So, I'm in a very ecstatic mood right now. Today was the first time I was watching a Superbowl game. I can hear my friends in India going "So what? Big deal. American Football is a game I don't get", I pity your ignorance. The 4 quarters, all the plays and the various terminologies make it a very exciting game which requires a lot of strategy.
I had no idea about the Superbowl before except that it was the "Wazzzzzup" ad of Budweiser, and a whole bunch of other great ads first came out. My knowledge of football is very limited. Mostly to movies that have come out on the subject. I've never seen any game on TV before in America, atleast the most popular forms of sport here. I'm the guy who has no business watching a football game. But, something about the New Orleans Saints drew me in.
Maybe it was Lil Wayne, or the fact that the city was struck down by Hurricane Katrina and never found its footing again. Maybe it was admiration for Ray Nagin, the mayor who whooped a$ during the Bush administration. I guess Lil Wayne was a huge factor for me. His words on Drake's Forever "If I had one guess, then I guess I'm just New Orleans". Somehow, this Superbowl was so different from the rest of 'em before. It was about a city. A city which somehow had the tenacity to come to the top from being crushed down. I'm a sucker for underdog stories. And boy was this one!
Coming back, I depended on justin.tv for the live streams. When they kept shutting down streams, there was always somebody else putting a HQ stream back on. I watched the game from the comfort of my home on about 10 different channels. I was rooting for the Saints. After a horrendous remix of the American National anthem by Queen Latifah, and a toss won by the Saints (13th in a for the NFC). The ads kept me humored all along.
The first quarter was awful for the Saints. Drew Brees looked like he was standing on flat ice and was cracking under pressure. The Indianapolis Colts were blitzing like they got the wings from Red Bull. At the end of the 1st quarter, it was 10-0 to the Colts. My face was long, excitement was gone. I was reduced to biting nails again. And then something happened. The offense of the Saints got cracking and they did two field goals with something like 23 plays compared to the Colts 4. Peyton Manning was nowhere to be seen in the 2nd quarter. It looked like the Saints were coming back, but they were just not able to break the defense lines of the Colts.
The halftime show featuring 'The Who' was pretty ok, for a bunch of old guys trying to keep up with all the pyrotechnic madness around them. The ads were a big letdown. I thought only the Bud Light and Doritos ads got their money worth. Probably Hyundai Sonata too, the one with the car being hand-built. Google's ad was a damp squib. I mean come on, you're broadcasting to the whole of the USA, and you choose France? Fail!
As the 2nd half started off, the Colts looked like they were going to improve on their 10-6 lead and they were in for a shock. There was a stunning maneuver with a touchdown for the Saints taking the score to 13-10 for the Saints. I was jumping with joy. My horse in this game was winning. The Saints didn't look back from there. They kept Manning waiting for his time for the rest of this quarter. But the time that Manning did come on, the offense managed to sneak a touchdown. It was 17-13 now for the Colts. A field goal by the Saints brought the scores to 17-16. It stayed there till the end of the 3rd quarter.
The two teams were head-to-head and I was having the time of my life. Drew Brees equaled the record for most number of completions. The Saints were looking dangerous. Just as I thought the Saints were coming up with something, there was an amazing touchdown, which made it 22-17 to the Saints. They took something called a second call I guess, and they got 2 more points for a field goal. It was 24-17 now. The Saints were running away with it. A controversial call came up for the next touchdown and the Saints got it by review of the decision. They were up 30-17 now, and got it to 31-17 with another field goal from nearby. I'm not sure how the rules worked, but I was enjoying the Saints coming back from 0-10 to 31-17. And it stayed there till the end.
Peyton Manning tried his best to break the defense of the Saints, but too many incomplete passes and a last quarter choke by the Colts gave the New Orleans a historic win. I was now on my feet, jumping, yelling "wooohooo" and frantically posting facebook and twitter updates. Victory was mine. The first game I chose to watch, and the first team I chose to root for, had just won the biggest game night in America. I'm still reeling from the excitement. It was like watching the IPL finals and watching your favorite team win.
American Football is a revelation to me. Till this day, I do not understand the various rules in the game. All the desi folks read on. The rest of you can skip to the next paragraph. Did you know that they had 2 teams within the same team? One for offense, one for defense. The captain equivalent is called the 'Quarterback'? Yup, he's the guy who calls the 'plays', a mix of strategy and thinking on how the game is going to be played in the next 10-20 seconds. Sacking, Line of scrimmage, passes, incomplete passes, field goal, 2 minute warning and yard lines are some of the vocabulary I learnt today.
Like I said, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the game today. I plan to watch every Superbowl from now on, and maybe watch the playoffs too if the jerks at justin.tv or websites like that don't keep shutting me off. Its a boon to guys like me who cannot afford cable or even less, a TV!
As a tribute, I leave you with this song 'Who dat?', the sort of anthem of the New Orleans Saints. Its got one of the ballsiest and catchy chants for any team in any sort of game. Enjoy!
I had no idea about the Superbowl before except that it was the "Wazzzzzup" ad of Budweiser, and a whole bunch of other great ads first came out. My knowledge of football is very limited. Mostly to movies that have come out on the subject. I've never seen any game on TV before in America, atleast the most popular forms of sport here. I'm the guy who has no business watching a football game. But, something about the New Orleans Saints drew me in.
Maybe it was Lil Wayne, or the fact that the city was struck down by Hurricane Katrina and never found its footing again. Maybe it was admiration for Ray Nagin, the mayor who whooped a$ during the Bush administration. I guess Lil Wayne was a huge factor for me. His words on Drake's Forever "If I had one guess, then I guess I'm just New Orleans". Somehow, this Superbowl was so different from the rest of 'em before. It was about a city. A city which somehow had the tenacity to come to the top from being crushed down. I'm a sucker for underdog stories. And boy was this one!
Coming back, I depended on justin.tv for the live streams. When they kept shutting down streams, there was always somebody else putting a HQ stream back on. I watched the game from the comfort of my home on about 10 different channels. I was rooting for the Saints. After a horrendous remix of the American National anthem by Queen Latifah, and a toss won by the Saints (13th in a for the NFC). The ads kept me humored all along.
The first quarter was awful for the Saints. Drew Brees looked like he was standing on flat ice and was cracking under pressure. The Indianapolis Colts were blitzing like they got the wings from Red Bull. At the end of the 1st quarter, it was 10-0 to the Colts. My face was long, excitement was gone. I was reduced to biting nails again. And then something happened. The offense of the Saints got cracking and they did two field goals with something like 23 plays compared to the Colts 4. Peyton Manning was nowhere to be seen in the 2nd quarter. It looked like the Saints were coming back, but they were just not able to break the defense lines of the Colts.
The halftime show featuring 'The Who' was pretty ok, for a bunch of old guys trying to keep up with all the pyrotechnic madness around them. The ads were a big letdown. I thought only the Bud Light and Doritos ads got their money worth. Probably Hyundai Sonata too, the one with the car being hand-built. Google's ad was a damp squib. I mean come on, you're broadcasting to the whole of the USA, and you choose France? Fail!
As the 2nd half started off, the Colts looked like they were going to improve on their 10-6 lead and they were in for a shock. There was a stunning maneuver with a touchdown for the Saints taking the score to 13-10 for the Saints. I was jumping with joy. My horse in this game was winning. The Saints didn't look back from there. They kept Manning waiting for his time for the rest of this quarter. But the time that Manning did come on, the offense managed to sneak a touchdown. It was 17-13 now for the Colts. A field goal by the Saints brought the scores to 17-16. It stayed there till the end of the 3rd quarter.
The two teams were head-to-head and I was having the time of my life. Drew Brees equaled the record for most number of completions. The Saints were looking dangerous. Just as I thought the Saints were coming up with something, there was an amazing touchdown, which made it 22-17 to the Saints. They took something called a second call I guess, and they got 2 more points for a field goal. It was 24-17 now. The Saints were running away with it. A controversial call came up for the next touchdown and the Saints got it by review of the decision. They were up 30-17 now, and got it to 31-17 with another field goal from nearby. I'm not sure how the rules worked, but I was enjoying the Saints coming back from 0-10 to 31-17. And it stayed there till the end.
Peyton Manning tried his best to break the defense of the Saints, but too many incomplete passes and a last quarter choke by the Colts gave the New Orleans a historic win. I was now on my feet, jumping, yelling "wooohooo" and frantically posting facebook and twitter updates. Victory was mine. The first game I chose to watch, and the first team I chose to root for, had just won the biggest game night in America. I'm still reeling from the excitement. It was like watching the IPL finals and watching your favorite team win.
American Football is a revelation to me. Till this day, I do not understand the various rules in the game. All the desi folks read on. The rest of you can skip to the next paragraph. Did you know that they had 2 teams within the same team? One for offense, one for defense. The captain equivalent is called the 'Quarterback'? Yup, he's the guy who calls the 'plays', a mix of strategy and thinking on how the game is going to be played in the next 10-20 seconds. Sacking, Line of scrimmage, passes, incomplete passes, field goal, 2 minute warning and yard lines are some of the vocabulary I learnt today.
Like I said, I thoroughly enjoyed watching the game today. I plan to watch every Superbowl from now on, and maybe watch the playoffs too if the jerks at justin.tv or websites like that don't keep shutting me off. Its a boon to guys like me who cannot afford cable or even less, a TV!
As a tribute, I leave you with this song 'Who dat?', the sort of anthem of the New Orleans Saints. Its got one of the ballsiest and catchy chants for any team in any sort of game. Enjoy!
All I know of American football is that it's so ruddy violent! Maybe the movies exaggerate it, but the pileups I often see, are less sport than a primal male urge to clobber the living daylights out of the other males.
ReplyDeleteAll for a leather ball.
We humans are full of surprises. :D
if your finding american football so violent, you much watch australian !!
ReplyDelete@Rindo,
ReplyDeleteThe same goes for Rugby then :) From what I saw on live tv (much different from the movies, where some drama is added to spice up villainy) its a hooligan's game played by gentlemen.
@Jagi,
Haha.. Australian + Rugby.. Now, that I agree is probably the most deadly combo of violence in sport!