointed, judging from the early previews.
Budweiser on Monday unveiled its Super Bowl LX commercial, and it’s everything you hate in a Super Bowl ad — and in a beer. The ad debuted on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” which is two hours of product placement for Disney Co. movies, TV shows and theme parks, interspersed with 10 minutes of real news and a half-hour of shopping tips.
The Budweiser ad features a Clydesdale nurturing a baby bird that eventually grows into a bald eagle that takes flight off the horse’s back to the soundtrack of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s classic, “Free Bird.” A farmer watches and asks another farmer, “You crying?” The other farmer responds, “Sun’s in my eyes.” It’s not too subtle: Bud loves freedom and America!
The ad is meant to celebrate Budweiser’s 150th birthday and the country’s 250th birthday, making us feel patriotic and thirsty. It didn’t work here, and considering the national mood these days, they probably should’ve used Skynyrd’s “Saturday Night Special” instead of “Free Bird.”
Several other Super Bowl ads were teased during Sunday’s games, including Ben Stiller and Benson Boone as brothers faking Italian accents and singing off key for Instacart, and Matthew McConaughey repeating the tired Uber Eats joke about football being a conspiracy to sell food. Lame and lamer.
Every year the big stars come out to create new Super Bowl ads, and every year they’re less and less funny. When was the last time you laughed out loud at a Super Bowl ad?
At least we have the halftime show to look forward to, as long as you like Bad Bunny and/or Green Day. I’m not too familiar with Mr. Bunny’s songs, but he seems to be an annoyance to many people my age, so I’m willing to give him a listen. M-m-m-m-my generation had our turn with The Who playing in Super Bowl XLIV, and Prince killed it in XLI, so we have no reason to complain about Mr. Bunny’s generation getting its turn.
Green Day has been playing the same hits since the ’90s and is the equivalence of comfort food for Generation X. But they’ll take a back seat to Mr. Bunny, whose appearance has been controversial since it was announced last year.
“There’s a lot of people right now who don’t like Bad Bunny being in the Super Bowl halftime show,” NFL chief marketing officer Tim Ellis said in October. “Well, not everyone has to like everything we do. Bad Bunny is f−−−ing awesome.”
Not everyone agrees.
“I’m anti-them,” President Donald Trump said of Bad Bunny and Green Day while informing us he won’t be attending the game because “it’s too far away.”
They are anti-him, so look for some political messages that are certain to further divide the nation. Maybe the patriotic Budweiser ad with the Lynyrd Skynyrd song will run in the second half and unite us again, making it a wash.
Eventually we’ll be able to turn our attention from the Patriots, Seahawks and Mr. Bunny to the 2026 season, starting with the NFL scouting combine.
Hopefully the Bears can save America next year.
They’re our last chance.
____
Continue reading...
