In Review: Super Bowl 2010

It's an American tradition... the culmination of a year's hard work... the end of football season. Yes, I'm talking about the Super Bowl.

Usually, I don't pay much attention to NFL football. I prefer to watch college ball... there's just something about it that I like better. But I always make a point to watch the Super Bowl, just 'cause it's almost blasphemy to be an American and not watch it. Anyway, I found this year's Super Bowl very interesting, not because of who won, but instead by who did the music.

I didn't watch much of the pre-game show, but I did see the 30 minutes before the game. The first musical performance I saw wasn't really a performance, but a video. It was Jay-Z and Rihanna in "Run This Town/Posthumus Zone." I love "Run This Town" and I love "Posthumus Zone" (By E.S. Posthumus for those of you who don't know), so I thought this little remix was great! I loved everything about it, and in fact, I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to download it somehow.

Next to perform was Queen Latifah. Oh my goodness... I'm wondering how she made it as a recording artist. See, she didn't sound that good to begin with, and on top of that, she sounded nervous. Her voice was all sorts of pitchy, and it was just rough to listen to. Even my roommate said she sounded bad, and that's really saying something.

Carrie Underwood sang the National Anthem, and I couldn't have been happier. She did it just the way I think it should be sung- plain and simple, with little embellishment. Yeah, she sounded a bit strained on a couple of spots, but otherwise, I thought she did great. Bravo, Kari, bravo.

Finally, there was the halftime show. I called my family after watching this, and they agreed with me- it was BAD! It was like I told my brother and dad- when the fan's sound better than the actual singers, you've got major issues. The Who just sounded like they weren't up for this... they seemed out of breath and tired. I mean, it just wasn't pleasant to listen to. I was actually really glad that I missed part of the performance when I went to go put my laundry in.

So, in regards to the music for this Super Bowl, I give them a C-. Yeah, there were some good spots, but overall, it just wasn't that good.

Now, on to the game. I personally was pulling for the Saints, so naturally, I was a little nervous when the Colts opened up strong. The field goal at the end of the 1st half helped assuage my fears a bit, though. It's never good when a team goes in the locker room and are behind by over 6 points. But the second half? Holy crap! Where did that stuff come from?! I was blown away at how the Saints came back. My favorite play by far was the interception in the 3rd quarter where Manning threw one of his favorite passes and it was picked off by a linebacker (or was it a lineman?). Seeing that white jersey come bursting out of a sea of blue made me whoop for joy. I mean... damn, for a defensive player, that guy was fast! It totally came out of nowhere. I think it did a lot psychologically to both teams as well, by shaking the Colts' confidence and giving the Saints that little boost they needed.

In the end, the Saints won (31-17) and I was very pleased. This year's Super Bowl was probably one of the better games I've seen, and I was very happy to see the "underdog" take the Lombardi Trophy home with them.