Who Dat?

So it's Superbowl weekend... one of the biggest weekends for consumerism in the country. People everywhere are going to overeat, over-drink, just overindulge... It's the one weekend that even non football fans will join the party. What is it about this game that draws such attention? Certainly bigger than the World Series, bigger than the NBA championship, and definitely bigger than the Stanley Cup playoffs. What is it about this day? MARKETING!


The NFL simply has the best marketing of all the pro sports. Their marketing team must be made up of geniuses. They've marketed the game in a manner that creates a full on frenzy in people. For 2 weeks from the conclusion of the AFC and NFC championship games we're bombarded with ads for the “Big Game”. Products being sold for the “Superbowl”. How's this for marketing genius, the NFL has copyrighted the following:

* “Super Bowl”
* “Super Sunday”
* The Super Bowl logo
* “NFL”, “AFC”, or “NFC”
* “National Football League”
* “American Football Conference”
* ‘National Football Conference”
* Any team name (e.g., “Colts") or nickname ("Pats").

Nobody is allowed to use any of those terms without paying the NFL. I hope I don't catch hell for typing this blog.

Hell even Superbowl commercials have to step up their game. We're all expecting to be wowed with their witty, funny gems of genius Who remembers the “Bud” “Weis” “Errrr” frogs? Or the “Whaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzzuuuuuuuup” commercials, or the dude who jumped on the bed with silk sheets, and slid right out the window, or how about the one from last year where the guy hated his job so bad he could punch a small animal, and did! So do the commercials work? If they didn't, we wouldn't remember them. So hell yes they work.

The part about the Superbowl that makes me crazy though is the “press” coverage leading up to the game. All the in-depth player profiles, all the bullshit “behind the scenes”, all the back-story... No I don't mind seeing some highlights of this past years games that got them there but all the emotional feelgood bullshit just makes me crazy. This year has been especially nauseating, what with New Orleans, and all the city has had to endure, a city the government turned their back on, a city, which just a short while was mostly under water... blah blah blah de fucking blah! All the bullshit news stories rallying behind the city, jumping on the “Who Dat” bandwagon... All of which of course has NOTHING to do with the game itself. Most of the players are not from New Orleans, nor do they want to live there during the offseason. New Orleans, the team just happens to be who's signing their checks this year. So don't tell me how far New Orleans the city has come, and try to project that on the team. I keep hearing about how the “city needs this”, or the players are going to win for the poor tragic people of New Orleans... BULLSHIT!!! They just want to win because they're professional competitive athletes. Every player of every team wants to win the goddam Superbowl, just like every MLB player wants to win the World Series, and why Ray Borque requested a trade to the Avalanche to win a Stanley Cup.

So keep your sob stories to your self + just enjoy the game... hopefully all the hype won't get too much in the way.

-and as always, I welcome any and all comments...

Carl Genius