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A Superbowl Home Run
Rich Galen Monday February 7, 2005
This I begin writing this, it is the end of the third quarter of last night's Superbowl with the score tied 14-14.
For my money, the game was a brilliant success from the moment Alicia Keys and the children from the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind sang an homage to the United States and Ray Charles with a wonderful version of "American the Beautiful."
Michael Douglas, reminding us that we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, introduced a group of veterans from the 101st Airborne to the Tuskegee Airmen to Navy Waves, among others. That was very nice.
But the best part was the National Anthem which was sung by a joint chorus of each of the military academies.
It was sung in the classical manner with military precision and a unique harmony which kept it from sounding, as a choral version of the Star Spangled Banner often does, like voices singing the parts from a high school marching band score.
For too long major sporting events have had pop singers attempting to put their own stamp on the National Anthem by adding notes and phrases not in the original tune, therefore, adding up to a minute to the length of the song while subtracting from its dignity.
A year ago I was watching the Superbowl, along with a couple of dozen of my colleagues, from the Palace in the Green Zone in Baghdad.
Because Iraq is eight hours ahead of Eastern time, the game didn't start until about 2:00 AM on Monday morning. As I remember, the Army and Air Force members of the planning cell figured out how to rig up a projector normally used for Powerpoint presentations connected to a computer which could receive the Armed Forces Television feed of the game.
They projected the image on the only white wall in a large space named, for obvious reasons, "The Green Room."
By the end of the first half, I was so tired I could barely make my way back to my trailer so I didn't know anything about the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" until the next day.
The Armed Forces TV feed didn't include commercials. There were commercials, but they were commercials about how to plan a move to your next duty station; and how to make the best use of the military health care system.
We didn't get commercials of monkeys Xeroxing their butts; or cockatoos berating a guy at a bar - which were my favorites from last night.
The half-time show last night was a dandy. Again, the producers of this year's program decided they didn't need 27 acts packed into twenty-minutes or so. One well-known act would suffice.
The choice of Paul McCartney seemed to me a little odd. He is, after all, a Brit and this was not halftime of the Manchester United v. Chelsea, um, match (if Manchester United and Chelsea actually play one another, about which I am as certain as I suspect Sir Paul is about how New England and Philadelphia got into the Superbowl).
I suspect the first tune - Drive My Car - was suggested by Fox as a subliminal reminder of its NASCAR coverage which starts in a couple of weeks. The topper was the Wings tune, "Live and Let Die" which was highlighted by synchronized fireworks during the chorus.
My brother-in-law said (and I agreed) that fireworks beat wardrobe malfunctions every time.
However, as we are both slipping through middle age with the speed of skiers hurtling down a double diamond trail in Utah, I'm not certain we are representative of male viewers as a whole.
As I finish this, the Patriots have beaten the Eagles and the NFL can take a bow for a great show all around.
Now. When do pitchers and catchers report for spring training?
On the Secret Decoder Ring page today: An improbable Mullfoto and a Catchy Caption of the Day which made me rethink my position on fireworks.
--END --
Copyright © 2005 Richard A. Galen
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