The Superbowl Roundup

First things first: It was outrageously sad to see the Chicago Bears lose to the Colts, 29-17. I don't blame Rex Grossman, but much of Chicago does. Moving on.

The commercials this year were mostly just alright. Some didn't even seem Superbowl-calibur. Here are a few standouts worth mentioning:

--- I'm not quite sure how to say this, but Kevin Federline's ad for Nationwide Insurance was hilarious. The way K-Fed snapped back to reality when his boss at the fast food restaurant called out his name showed surprisingly on-point comedic timing. It's weird when he's in on the joke, but the result was one of the night's best commercials.

--- Did you catch the Budweiser commercial in which the celebratory handpound is replaced with the celebratory bitch slap? That one's bound to cause problems in bars and at frat parties nationwide. Just you wait.

--- There was a sad one about a GM assembly line robot's suicidal daydream.

--- And a Budweiser commercial where a guy wins a game of rock-paper-scissor by actually throwing a rock. Simple, but classic.


--- Dave Letterman and Oprah's super-quick promo for The Late Show was another winner mostly because of its surprise factor. Check it out (above).

--- Oh, and there was another Budweiser commercial with a lot of crabs on a beach that thought a big red Budweiser cooler was their king crab. Kind of made me want to see a Pixar movie about crabs.

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And how about that half-time show? Prince was as weird and amazing as I expected him to be. Yes, he's a strange guy but there's no denying he's massively talented... and he would probably be EXCELLENT at Guitar Hero. He rocked the f***k out! I liked how he covered a couple rock songs ("Proud Mary" and a recent Foo Fighters song) and the way his two lady dancers were flat out going crazy the entire time. The stage, shaped like his signature symbol, along with the array of pyrotechnics in his show -- the lightning, the fireworks, the flames -- made it exhilarating from end to end. In just 15 minutes, we got an unpredictable and exciting crash course in all things Prince. Plus, how cool was it that he closed with "Purple Rain" standing atop a purple-lit stage as it was raining balls?! Don't hate. You know that was badass! People are talking: Best half-time show ever?

[Note: This is a big entry for me because it was one year ago today that I posted my first item on BetterThanSteak. It was about the Superbowl and the "Code Black" episode of Grey's Anatomy that followed it.]