So here we are. Super Bowl 50 (oh L, I beg your pardon) is in the books. Here my takes from Italy, starting from the really important ones: Beyoncé’s? Yes, pretty nice girl, but nothing special :-D Who dressed Chris Martin? Great job by Lady Gaga, touching execution of the national anthem Commercials? I can’t say anything because I wasn't be able to see them. During the breaks we had either italian commercials or our commentators wondering all night long why Cam Newton wasn't setting the world on fire as they expected him to. To the game. I think it's safe to say that Denver won :D I don't think it was a great game. It defenitely lacked the thrilling and there were too many mistakes, dropped passes, silly penalties, stuff like that. Defenses were much better than offenses, to put it mildly. Carolina's one was very good, Denver's one was awesome, unbelievable. I'm no expert and I haven't watched thousands of games, but I never seen a game of that magnitude won by a defense without any help from the offense. I mean, there have been many others championship teams led by defense (probably most of them), but I can't remember one with pratically no offense. Take the 2013 Seattle Seahawks: their strength was indeed their defense, but they had something going on offense either, Russel Wilson and Lynch did something for example. Yesterday the Broncos offense produced a few good runs from CJ Anderson, a handful of nice throws by Manning and then a ton of 3 and out. Manning was ultra conservative and he still managed to have an interception and 2 fumbles.
Final thought on Peyton Manning: he is really painful to see at times, he should retire. Still his legacy will be boosted by yesterday's win. I think that Americans tend to evaluate a career too much on win and losses. Yes I know the objection, courtesy of legendary coach Vince Lombardi "if winning isn't everything, why do they keep the score?"
Well, James, it's feasible, trust me. I did it more than once and I'm even one hour ahead of you.
The key is to survive the damn halftime show, then it will be all downhill.
Sure, if you get in sequence a scoring review, an injury timeout and a challenge to start the third quarter, you might be wanting to die, but it's there that you have not to be afraid to ask some junk food to help you.
PS: Actually, I make it to the end (4:30 am!), but this morning I overslept and got to work late!
In the UK, we have no shortage of great team sport throughout the year. There is no such thing as a flat time. Right now we have the Six Nations which has to be one of the greatest sport competitions in the world. The Premier League is always excellent too, and of course the cricket season is not that long away.
I have no interest in basketball, never saw the appeal of it, although I can sit and watch baseball from time to time.
I agree, this period is quite flat. I would be also interested in Italian soccer league, but my team is really stinking. Not only they're not winning many games, but they also play terribly bad and soon they'll have nothing to play for. I have nothing left than rooting against Juventus, the very team I totally loathe.
I used to like March Madness in the 90s (I loved Jerry Tarkanian's UNLV, pratically an NBA team), ultimately I've lost interest a little, because the best players leave after the freshman year to play in the NBA.
Lol, even for an American it can be tough to get through halftime. Kudos for watching the whole game, Filippo.
It's a big advantage living on the US east coast. BPL in the morning, NFL in the evening, and plenty of PGA golf during the afternoon. Ths time of the year is a bummer though - cold, snowy days without any more football. Gotta wait until March Madness and the Masters to come out of sports hibernation.
I was fighting the fatigue well into the early hours and with work just a few hours away, I succumbed to the inevitable - just like last year - and threw in the towel at half time. The prospect of Coldplay and Beyonce was the final nail in my coffin. I could fight no more.
The first half was enjoyable, but come on...why do they have to make the whole thing so damn long? Haha, you know I'm only joking, right?
I'll try again next year to make it to the third quarter.
