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Superbowl XXXVII

So, if you're a good, patriotic American, you're certainly watching the Superbowl right about now. The dot-com ads should be pretty much absent this year, but perhaps there will be something more interesting than ads for recycled movies. Maybe even the game will be worth watching. :) Update: 01/27 17:02 GMT by T : Chardish writes "If you didn't catch the trailer for The Matrix: Reloaded on the Superbowl last night, it's now available for download."

14 of 834 comments (clear)

  1. Not to be a troll here but... by aerojad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...since when does watching the Super Bowl count as a patriotic activity? I thought it was just a game, a football game. I didn't hear Bush tell me to watch the game, I didn't see the U.N. pass a resolution, and I didn't hear an "Axis of Evil" tag attached to it.

    Tone down the crazyness, things that have been a part of American culture do not necessarily mean they are thru-and-thru patriotic.

    ...just a game, folks.

    --

    SecondPageMedia - Wha
  2. Forgive the obvious question... by Faust7 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But what in the world is this doing on Slashdot? This is "News for Nerds," folks. I see more than enough Super Bowl coverage on CNN, MSNBC, and all the other commercial news sites.

    1. Re:Forgive the obvious question... by Yorrike · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Speak for yourself. There's nothing better than sitting down with a few of your mates for the day, parking a large supply of beer next to you and watching a good international Cricket match.

      And the Formula 1! Man, talk about technology. It's a geek's dream sport. Fast cars, cutting edge technology, stuff blowing up now and then, things being measured in thousandths of a second.

      Not all geeks hate sport. Not all countires have the same jock/geek class seperation at school that US movie makers love screaming and dancing about, either.

      --

      Looks can be deceiving. Or CAN they?

    2. Re:Forgive the obvious question... by claygate · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As a huge fan of soccer, i can understand why the majority of americans don't grasp it as a spectacular sport. In 90 minutes it is possible to not have a team score a single point and still be one of the best games in history. If this is the case there are no clear winners and this is not acceptable in america. You must WIN and you must SCORE in america. It is reflected in society.

      This is why formula 1 is even less prominent in the US. When something as small as .009 put JP Montoya on pole once this season it isn't enough to discern a clear cut winner. When Schumacher won 11 of 17 races, and ferrari won 15 out of 17 it is seen as uncompetitive. There is so much going on behind the scenes and so many other battles then the one for the lead that it doesn't interest the US audience. In NASCAR or IRL you see 10 different leaders in one race and multiple passes. But this is through stiffling the abilityto one up competitors. Standard wings that allow cars to pass more easily and restricted power engines makes for closer, yet more predictable racing. Americans are raised with 100 topics aminute thrown pass their heads, they consume more than anyone else, and this is reflected in their choices later in life. Like someone said about watching 9 hours of football games and post/pre game shows or 9 hours of about LOTR. Football, F1, American Football, NASCAR et al cater to different audiences. Depends what your preference is.

  3. It's very simple! by vlad_petric · · Score: 4, Insightful
    By watching superbowl you automatically get tons of commercials down your throat, thus contributing to the well-being of the economy.

    If you don't believe me, check how much 10 seconds of superbowl publicity cost.

    --

    The Raven

    1. Re:It's very simple! by Trolling4Dollars · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How does seeing a bunch of commercials help the economy? As it is, I ignore most commercials since they annoy the hell out of me. And... if someone has a commercial that REALLY annoys me, I will either forget what the commercial was for or will be likely to NOT buy their product or service. My wife is the same way. American economy be damned, I'm not just going to buy crap I don't need or want just to help the economy. What kind of retard would buy useless crap? The push to make you buy crap is tremendous and the super bowl just amplifies that. Sorry, but I think the best thing that most people could be doing for our country to be patriotic is protesting the war for oil. Maybe it will wake people up that they've been living in a fantasy with their eyes half closed.

  4. Re:and the point is? by Atzanteol · · Score: 4, Insightful
    and now i've been turned into a troll...
    Yes, you have. Because you, and thousands of other whiney slashdot posters, can't take anything with a grain of salt. The Superbowl is a big American event. Watch it or don't. Either way, deal with it. I don't think Michael was really implying that you are Un-American for not watching.
    I happen to like (American)football. I'm not a jock per se, but I do play sports.

    Christ, can we get a clue in here?
    --
    "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge"

    - Charles Darwin
  5. Yeah I'm sure... by TobyWong · · Score: 4, Insightful

    God forbid someone like football AND computers. Oh wait, I use linux therefore I must comply to all of the geek stereotypes. I guess I had better apologize for showering, knowing how to dress myself, not giggling like a retard if a female looks in my direction, and not eating a constant stream of pizza and doritos.

    Geeks like to think they are so open minded and forward thinking. The reality is you will be hard pressed to find a more closed-minded group of people if you tried.

    --
    - Toby
  6. Shania was lip syncing, I'm sure of it. by simetra · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Anyone else get that impression?

    I only watched the half-time stuff, then turned back to Fear Factor.

    --

    "Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
  7. Re:The dumbification of /. by sielwolf · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The dumbification of /.

    Yeah... great... what are you, fourteen? What do you suggest? That we concoct some crazy scheme to get back at the principal and the jocks?

    I'm sorry but US football is a thrilling and complex game that is both viceral and intellectual.

    But instead you decided to relegate it to some stupid stereotype of Big Dumb Hicks. Grow up.

    --
    What is music when you despise all sound?
  8. War Sucks by Skjellifetti · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I had the same feeling a few years earlier watching the Brits go after Argentina when the military junta took the Falklands. Seemed kinda like a harmless game of capture the flag. Gooooo UK!

    And then Argentina scored big against a British destroyer and people died who probably didn't need to, good cause or not.

    If you are that gung-ho about another Iraqi war, then get your ass down to a recruiting station right the fuck now. With 8 weeks Basic + 8 weeks 11B training you might just finish in time to see this war up close and personal.

    As for me, I've done time in Uncle Sam's Army. I've got friends in theater. Trust me, it ain't no national football game.

  9. Re:Matrix Trailer by fenix+down · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't know what he meant, but it looks to me like they're doing stuff for the hell of it now, kinda like the prequels.

    The first movie had creative shots that looked cool, and they came up with a brilliant, cheap way to get them. Now they're doing fucked-up shit for the sole reason of making the effects so overblown and expensive that nobody can reproduce them. Crazy-flips with guns: good. Agent Smith buckling the front-end of a speeding car into the ground as if he weighed about 6 tons: bad. I liked the first movie because they kept the CGI unobtrusive. Now they've got Neo with this pole thing flipping around like a rubber doll tied to a power drill. I'm hoping that's just going to be an effect of the TV, or an unfinished shot they spit out for the ad, but I was hoping that with Spiderman too. (the rest was pretty good though, I'll admit, that and the flying thing were the only two that looked generated, and I don't know how you make flying look realistic anyway.)

    I'm getting pissed off about CGI these days. I watch Jurassic Park and the CG effects are better than Spiderman. They're better than SW2, they're better than the fucking Hulk by about a century. How the hell did they get dinosaurs to work fabulously, but Titanic can manage to make a frikkin' flat piece of metal look computerized for about 4 times the budget? I'm thinking that a lot of the stuff recently is just about trying to computer-generate people, and that I'm a lot less forgiving about wierdness in familiar objects, but if that's the case then they shouldn't be doing it when it's unecessary.

    Maybe, no, definately I'm a little too critical here, but I'm sure there's other people out there who are irritated when they can tell it's CGI. CG lets directors do basically anything, and it only looks a little off, but I'm still waiting for either myself to get used to it, the technology to get better, or the directors to get over the coolness and use it a little less liberally.

    Alright, I'm done, feel free to point out the errors of my angst.

  10. I am an American by Zapdos · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I have served in the armed forces. I fly a flag for July 4th. I love Mom's apple pie. My children are scouts.

    I do not enjoy football. I think your statement about patriotism is misplaced.

    Patriotism is voting not only on big election days, but on primarys as well.
    Patriotism is not littering.
    Patriotism is volunteering for Habitat for Humanity.

    Lots of things are patriotic, football is just a professional sport, like many other professional sports, It does not show Love of country; devotion to the welfare of one's country; the virtues and actions of a patriot; the passion which inspires one to serve one's country.

  11. Re:Who are the ad wizards... by dekraved · · Score: 3, Insightful

    At least there is a growing sentiment against these things. Most recently, FOX News, AdAge, and college papers came to the rescue. What a waste of $4 million. One of the people in AdAge points out the irony of this running at the same time as so many pro-drinking ads.