The XL Superbowl And Living In America

The Game is afoot, as the Master might have said, and the entertainment, at least for non-sports fans is in the advertisements and the half-time show.

Kamla Bhatt correlates the Game of the Year to life as an immigrant in America.

Watching the Superbowl is a rite of passage for many immigrants.
Even if you don't understand the game, you are expected to watch the
game, and be able to talk about it. If you cannot talk about the game,
it is ok if you can at least mention the great advertisements and the
half-show entertainment.

I did not know the trick to watching the Superbowl when I first
watched it. I am a pro now. I can rattle off interesting little
factoids and stats that are not football related, but are related to
the Superbowl, and this is sufficient to qualify me as someone who has
been through this very American rite of passage.

The Nation reflects on how things have changed since NippleGate.

First, ABC plans to broadcast the entire Super Bowl tonight (pre-game, game, half-time show and post-game wrap-up) on a five-second tape delay.
Now I'm not much of a football fan, but the idea seems to me a
violation of the democratic ethos of sports and mass spectatorship.
Now, the privileged few who are able to cough up the lowest ticket
price of $600 will be living history, whereas the masses huddled over
nachos in their living rooms will be merely watching history.

Second, in a nod to critics, Super Bowl planners booked the Rolling
Stones for this year's half-time show. I am a huge Stones fan, and the
apparent fact that Mick and Keith now constitute clean, family-fare is
hugely disappointing.

Third, Nipplegate was exactly what social conservatives needed to ramp up the culture war on indecency.

Thanks to the DVR, one can skip over the game itself, as I'm doing. My 6-month old daughter seemed to be interested in the game though. Very American.

7-3 at half-time, and the Stones are up next. Few interesting advertisements thus far.