Why I'll Probably Watch the Super Bowl Alone

On Wednesday, Rob suggested that I let go of my inhibitions and just embrace my man-crush on Tom Brady. Well, if I'm going to do so, Super Bowl Sunday (the national holiday that's not an official national holiday) is probably the right day for it. I'll embellish the sentiment with an e-card that Mis Hooz sent me last week.


(Courtesy of someecards.com)

Oh yeah - the game. My score looks like Patriots 37, Giants 16. Is picking the 18-0 team to win one more game really taking a chance? Regardless, I'll enjoy watching excellence be rewarded while the Patriots make pro football history.

Besides the gridiron competition, I'll also be looking forward to the Iron Man trailer during some commercial break and may be more excited than I've ever been about a Super Bowl halftime show, with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers supplying the musical entertainment. (Please let there be no dancers on the field.) One of the best (yet criminally underrated) American rock bands ever finally gets the huge stage it deserves.

Tom Brady: Smooth On and Off the Field

I've managed to contain what's developed into a healthy admiration for Tom Brady (I'm not sure this is man-crush material, though I've professed such feelings before to friends, only to be greeted with awkward silence) because I didn't want to be labeled as a bandwagon New England Patriots fan. But I have been (quietly) rooting for the Patriots to go undefeated, so they'd shut up those grumpy old men ("It was better in the old days!") of the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

And I'll always root for Brady, because I think he overcame a pretty raw deal that Lloyd Carr gave him at the University of Michigan. (I don't know if I'll ever get around to writing this post, but I think jerking Brady around in favor of local golden boy Drew Henson is the biggest stain on Carr's legacy as Michigan football coach. By doing so, however, Carr likely unwittingly molded the quarterback we see today.) I realize that Brady's become the kind of guy you don't root for because he appears to have everything. (And if you look at that photo to the right, he seems to know it.)

Anyway, this was a long-winded introduction of getting to some amusing video from today's (always absurd) Super Bowl Media Day, during which a Spanish reporter asked Brady to marry her. And he handled it as calmly as he does an opposing pass rush.



What a gentleman. Of course, Brady has some experience facing the ridiculous at press conferences.



Always smooth, never bitter. Brady should do beer commercials after he's done with football.

(via Awful Announcing)

UPDATE: Here's a good look at the amorous TV reporter from TV Azteca.

Weekend mix

• Does anyone else have someone in their lives that adds unnecessary drama to relatively trivial events? Someone who spouts ridiculously embarrassing hyperbole ("really suffering," "a major burden of life") in order to give rather pedestrian circumstances some sort of artificial significance? Why do such people do this? Is it a sign that the scope of their lives is just too small? Do they need the drama to make their lives seem more important? Just curious. I'm - ahem - speaking completely in hypotheticals, of course.

• "In Good Company" is a good movie, but I wonder if it suffers at the box office (#4 last weekend) from marketing. It seems like the studio isn't quite sure how to sell this one. Is it a satire of corporate culture? Is it about older, yet not-ready-for-retirement professionals being pushed out by young, ambitious up-and-comers? Yes, on both counts. But I think it's also about the fulfillment of a complete life, not just career success.

And maybe that's why I enjoyed this movie - it's got several layers to it. Not all of them work - maybe because the story should've eventually found a focus - but Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace are so good that they make you care what happens to their characters, and that covers up some of the movie's flaws. Also, Scarlett Johansson is much better than the part she's given. Yet she takes what she has and makes something interesting and believable out of it. It's hard to believe this is the same woman from "Lost in Translation."

• A note of gratitude to Lysol® Mildew Remover for taking care of some ugly black spots that were growing near my windows. (Nothing says "Hey, you should come over to my apartment" to the cute cashier at Target more than buying mildew remover.) The apartment smells a little bleachy, but some open windows and a fan (in 20-degree weather - whoo!) took good care of that. Black spots, bye-bye. I wish I'd have taken "before" and "after pictures.

• I noticed the NFL's San Francisco 49ers hired Mike Singletary as assistant head coach yesterday. Singletary was a fearsome linebacker for the Chicago Bears during the 1980s, who always intrigued me as a kid because he had a teddy bear face with intense, bulging eyes that looked as if he'd tear out your belly and eat it. I wish I had a picture of those eyes, but can't find one. Hopefully, this assistant coach position is the next step toward a head-coaching job for Singletary.

• Let me repeat: Patriots 20, Steelers 16. Eagles 31, Falcons 23.

• One more football note: here's an interesting column from Sally Jenkins in the Washington Post that wonders exactly why some quarterbacks like New England's Tom Brady excel in late-game pressure situations, while others wilt under the stress. (Why do some students do well on practice tests, but freeze up when the stakes are real?) Is there something in Brady's physiology that enables him to perform well in those circumstances? He was cool under pressure in his college days at the University of Michigan too.

• And the real reason I'm not getting anything done this weekend? VH1's "I Love the 90s - Part Deux." This series is television crack for me. I'm not sure why this version is better than the first attempt at "I Love the 90s" - Funnier topics? Better talking heads/"commentators"? I'm just glad it's the beginning of the semester.