Tag: Super Bowl

A long Super Bowl Sunday, Philip Seymour Hoffman edition

Interesting that the first comment I got about Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death was “If it is true, it’s sad.”

philipseymourhoffmanMy church belongs to this entity called FOCUS, which, among other things, runs a food pantry. Periodically, there is a joint service of the congregations. Usually, I miss the one in early February, because I’m away at a MidWinter’s party Saturday night out of town. But the Wife had an all-day meeting on Saturday, and that rather put the kibosh on that. It was a good service, but it was LONG: at least 100 minutes.

Then the reception afterward. The service was at Trinity United Methodist, my church from 1982 to 2000, so it was interesting being there again. I could tell the visitors where the bathrooms were – they hadn’t moved. I recognized no one from when I was in the choir there.

The Daughter had a rehearsal all afternoon at our church for the Lion King performance in four weeks. I slipped off to the library to use the computer, where I saw fellow Times Union blogger Chuck Miller working on this piece.

It was there that I first learned on Facebook that the actor, and former upstate (Rochester area) kid, Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead, news which I passed along. It is interesting that the first comment I got was “If it is true, it’s sad.” So much misinformation IS online, but I had checked four sources before passing it along.

I have seen LOTS of his films. I didn’t always love the movie, but always appreciate his efforts, and I was bummed. I thought he was one of the best actors of his generation, and at the age of 46, should have had a number of better pictures ahead. I so regret that his demons had gotten the best of him. The LA Times helpfully noted that he was found dead in his apartment with a needle in his arm.

I saw him in all of these movies:
Leap of Faith (1992)
Scent of a Woman (1992)
Nobody’s Fool (1994) – a small role as a cop
Boogie Nights (1997)
Next Stop Wonderland (1998)
Patch Adams (1998)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
State and Main (2000)
Almost Famous (2000) – I bought him as Lester Bangs
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Capote (2005) – great as the title character
The Savages (2007) – possibly my favorite of his films, as Laura Linney’s sibling
Charlie Wilson’s War (2007) – that film got better the moment he was on screen
Synecdoche, New York (2008) – an unorthodox film about the arts in upstate NY described well here. Watch the funeral monologue.
Doubt (2008) – believable as a priest
Moneyball (2011) – convincing as Art Howe of the Oakland A’s

Plus a role on Law & Order in 1991 that I certainly must have seen, and a voice character on the children’s cartoon Arthur, which I KNOW I saw. The New York Times had a GREAT article about him, and CNN has a recent brief interview with him

Know who else died this weekend? Anna Gordy Gaye, Berry Gordy’s sister, and Marvin Gaye’s ex-wife, who was the subject of Marvin’s bizarre Here, My Dear album.

I get home, start watching the Super Bowl stuff right at 6 p.m. Eastern, 30 minutes before the game. But the game was a blowout by 12 seconds into the third quarter. (Those of you who do not appreciate the Big Game obviously have never heard Andy Griffith’s analysis of the sport from sixty years ago.)

Many of the ads – some of which are HERE – didn’t really stick to my brain, except the Radio Shack and one of the Doritos ads, but that could have been fatigue.

I do recall seeing Bob Dylan plugging American-made vehicles, which didn’t bother me as much as it did some folks. I love the Muppets, yet feel ambivalent at best about THEIR appearance in a car ad. There was a Masarati ad or two for which I did not understand the reason why I would want the car.

I’d already seen the Budweiser Heroes ad and the Cheerios Gracie ad. I shouldn’t have been, but I was, oblivious to the backlash the Coca-Cola America the Beautiful ad would generate.

Right after linebacker Malcolm Smith was selected as game MVP, I fell asleep, waking up in the middle of a comedy called Brooklyn Nine-Nine, so it was time for bed.

Rooting interests

Mu sisters live in San Diego, CA and Charlotte, NC, so I’ll root for their NFL teams, unless another loyalty wins out.

RichardShermanThe team you root for in sports is, of course, entirely irrational. In football (NFL variety, not soccer), I support the New York Giants because, when my father was teaching me about how to watch football, we used to watch the Giants every autumn Sunday on our Binghamton, NY affiliate, WNBF-TV, Channel 12. Even went to a few exhibition games in not-too-distant Ithaca, NY.

Who do you root for, though, when your team isn’t there? The Giants were a mediocre 7-9 this past season, starting 0-6, and failed to make the playoffs.

The first playoff weekend I backed the Philadelphia Eagles because that’s buddy Greg Burgas’ team, and the Kansas City Chiefs because the Eagles’ former coach is now the Chiefs’ coach. Both lose, KC in epic proportion, blowing a 28-point lead. (I’ve now seen both the greatest NFL playoff comeback – the Buffalo Bills down 32 to the Houston Oilers, in the 3rd quarter, yet win) and the second best.

I root for San Diego, because one of my sisters lives there, and for San Francisco because I really liked the city when I visited there nearly three decades ago; both win.

The next week, mostly divided loyalties. SF v. Carolina and my other sister lives in Charlotte, NC. Oh, except root against the New England Patriots, who win anyway.

One conference championship has Denver, with Peyton Manning, who I like, vs. New England, with Tom Brady, who I don’t enjoy. Broncos going to the Super Bowl!

San Francisco v. Seattle; I know NOTHING about Seattle, except they are NOT a perennial playoff team, so new blood would be nice. At the end of the game, there was an “incident.” Richard Sherman of Seattle (pictured) tips a pass intended for 49er Michael Crabtree in the end zone, and a fellow Seahawk catches it. Afterward, Sherman gives an amped-up sideline interview that got him fined nearly $8,000 for taunting Crabtree.

But what wasn’t seen until later was Sherman wanting to shake Crabtree’s hand, but Crabtree rejecting it. Forbes magazine, of all things, has a cogent analysis that it was a hard-fought game between division rivals, it was the game-winning play, and that exuberance makes for good TV. Some of the online comments called Sherman a thug, or worse, and a LOT of the remarks had a nasty racial element – Sherman is black – with many of them suggesting the Stanford grad was ignorant.

So my rooting interest in the Super Bowl has been tilted in favor of the Seahawks, though I have no beef with the Broncos, who, as noted, took out the Patriots.

Sporting news: Earl Weaver, Stan Musial, Lance Armstrong

I’m less distressed by Lance Armstrong’s cheating, and the inevitable lying that he did, but really bothered by the bullying threats to those who would dare besmirch his name.

I was a big New York Yankees fan when I was a child. But when the Bronx Bombers went into a tailspin after the 1964 World Series and were frankly terrible for close to a decade, I had to find a secondary American League team to support. That franchise was the Baltimore Orioles with the Robinson “brothers,” Brooks and Frank, fine pitchers such as Jim Palmer, and their feisty Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver, who died this week at the age of 82. He was thrown out of more Major League Baseball games than any other manager; he could be quite entertaining.

Not that I ALWAYS rooted for the Orioles in the World Series. In 1969, I HAD to root for the New York Mets over the Orioles, and of course, the Amazin’s won. But I was cheering on the Orioles in 1970 when they beat the Cincinnati Reds, the team that had given up on Frank Robinson. I chose to support the Pittsburgh Pirates, though, in 1971 – I loved Roberto Clemente – and 1979, both of which the Bucs won.

In fact, when Baltimore was up 3 games to 1 in the 1979 Series, I did something very unusual: I wagered money on a baseball game, not very much, but still. I picked Pittsburgh to win Game 5, and it did. Then I bet Pittsburgh would win Game 6, and it did. But I was not brave enough to bet that the Pirates would win Game 7, which it did, taking the Series.

I was watching some TV obit about Hall of Fame baseball player Stan Musial; it referred to him as a shortstop, which didn’t sound right. He played mostly in the outfield, and at first base, though he did pitch one game. I saw him play only at the end of his illustrious career, as he retired after the 1963 season. I remember when Albert Pujols, the Cardinals’ recent All-Star first baseman moved to the Angels, it was proof that he’d never be “another Stan Musial,” loyal to one team; I thought it was unfair, as these are different times, and few ballplayers stay with one team their entire careers.

I’m still disappointed that the Baseball Hall of Fame did not allow ANY recent players into Cooperstown this year. Punish the folks you thought, or knew, were using performance-enhancing drugs (PED), but there were plenty of “clean” players to pick from as well. Lee Smith, who was the career saves leader (it’s a pitching stat) when he retired, and still can’t get 50% of the writers’ vote, let alone the 75% needed for induction.

Speaking of PED, I am reminded that when Lance Armstrong was stripped last year of his seven Tour de France tournament wins, there was great criticism by many people of the anti-doping agency that concluded that Armstrong had doped. “Not our Lance!” Frankly, I’m less distressed by his cheating, and the inevitable lying that he did, but really bothered by the bullying threats to those who would dare besmirch his name, even suing accusers. It was only when he heard his son protecting his name that he had to say to the lad, “Stop defending me,” and at least some of the truth came out.

I really enjoy Dustbury’s accounts of Oklahoma City Thunder NBA basketball games, enough that I’ve become a fan of the team.
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As for the National Football League, the San Francisco 49ers beat the Atlanta Falcons this week, which I was happy about. The Falcons collapsed the previous week against Seattle (who I was rooting for), and won only with a last-second field goal; the Falcons tanked against the 49ers, after taking a 17-0 lead. I’ve always liked San Francisco teams. My second favorite baseball team growing up was the SF Giants, which had my favorite ballplayer of all time, Willie Mays. Somehow, this affection geographically spread to the NFL 49ers.

The Baltimore Ravens beat the New England Patriots. I’m not much of a Ravens fan, but I have an even more irrational dislike of Patriots coach Bill Belichick and his quarterback, Tom Brady. After they won the Super Bowl a couple of times, I found them to be insufferable.

In the Super Bowl: Go 49ers!

Super Bowl rituals QUESTION



Back in the 1980s, I had these friends who hated football. In particular, they had a particular antipathy towards the secular holiday known as Super Bowl Sunday. So in retaliation, they would all go out together to eat, not in front of the TV, but at a nice restaurant. Then they would go to a 7 p.m. movie, as the game was going on.

Me? I’ll watch the game AND the commercials. But I have no designated snacks or particular apparel I wear.

Do you usually watch the game, and will you be viewing this year? What will you actually want to see – the game, the ads, the halftime performance of the Black Eyed Peas? I actually have that thing you can pause live TV, which is good, because, sometime during that evening, I’ll need to put the daughter to bed. Do you have a rooting interest? Mine is with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have been installed as the underdog, even though they’ve been to the Game twice in the past decade, and the Green Bay Packers, not in 15 years.

And a question for you folks outside of the US: CAN you watch the game? By what method? Is it carried on a local network, or can you access FOX in Finland?

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