THE AIRPLANE CAST SUPER BOWL DEBRIEF

THE AIRPLANE CAST SUPER BOWL DEBRIEF

By The Fillerbuster

 

(written on plane ride in morning, posted that night without editing so sorry for any grammatical errors)

SIDE NOTE 1:  All random, old school style thoughts are under the “This And That” drop down on my site.  Still being done in one sentence style.

SIDE NOTE 2:  I got an exit row seat, so the grammatical errors SHOULD be limited.  At least it isn’t one of those almost closed laptop blogs.

 

Greetings and salutations, people.  Thanks for coming aboard (the boat).  The plane in this instance actually.  I can space out my blogs more and I do enjoy that these days, but after the biggest football game of the year, you can imagine I need SOME sort of debrief with you, myself, the plane ride I am on to Portland, whatever.  So, I want to continue my new focused approach, so no numbers.

First of all, looking back on my last blog, I should have taken the Sammy Hagar inspiration (Where Eagles Fly) and gone with THAT.  It was all T’d up.  Oh well.  Hindsight is 20/20.

 

THE PRESENTATION

• Maybe you knew some background on the new Vikings stadium. Maybe you noticed the coolness of the stadium before, during, or after the game.  Know that it is a pretty stellar home base to show any high-profile sporting event.  There is a great article in SI about the history of HKS and how they won the bid for Lucas, Dallas, and now this one.  Cool stuff.  They researched the city relentlessly and then proposed a stadium that accentuated the great things about the city.  You might see a Vikings ship, others might see a slab of rock, but the fact remains that it is personalized and distinctive.
• Some things he says show that he is really intelligent, but I still can’t totally get behind Cris Collinsworth being a good analyst and I feel like he is ruining the whole end of career experience I could be having with Al Michaels.
• I don’t think I knew exactly who Leslie Odom was before his commercial spots, but he is becoming one of my favorite singers these days.
• I was going to mess with Pink for backing off the “free” note in the anthem until I found out that she was sick and literally spitting out throat meds as she walked onto the field.
• I don’t know how many times they practice it, but the coin toss still always looks awkward.
• I thought JT’s show was decent. I thought his song choices and order were good, even busting out the song with the nipple from years ago.  My problems?  I thought the piano bit could have been better and I would have preferred he sing it on his own, or just play the Prince version.  Don’t combine them.  I thought he should sing OR dance, but don’t combine the two.  I noticed a couple times of obvious lip syncing when he was dancing.  Hate that.  No guest stars, JT?    Overall.  Good job in giving an above average performance when the first half of the football game was above average.  Well, I personally say it was good, but not sure your spontaneous selfie kid was enamored by you, bro, at ALL.

THE GAME

• The QB’s dropped back NINETY FOUR times and were sacked ONCE…the one with two plus minutes left.
• Glad you people enjoyed the high scoring, no defense game, and I get that is what the masses need and want. I thought the game was fun and provided more trick plays and gutsy calls than ever in the Super Bowl.  But, it didn’t rock my world or anything.  I don’t think I will EVER root for a football game to have 1151 yards of offense in it.  That is not only the highest Super Bowl total.  That is the highest total yards EVER in ANY game.  I personally need some INT’s, sacks, and some stops on defense.
• But, I know I can’t ask for more than what I got out of that game…I am just being over-analytical.
• Having Foles come out throwing all short passes was SMART to get him in the groove and shake the nerves.
• Glad to have seen my first “straddle tackle”
• The Foles catch from an ex-UF recruited QB turned TE was brilliant and now sits, in my opinion, second forever behind the Sean Payton offside kick to start the second half. Sorry, I just don’t see anything topping that as far as guts.  Neat play, though.  Philly Special.
• Actually, I will alter the previous note. I will put them at a TIE.  Reason?  Because although I think Payton’s call was better overall, he had halftime to prep for it.  Pederson’s was on the fly with a play call they had practiced about 7 times.
• So much MORE funny because of Brady’s dropped catch.
• The Cooks injury affected more than we will know, and to think…they should have had Edelman too this year. So, in a year where they TRIED to have weapons for Brady, they still got burned.
• ALL year we have said the Pats defense was susceptible, and they got away with it all through the middle, but not in the beginning of the season, and not at the end. Roster inadequacies finally caught up to the “bend but don’t break” mantra.
• Newly named MVP QB’s are now 0-8 since 2002 in the Super Bowl.
• Ironic that two big catch calls came down with all of this press on what is a catch and what is not, and NEITHER of the calls went the Pats way. Can you IMAGINE if that would have happened the other way?
• Fun game though.

 

THE GAME ODDS AND ENDS

• I always find it fun to check through the channels during the Super Bowl to see what other channels put up against it. You find some of the most random stuff on main TV channels.  Judge Judy was kicking it over on one of the major channels.
• My favorite part is the introductions of the players and seeing how many colleges I can peg, but this year I noticed a disturbing amount of players putting “the” in front of their name. Listen, I can only speak for 1991-1995 as far as attending and hearing what people were talking about, but to my knowledge there are only TWO universities claiming “the” in front of their name.  Ohio State and UVA.  That’s it.  I accept Miami throwing “the” in front of “U.”  All good with that.
• I am now used to players calling out high schools in their introductions, but naming a different sport? Lacrosse is impressive, but I don’t care about it during a football game, Hogan.
• I can’t speak for everyone, but I am never sure WHEN the first $5 million commercial is, so I never really know when to sit down and not move for hours.
• So, The Hoodie is just TRYING to piss off fashion people, right, when wearing a hoodie with cut off sleeves. I am horrible with fashion, and I even know that looks horrible.
• I noticed a camera shot with a guy in a Chiefs jersey at the game. He breaks multiple rules with that gear choice.  I will accept a jersey for Eagles, Pats, and no other NFL teams.  CFL and college teams are fine.  All other sports are accepted.  Vikings gear is actually fine in this particular case since it is their stadium and maybe he is just sad that they were so close.  Chiefs?
• The NFC East is now the first division with ALL teams having a ring. 12 teams now have not won an official Super Bowl.  4 haven’t gotten there at ALL yet (congrats Browns, Jags, Texans, Lions).  The Jags and Texans can defend themselves as they are expansion teams, and the Browns had a bunch of titles before Super Bowls.  So, the Lions stick out a little to me.
• Kevin Hart is a Philly fan and wasn’t allowed on stage. I get it.  He was loaded.  Being loaded wasn’t the problem, but being loaded enough to have people know who you are AND not allow you on stage means you didn’t use best strategy or network very well or should have had about 6 less beers.  Maybe he just didn’t fathom them even coming out on top so just did a bunch of shots early on.
• So, just in case you were rooting against millionaires being BIGGER millionaires, you would lose in this case. Bettor X (the guy who RAKED with million dollar bets during the World Series, casino by casino, game by game) took the Eagles and the money line.    His mattress is quite elevated at this point.  Dammit.
• I didn’t realize that Chris Long has a Virginia tattoo on his bicep and it looks GOOD. I have a wire hanger UVA brand, Chris, so I sort of win….not really.
• What a reward for a guy (Long) who donated his entire salary to a cause (the reward being the Super Bowl win and not the Virginia tattoo).
• Long and Blount both left their team after winning a Super Bowl. Now, they have won another Super Bowl, different team.  Maybe they should team up with Bettor X.
• Alshon Jeffery made some great catches in this game. And he was right with his guarantee last year.  He guaranteed a Super Bowl victory.  True, he was on the Bears when he said that, but damn he was right.
• I still don’t understand the #almichaelsshakeyourbooty thing and will NOT look it up.
• Antonio Brown was tweeting both James Harrison AND Tom Brady about his non-catch, but I think that players not in the game should be Twitter silent for a couple of weeks.

THE COMMERCIALS

• I have come to the conclusion that I am not bothered if they make Jurassic World movies until I am dead, because I get excited for the commercials, WILL go see it in the theater, and apparently am not bored with them yet at ALL.
• The Han Solo movie preview was solid, but I got more excited finding out Woody Harrelson snuck in that movie too.
• They had a commercial for the Olympics with the song This Is Me in it, and I have tried to NOT like that song, but dammit it is growing on me quickly.
• Loose order for me, but if you care, my favorite commercials were:
  • Fell off the couch practically during the Eli-OBJ commercial
  • ALL the Tide commercials
  • I got chills during that Olympic commercial with the girl born with no feet
  • Australia commercial with Kenny Powers and Chris Pratt…at least while I thought it was ACTUALLY going to be a movie
  • Jeff Goldblum-Jeep commercial
  • Alexa loses voice-Amazon
  • Rocket Mortgage-Peele guy explaining things
  • Dinklage and Freeman-Doritos and Mountain Dew
  • Pringles-that guy from Trainwrecked-stacking chips
  • E-Trade commercial about everyone coming out of retirement to work
  • Vikings commercial where they have to turn around before getting there
  • Keanu Reeves commercial on a motorcycle-I don’t even remember what it was for…it was just cool
  • Turkish Airlines only because they paid to get some face time at ALL
• The M&M commercial with Danny was funny just because of the dialogue
  • I would say more about how much the new Dilly Dilly commercial sucked, but then I just rationalize and say either A) Budweiser knows we are getting tired of it or B) their water relief commercial was stellar and maybe took more of their time
  • There is really a Persil Detergent and do I just hear about that product during Super Bowl ads?
  • There aren’t necessarily too many commercial rules, but I would say don’t have a serious commercial with MLK speaking that is for CARS.
  • Knowing you are in control of the industry and your legacy when The Rock can come out with a skyscraper movie like we are still in 1990 and get away with it.
  • Why doesn’t Sprint just put some money down for some R&D to close that “less than 1%” gap with their competitors?????

WHAT NOW FOR THE PATS

• Hope they had fun having like 10 WR’s and 8 RB’s that could turn it on every game. Some of those guys now hit free agency, and they might make Brady look 41…or at least 31 maybe.
• Dropped pass catch before Foles DID catch one, sack/fumble on a two minute drill to win it, and suddenly, with THREE losses in Super Bowls, it alters his perfect legacy a little.
• Patricia is going to the Lions as HC, as they aren’t worried about him giving up 1000 points in the biggest game of the year. They can only go up in status anyway.
• McDaniels is out of there also. LOTS of brains leaving that sideline.  McDaniels might end up once again a bad head coach, but damn is he an offensive genius.  Brady gets the cred, but the play design against teams that KNOW what is coming and how it is coming is remarkable.
• But you know what? They will pull in some players no one wants, they will have people take less money, and they will be in the mix again.  I would draft some defense if I am them, but until Brady rides into the sunset, they are a factor.
• I say all of the above, but if that ESPN article about the fragmentation internally is real, then we could all witness Brady going out on a loss playing his last game with The Hoodie. I will believe they are both done together when I see it.  I also remember caring a lot more about when Michael was done with Phil then Brady done with Belichick.

WHAT NOW FOR THE EAGLES

• They proved me wrong. I thought when Wentz went down, they would fold in the playoffs.  I stand corrected.  And, they have the roster to stay good.  They have young talent, they have swagger, they have a gutsy, likable coach, and they have the ultimate QB problem.
• Without reading too much about it, here is my take on the QB situation. I think Nick Foles could be traded at the highest value you will EVER get for him.    But, I think Nick Foles LIKES his team after being thrown out by the Rams.  I think he knows the Eagles are in a good spot for the next few years.  I think Foles won’t mind being a backup to the next great Philly QB.  I don’t know Nick Foles personally, but I think where all things point to him exiting stage left, I think he stays put.  Plus, in all reality, Wentz is coming back from a serious enough injury, and having that insurance card is not a bad idea.
• Plus, Nick Foles can melt on the bench for the rest of his career. He is a freaking LEGEND and will ALWAYS be a legend in that city now.  He can only go down from here.  If he is such a competitor that he feels the NEED to start, he might try and leave.  If he is the guy I think he is and just wants to be around a winning group, then he is staying.  I think he is staying.

SUMMARY

Sure, I wrote the blog predicting the Pats would win, but I had NO problem with the Eagles winning it.  Although a Steelers fan, I am from South Jersey, meaning Eagles territory.  I will admit my wife will tell you that I was cheering for big plays from the Pats than the Eagles, but that is neither here nor there and let’s just move on.

We have been spoiled over the last couple of years for Super Bowls.  Last year, we had the greatest comeback ever.  This year, we had the greatest offensive show ever.  Good presentation by all the stars, no fumbles off the field, and the game had a little bit of everything and more “fun” plays we will probably ever see in a Super Bowl.  I hope you enjoyed also.  Maybe you are rooting for the same type of thing next year.  I personally will be rooting for a smash mouth battle with some defense next year.  To each their own.

I have to end as we just started our first descent and I need to go clean up a work PPT.

 

(TRAVEL NOTE:  Got a Belvita Cinnamon Toast Sugar Breakfast Bar during this Southwest flight, and although I almost turned down the stewardess giving it to me, I will say it is not too bad)

 

That’s it for today.  Hope you enjoyed or are at least more informed.  Will I blog again?  That is a CLOWN question, bro.  Peace.