What I Learned from the Super Bowl

Cee Lo Green performs with Madonna during the halftime show for Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium. (Photo: US PRESSWIRE/Mark J. Rebilas)

Super Bowl XLVI was educational for me. I learned quite a few things about football, about entertainment and about myself. Here are the 10 things that I learned after the game Sunday.

1. Super Bowl commercials are awesome.

The bunch this year included a post-apocalyptic world (2012 end of world) in which only Chevy trucks and Twinkies survived, more talking babies and a dog named “Weego” for Budweiser’s “Here We Go” campaign. I knew it before, but I love Super Bowl commercials!

2. Brady’s receiving core needs to be 100 percent to make an impact.

Rob Gronkowski had the most heavily scrutinized ankle going into the game and underperformed with just two catches for 26 yards. The leading receiver was Aaron Hernandez with 8 catches for 67 yards.

3. Gisele won’t be hanging out with the Patriot receivers any time soon.

It’s one thing for the receivers to struggle in the biggest game of their lives. It’s another thing for their quarterback’s wife to rip them after the biggest game of their life. That may make for an awkward holiday party next year.

4. Madonna isn’t retired.

Watching a 50-something-year-old woman dance and lip synch on stage can be embarrassing, but a fun night at Applebee’s with the “gals”; it doesn’t make for the biggest concert of the year. Madonna was one bad mama in the 80s, an activist in the 90s and a Hall-of-Famer by the 00s. She was embarrassing in 2012.

5. Eli is pretty good.

Told you so. 30-40 for 296 yards and a TD to outduel Brady in the Super Bowl and a clutch pass to Manningham on the game-winning drive won Eli his second Super Bowl trophy and MVP honors.

6. Irony is unkind to Peyton Manning

While Peyton’s team was the worst in the NFL without him, his little brother won the Super Bowl in the house he built in Indy. Peyton will likely be replaced by Andrew Luck and cut from the only pro organization he’s ever known: rough year for Peyton.

7. Super Bowl halftime shows will only get worse.

While Madonna was doing a good job of being a game manager of the Halftime Show, M.I.A. decided to be a playmaker and instead hurt the chances of controversial acts to be scheduled for future Super Bowls when she “flipped the bird” while she was on stage. I blame the people who scheduled the supporting acts of M.I.A., Nicki Minaj and Cee-Lo Green. I’m more surprised 2/3 were respectful.

8. The Super Bowl brings out the best in teams.

The defenses of the New England Patriots and New York Giants (except for their defensive line) were awful in the 2011 season. The Patriots had a college quarterback turned wideout in their secondary! Credit each team for rising to the occasion and playing some defense, which STILL wins championships.

9. A tight-end really makes a difference.

The Gronk made a huge difference by underachieving for the Pats. However “Bear” Pascoe made a difference for the Giants. He only had 4 catches for 33 yards, but early in the game when Eli was still settling-in, Pascoe did a good job of being a safety blanket for Eli and helped move the chains.

10. The regular season really doesn’t matter once you make the playoffs.

New York was 9-7 going into the playoffs. They were the last team in. They beat the 15-1 “Super”-Packers at Lambeau convincingly and neutralized the incredible San Francisco 49er defense. Since 2000 only two teams (2003 Patriots, 2009 Saints) won the Super Bowl as a 1 seed.