A column by CHUCK POLLOCK, Sun Senior Sports Columnist
The first half had to leave the sellout crowd of 61,629 at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium thinking “I paid $6,000 — or way more — for a ticket and this is what I get?”
A 10-3 intermission score between two of the NFL’s most potent offenses … two field goals and a touchdown off a trick play thrown by a wide receiver — accounted for the scoring.
The game seemed destined for being deemed one of the worst Super Bowls ever.
But alas, the second half was epic, albeit somewhat flawed, and ended as the seventh-longest game in NFL history, one play short of a second overtime.
When it was over, Kansas City had won its third Super Bowl in four years, establishing a legitimate dynasty claim, and thrusting Patrick Mahomes into the elite quarterback circle with Terry Bradshaw, Troy Aikman, Joe Montana and, with a way to go, Tom Brady.
The 25-19 final — six field goals, four touchdowns, a missed extra point and four turnovers — wasn’t pretty but it was dramatic.
WE WERE spared overexposure to Taylor Swift, Tony Romo minimized his occasionally poorly-researched statements and offered some actual insights and halftime … well, don’t get me started. I’ll just say that millions of people my age can’t, in any way, relate to Usher. And that alone made him a bad choice for the halftime show.
And the commercials, am I wrong or do they get worse every year?
An old saying goes that reviewers — movie, theater or music — don’t write for the public, but rather for other reviewers.
In my mind, the writers of Super Bowl commercials are trying to please the critics, not sell the company’s products.
Too often they miss the mark by appealing to the pop culture demographic eliminating older consumers whose spending often outstrips that of Generation Z.
It’s not unfair to suggest that many of the commercial messages sailed over the heads of a third of the viewing audience. The word was that this year’s commercials would rely more heavily on humor, but I didn’t notice an abundance of it
My favorite ad, uncontested, was the one for Volkswagen, which started with black-and-white footage of the brand’s arrival in the United States and followed its history to the current day. It was a simple but informative message that left no doubt who was paying for the commercial.
CLEARLY, Bills fans are angry that the Chiefs won … again. And so are the millions of people who had become nauseous at hearing unendingly about the Swift/Travis Kelce relationship.
When the 49ers were up by 10 in the second half, I was thinking how happy I would be for two former Bills, guard Jon Feliciano and returner/wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud, both waived by Buffalo, if they ended up winning a Super Bowl ring.
Until Patrick Mahomes got one last possession.
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
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