Discussion»Questions»Sports» Those of you who will be watching the super bowl, will you watch the stupid half-time festivities or find something else to do?
I don't watch the Super Bowl and I have no interest in watching JLo and Shakira. Talking about Shakira, 60 Minutes did a segment with her a week or so ago and I was very surprised to see that she is a well-spoken, intelligent woman. I expected her to be a dolt based and was pleasantly surprised.
Over a decade ago, I stopped watching ALL halftime “festivities”, or “shows” because they became more about appealing to pop culture than having anything remotely to do with my ideal of what they should be about. I know that things in life change and evolve, blah, blah, blah. When I was growing up, the NFL halftime had two basics themes: football and patriotism. I loved the pageantry of the marching bands and the formations that either spelled out something or created designs like the Liberty Bell, Mount Rushmore, the National Ensign, 1776, etc. Most of the time it was a local junior high school, middle school or high school band, completely homespun fun. There were also sports-related events that involved the crowd, such as inviting spectators to field goal kicking contests, throwing or catching a pass contests, etc. Additionally, halftime was an opportunity to bring out former players, retired players, awards ceremonies, etc.
Nowadays, however, NFL halftime is a Hollywood farce or nightmare for showcasing already established top-named stars. Millions of dollars are poured into (wasted) elaborate spectacles and are not about football in the least. I am not a fan of their hype.
My favorite part of the whole event, other than the game itself, is the opening ceremony which includes the singing of the national anthem. Every year I am curious who they might pick to sing. I always love to hear people perform that song. It still moves me emotionally every time I hear it and I am often impressed when someone does it well. It is quite a challenging song. I love Cher's rendition but honestly I love everything she does. She performed live at the Super Bowl in 1999 at the height of her "Believe" success. Here is the studio version.
It's the only game of American football that I watch, each year, but since I'm on Central European Time I record the BBC's airing of it. So far, there hasn't been a half-time show I didn't fast-forward.
Benedict Arnold 
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