Super Bowl XL

It would be fair to say I know little about sport. Certainly when it comes to American Football I am at a loss. Some guys run around for ten seconds or less and then mill around for a couple of minutes getting ready for their next move. It's like watching a game of chess. It almost seems as if the game were designed with commercial TV in mind because the game lends itself so well to hours of commercials.

I believe that the same psychology is in play in gambling and in American Football. When playing a slot machine there can be hours of boredom punctuated with a few seconds of excitement when you win. In football it seems the same way. Most of the game involves a few seconds of running followed by a group of men grappling each other on the ground. Then some more men talk about it for a while, then some commercials, then they start again a few feet from where they started last time. During all of this (except the commercials) some old guys who appear to be getting paid by the word talk quickly about what we are watching, as if we were perhaps blind, and then also interject some boring trivia about various related topics including past games.

It's all very weird. But as a Brit living in America, I believe it necessary to sit through it each year, because there are a few seconds of entertainment in there, the occasional player who makes a run for it and scores, or an amusing commercial. Yes the culture has already brainwashed me into looking forward to Super Bowl commercials.

One of the things I do look forward to as a non-sports fan is the half time show. I've seen some great stuff too, Sting, Gwen Stefani, Paul McCartney and U2. But ever since the incident of the evil semi-nude tit, the powers that be are crapping in their pants about any controversy whatsoever. I guess this is why they hired the geriatric rockers to perform.

I guess I too can't get no satisfaction, because this half time show was a total pile of crap. It was quite unpleasant to see these old men stumbling about the stage singing songs that are almost as old as the Super Bowl itself. Equally though I don't want the show too far the other way as they did one year when the show was nothing more than a bunch of rappers shouting about rims, guns, money and bitches.

All I'm saying is hire some people who are in their 20s or 30s to make some decisions about what bands to hire. There is plenty of talent out there without looking to aging rockers who have passed their sell-by date.

On another note I found it terribly sad to hear that such an inoffensive group of old men had been censored twice during their performance. It's another win for the puritans, and another sad day for free speech.