I don't watch football, but I watched most of the Super Bowl. Some thoughts.

[Robb]

I'm always curious about these shared American experiences on television, so I tend to be drawn toward things like big games and season finales, even if I haven't been following at all. :D

Some things struck me:

- Close game: That's kind of exciting, even if you don't know what an onside pass is, or whatever it was they were on about toward the end.

- Records: Seems like they said the one quarterback was just a few pass completions away from a superbowl record there near the end -- I had to step away right after, did he get it?

- The physicality: Wow. Especially on a big TV, I have to say it was an amazing spectacle. Those guys are freakin' HUGE!! And hitting each other at full strength, man.

- The talent: I don't know much about football, but I watched some of these guys run and change direction and it was astounding. They are athletes of a very, very high caliber. Amazing.

- The talent, part 2: I can throw a football, but even the quarterback the announcers said was the weaker of the two was AMAZING. Running as fast as he could sideways, and throwing a football to another guy running as fast as he could in a different direction, the ball looked like it was on a wire. Even in slow motion, it was a BULLET. And right into the guy's hands most of the time.

All in all, quite impressive. I'd watch another. Even if the graphics tended almost toward self-parody. :D

[Raffi Ella]

1. I'm the same way-

I like football but I hardly ever watch a game. But! I almost always watch the Super Bowl. Last nights game was A-mazing!

I don't think I can add anything more to what you've already said except - WHO DAT!

B-)

[MilesColtrane]

2. Glad you enjoyed it.

Close game - Superbowls have been good games lately. There was a period there, about fifteen years ago, when they sucked because they were so lopsided.

Records - Drew Brees (New Orleans) tied the record for the most pass completions in a Super Bowl (32 out of 39 attempts).
That stat doesn't take into account a ball he threw that was on the money but dropped. And, he spiked the ball to stop the clock at one point. That was also counted as an incompletion.
That is just insane accuracy with the football.

Physicality - If you get a chance to see a NFL game live, and up close, it's almost frightening, just how huge those guys are. If one of them just fell on me I wouldn't be getting up, much less actually hitting me at full speed.

Talent - The teams that play in the championship aren't always the most talented. (Sometimes it's just a matter of who is peaking and playing better at the right time.) But, that wasn't the case this year. The Saints and Colts were definitely the two best teams in the league.

[av8rdave]

3. The graphics do get a little overdone

Although I've spent a lot of time in Ecuador lately. Obviously, they broadcast a lot of football (soccer) games there. The splashy graphics are apparently a fairly new discover for those covering the game. They're like kids with new toys. Talk about overplayed!

Glad you enjoyed the game. Like baseball, American football is a more complex game than it appears at first blush. It's an interesting combination of brute force and athletic finesse.

[jobycom]

4. Yeah, the physical skills display is worth the price of admission to watch.

There weren't even a lot of acrobatic plays last night, aside from maybe the sack by Freeney. That's part of the fun of the game--watching a diving catch or a weaving run or a display of pure strength, especially since these are all efforts to advance a team goal. There's a lot to love about the game. Some games are just displays of individual skills, some of coaching strategies, some have everything.

Last night was a great coaching/strategy battle as much as anything. Sean Payton's daring play calling on offense, the shifting defensive strategies that kept Manning off guard, and Manning's tremendous ability to figure out what they were doing, except on the interception, made this as much a chess match as a battle of skilled players. If you noticed at the end, Manning threw a good pass on his last attempt, and Reggie Wayne just let if go through his hands. If he had caught that, the score would look better, and the Colts would have had a chance to try an onside kick (that just means they'd have had a last desperate chance to get the ball back).

As for the record, Drew Brees tied the record for most pass completions in a Super Bowl, and Peyton Manning finished one behind him, tying the record for second, which together was the highest combined number of pass completions in a Super Bowl.

[Redstone]

5. I used to play football until my brains fell out, but I'm glad

I'm too old to do it these days...as you noticed, the big guys are FAST now. Back then, they were kinda slow. That kept me from getting even more broken than I did.

Redstone

[old mark]

6. To give you a rough idea about how big, this is a Wiki article on

the Philadelphia Eagle's center (The guy in front of the quarterback who hands him the football and tries to keep the other team out of his face) Jamaal Jackson.

Link; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaal_Jackson


Note that he is 6'4" and 330 pounds (actually probably a little more). In his own way, he is a real athlete, and a very smart and knowledgeable player who sadly was injured late in the 2009 season - torn ligaments in his knee.
People make fun of football, but there is a lot going on -very very rapidly- in a lot of different areas that must all work together at the same time, or the result can be a disaster, as was the last interception thrown by Peyton Manning.

I hope some of you might watch a few games next season.
I hated football for years, then for some reason saw a few games, and now I live for the season.

mark

[Raffi Ella]

7. I do watch some times!

I think last nights game was a WHOLE lot more exciting than most regular games- How many games do you see an intercept/Touchdown like that? I've seen them but not often. There was an intensity to last nights game that I've never felt or seen before.

[old mark]

11. It really was a great game, even for a SB. nt

[grasswire]

8. Me too

I rarely watch football and would rather watch college ball than pro. But yesterday's game was a doozy. I thought the play-by-play was extremely informative and useful. And I liked the fact that it was an obviously mental game as well as physical. I enjoyed it a lot. I also liked the fact that the drives were sustained and not constant giving up the ball due to lack of downs, as sometimes seems to happen in football.

[BlueJazz]

9. Yep...a lot of people who seldolm watch Football are unaware that......

...there are a LOT of specific rules about what you can do and cannot do. It's not just a bunch of skilled big Men
trying to get a ball down the field....they have to do it the "Rules" way.

Also...I had a friend from Australia (so am I) who used to kid me about .."Rugby Players are REAL Men and they don't need Padding"
I took him to a Tampa Bay game and he was amazed at how HUGE those linebackers are.

After the Game I said "You kinda' understand why they wear protection"?
He said: "I' Mate...I see what you were talking about...Those bastards would crush most Rugby players"

And rugby is no Girly game either. :) :)

[SoxFan]

10. Onside Pass?

Is that like a stand-up base on balls?

:evilgrin:

[hippywife]

14. I noticed that, too.

:rofl:

[Zomby Woof]

12. There's a reason the game uses Roman numerals

[woofless]

13. I haven't watched a game all season,

but something about the New Orleans thing and the drama surrounding it caught my attention. I watched the game without listening to it (except to hear the ruling on the reviewed points after) and was astounded by the quality of the replays. Really competetive and well played game. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. On-side kick.

Always one of the most spectacular plays in football.

And this was one of the most spectacular on-side kicks these eyes have ever seen.

Basically, the kick-off team has two choices: they can kick the ball down field and give the ball to the kick return team, with a high probability of them having a poor field position. Or attempt to kick it just ten yards and try to get a hold of it themselves to keep possession of the ball, but give the kick return team a very high probability that they'll get the ball and with good field position.

It's usually attempted late in the fourth quarter when the kick off team is down by only a few points and absolutely needs possession of the ball.

I've never seen it attempted at the beginning of the second half, down by ten, and after already making and blowing such a risky attempt at that 4th and goal.

[SoxFan]

16. Cast-iron harblez

Sean Peyton has 'em!