Koo’s Corner

I will be most likely out of commision the next couple of days but wanted to get some thoughts down on yesterday’s fantastic Super Bowl.

The entire week when asked at work who I thought would win I responded with Patriots in a close one. Something told me that although the Giants were a lesser talented team, they were playing their best football all year unlike the Patriots.

The Patriots has seemed to plateau off after Thanksgiving, with close calls against the Ravens and Eagles and less than impressive wins to close out the regular season. Offensively and defensively they were no long immortal but potentially vulnerable.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5BWzoyzVbc]

But in the end I didn’t think the Giants would have enough, and I was pleasently surprised to be wrong.

Sunday’s game in my opinion was the great Super Bowl of all time. People throw out that label often forgetting the many great games in year’s past. However yesterday’s game surpassed all of my top 5.

5) Titans vs Rams 2000

4) Giants vs Bills 1991?

3) Patriots vs Rams 2002

2) Packers vs Broncos 1999

1) 49ers vs Bengals 1989

Some quick thoughts:

- The Eli Manning to David Tyree might be the best play in any Super Bowl. A drop there and its fourth down with the game on the line. I keep watching that replay and marvel that Eli escaped the pocket and then have my jaw drop watching Tyree make that catch.

- Its been quite an argument in whether or not Brady deserved to be held in the same regard as Montana, Unitis, and Elway in addition to Belichick being in the same class as Walsh, Knoll, and Lombardi. This loss only puts more speculation into the debate. Belichick and Brady in my opinion need 2-4 more year of consistent greatness (top 4 in the league) to even be considered the greatest ever. Those other guys either changed how the game was played or endeared long careers of consistent success. A win yesterday might have got them into the club early, but the loss will probably keep them on the greatest qb and coach waiting list for awhile.

- In an earlier post I guessed that the Super Bowl would be the most watched of all time and would bring in 100 million US viewers. I was 1/2 right with it being the most watched ever but only reaching 97.5 million viewers.

- Just food for thought. The Super Bowl is more of an American holiday than lets say about 1/2 the American holidays. Why not just make the day after a real holiday? Move presidents day up? Sure would be nice.

- People are complaining about Bellichick walking off the field and post game demeanor. Well Belichick’s an ass, no new news there. I was more dismayed that he actually went for it 4th and 13 rather than kick a 48 yard field goal. Pretty arrogant move from a pretty arrogant guy.

As for the Commercials….

Very dismayed at this year’s batch of commercial. Of course some were good, but overall it was pretty lackluster.

These 4 to me stood out as being worthy of recognition

The Super Bowl with the highest ratings ever was Super Bowl XVI in 1982 which showcased the upstart 49er’s and Bill Walsh’s west coast offense against the Cincinnati Bengals (49.1%) . The Super Bowl that was the most watched ever was last year’s Colts Bear Showdown in which 93 million Americans tuned in (42%).

While at some I will make a prediction that the Patriots will win by 10 points, my prediction for now is that this will be the most watched Super Bowl ever and potentially the only television program ever to have over 100 million US viewers.

First let’s start the with the obvious.

- This is two big time media markets who have displaced fans all over the country

- The Patriots quest to go undefeated may bring in some extra viewers who ordinarily wouldn’t care

- The initial Giants vs Pats game less than a month ago was entertaining, fast paced, and hotly contested

Now for some things that you may have not considered.

- The initial Giants vs Pats showdown was aired on NBC and CBS in addition to its broadcast on the NFL network meaning it captured a much larger audience than any other game on its first go around.

- You can bet that a higher percentage of Mississippi fans tune in to see if their former star can pull off the upset.

- Miami fans also have a rooting interest as the Patriots are trying to join them as undefeated Super Bowl Champions

- The SuperBowl is being played in the 6th most populated US metro area (Phoenix/Glendale) and will likely capture a larger audience in that area opposed to an area like Jacksonville, New Orleans, etc

- The US population has grown in addition to people who will watch anything in HD because the allure of their new HD TV has not worn off yet.

- Tom Petty isn’t a too shabby halftime show.

- BenKoo.com fans will tune it to to analyze candidates for commercial of the week.

- the people who don’t watch the Super Bowl will realize that they are somewhat wierd, out of touch with mainstream culture, and somewhat Unamerican and will make a better effort to latch onto someone else’s Super Bowl Sunday’s plans.

Time will tell…….