No More Football for You

One of my football memories is watching wild celebrations in the Redskins locker room after one of their Super Bowl wins, when the camera panned around to number 65, soft-spoken defensive tackle Big Dave Butz (that's what they called him, Big Dave, because at the time he had the distinction of being the largest man playing in the NFL). Amid the hoopla, Dave sat there glum and unsmiling. "All I can think of," he said quietly (I'm paraphrasing), "is that I don't get to play football any more this season."

Always the problem with the Super Bowl. No more Great American Circus, no more inspiration from O.J. Brigance, no more Ray Lewis gassing on about God (that was getting pretty annoying, until I reflected that if God let me get away with two murders I might be grateful to Him too), no more acrobatics from Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin, who is open even when he's not. And a big paycheck for Joe Flacco, valued as a player at last. The Ravens were this year's Team of Destiny.

It was a good year for football, too. Props to Colin Kaepernick, in only his tenth NFL start. As if he finally realized the stage was too big for his experience, we watched the wheels starting to come off...and then he got them back on again, which doesn't happen very often. Of course, he had a little help—early in the second half, deep in the bowels of the Superdome, Joe Montana was seen touching two wires together, chuckling.

And last night, I swear to God, I dreamed of driving that new Mercedes Clean-Lube-Adjust, and no, I am not kidding. I am highly embarrassed on behalf of my subconscious—if it could blush, it would. (In my dream, it didn't drive very well. Although in fairness, for part of the dream I was not driving on dry roads but through what appeared to be canals).

Worst commercial: the bizarre supermodel humiliation commercial by GoDaddy. Runner up: Budweiser Black whatever-it-was. Umpteen million dollars a minute and the best they can come up with is a guy raising a glass and saying "Here's to taste"? Fire that agency.

Best commercial: has to go to Mercedes, given my dream—although they totally blew the reveal. I'd seen the commercial five times before Sunday. Kinda made all those teaser commercials early in the day seem pointless. Runner up: the cool farmer pictures in the ad about the farmers—anyone know whose photographs they were? Brought Paul Mobley to mind for me, but I don't know. And since you do not want to pull my pin on the subject of American agribusiness, or hear my detailed and absolutely airtight argument proving that Aaron Rodgers is still the best quarterback in football, I will now graciously shut up.

Mike

ADDENDUM:
Hmm, turns out I won't shut up. (Hey, I'm a blogger. What do you expect?)

Donald Driver. Photo by Tom Lynn.

If you can indulge a local note, also over is the career of Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver, who announced his retirement last Thursday (despite an offer from the Vikings...ahem, Favre). Driver, arguably the most popular man in Wisconsin—if not, darn close—was a Packer for his entire 14-year-career. He is the team's all-time leader in both receiving yards (10,137) and number of catches (743). I also have a hazy awareness that he has something to do with dancing, although I can't tell you about that. Driver missed only four games in his NFL career. He's the second-best WR I've ever watched, after Art Monk.

The outstanding sports portrait is by Wisconsin photographer Tom Lynn, a longtime Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel photojournalist now doing freelance. It really captures its subject, in more ways than one. For more of Tom's sports photos, see here.

Original contents copyright 2013 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.
A book of interest today:

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)

Featured Comments from:

latent_image: "Nothing in this post made any sense to me. It's as though a wrong switch was closed in your brain and everything came out gibberish...Please come back to normal, Mike."

Mike replies: What the post is saying is that I don't have much choice but to come back to normal.

Marc Rochkind: "The unusual game also had two plays that greatly helped in the ongoing football education of my partner, plays that I've theorized about to her but have only rarely witnessed: 1) the fake field goal, and 2) the intentional safety, brilliantly executed as the punter ran seven seconds off the clock while drifting towards the sideline, guaranteeing that no matter what he wouldn't fumble into the end zone. I can remember seeing only one other intentional safety in my life, decades ago. They're very rare. By contrast, the play calling by San Francisco on their last possession was atrocious."

Frank (partial comment—to see all of Frank's comment, please see the Comments Section below): "According to AdWeek, the farmer spot was Number One, 'thanks to Paul Harvey's spellbinding "God Made a Farmer" recording and the gorgeous work of 10 great photographers, including National Geographic icon William Albert Allard and renowned documentarian Kurt Markus. Yes, it's similar to a popular Farms.com video....' I am a fan of Kurt Markus and Allard is no slouch either.

"Good Day!"

Francisco Cubas (partial comment): "I also liked the farmer commercial and I think I can guess what you didn't say: those farmers are mostly gone, done by big agribusiness. Those good pictures reminded me of the natives of Curtis: not a real subject, but an idea."

Dan Smith: "I don't have a TV so don't watch the game or commercials. But, in North Dakota big corporations do not own farms. Family farms here—though they can incorporate for tax purposes—are still family owned and operated. North Dakota is #1 in eight major farm crops and top ten in 20. Farming money is 70% of the State economy, even with the big oil strike in the Western part of the State. Farm photography is enjoyable. Combines in green and red and blue and costing a half million each—we are loaded with them. Big 12-wheel articulated all-wheel-drive tractors, we have a lot of them. Farm implement dealers much bigger than car and truck dealers in this State. A great place for farm and ranch photography."

Tex Andrews (partial comment): "Disagree: The Ray Lewis murder thing. Let that go. The 'justice system' did its work. Here in Bawlamer we got tons of coverage on that to read when it happened. The prosecution had no definitive evidence at all on that one, just confusing circumstantial evidence. If I'd been Ray, I'd have gone to trial on it. Was he an idiot to be at that club and hanging out with those cats? Oh, mos def. Did he behave like an idiot immediately afterwards? Absolutely, criminal idiocy. That doesn't make the guy a murderer. [...] Give me a break, they had nothin'."

CKDexterHaven (partial comment): "I laughed out loud at the 'here's to taste' line. Unbelievably bad. I'm in advertising (sometimes), and have written only one produced commercial, but I know that line never would have survived even Draft One of anything my agency would have come up with. Not even in a spitballing session. Yes, fire that agency."

Dillan: "The Tom Lynn photo in your addendum is really wonderful. He captured so much with one frame. That's what photography is all about."

Comments

[Mark Johnson]

No mention of the Leica M9 cameo in the Lincoln commercial?

[Bob]

I liked the promo for "The Big Bang Theory" with the shoulder pads and cup on the outside of the uniform. It really represented the show's theme quite well. I am glad I wasn't drinking anything when it ran.

Of course I am slightly biased since my inner geek causes TBBT to be a must watch show every week for me (one of the few shows I watch each week).

Yeah, I know, I need a life.

[Bob]

I too thought the Farmer commercial was well done.

I also liked the Budweiser Clydesdale commercial with the colt that grew up and left the nest. This concept seems to be a recurring theme each year.

[HT]

Haha... I completely agree about Ray Lewis. But I hope your flame shields are operating at 100% capacity today!

[Frank]

According to AdWeek, the Farmer spot was Number One, "thanks to Paul Harvey's spellbinding "God Made a Farmer" recording and the gorgeous work of 10 great photographers, including National Geographic icon William Albert Allard and renowned documentarian Kurt Markus. Yes, it's similar to a popular Farms.com video...."

I am a fan of Kurt Markus and Allard is no slouch either.

It would have been perfect had not Fiat/Chrysler admitted that they were moving Jeep Liberty production from Ohio to China last week, four months after claiming they wouldn't in spite of the Romney campaign ad that stated they were.

Happy to see Paul Harvey's heirs profiting but it is creepy having a dead man endorse something... it rings as false as Walmart decorating their stores with American flags when they are the largest importers of Chinese-made goods (and have done more to shut down Main Street Mom-and-Pop shops than anything else).

Good Day!

[John Willard]

The farmer commercial had me smiling for my own memories. During my college summer breaks in the late 70s I would work for the local contractor. At 11:55 we would stop work and get to the van to eat our lunches and listen to Paul Harvey. After "Good day" or "....the rest of the story" we went back to work. I consider his voice and delivery iconic.

[Michael Sebastian]

That GoDaddy ad was just...icky. All of those lip-smacking and gobbling sounds were just revolting. And you're absolutely right about the Budweiser ad; it was visually arresting but it simply fell flat. The scene at its end, with all of the cool people sitting around a long table, looked like the board meeting of a bunch of superannuated Goths.

My favorite was the ad with the kid given the keys to his dad's Audi to go to the prom. Useful exuberance and a hint of sex.

But what a great game. One of the better Super Bowls in recent memory. With or without electricity.

.

[Stephen Voss]

I've heard it was William Albert Allard who shot the photos for that ad.

[David]

You got to go with the calls but the non call on a clear pass interference on the float pass was inexcusable. Inexcusable especially because on a play like that which relies in the receiver making the adjustment to the ball (float pass..high and slow designed to be in an area where the receiver adjusts and catches as opposed to a pass thrown hard and accurate and designed to keep a player in stride and rolling)..that play demands a pass interference call because of the context of the play..the defense clearly impeded him outside of the 5 yard rule..make the damn call. Also..when the field of play is compressed..close to the goal line..that 5 yard rule has to be enforced by the officials as"5 yards" easily done in this situation considering the ball was on the 6 yard line...dangitt. Out in the middle of field where the field is not compressed..there is an argument for letting the boys play a bit more loosely...dangitt.

[It seemed to me that the refs were under instructions not to make too many penalty calls. There was some flagrant unsportsmanlike early in the game with late punches to the helmet that would have been called in any other game, and that lack of control by the refs resulted in a near-melee that could have been even worse. The announcers were excusing several of the non-calls, not just the float pass you're talking about.

The strategy might have been paying off...it was a fast-paced, momentum-oriented game right up until the lights went out. (I wish somebody had had the presence of mind to play that old Pat Travers song over the PA. Or was the PA system out too?) --Mike]

[Marc Rochkind]

The unusual game also had two plays that greatly helped in the ongoing football education of my partner, plays that I've theorized about to her but have only rarely witnessed: (1) the fake field goal, and (2) the intentional safety, brilliantly executed as the punter ran 7 seconds off the clock while drifting towards the sideline, guaranteeing that no matter what he wouldn't fumble into the end zone. I can remember seeing only one other intentional safety in my life, decades ago. They're very rare.

By contrast, the play calling by SF on their last possession was atrocious.

[Rick in CO]

Absolutely agree on the Mercedes commercial - Willem Dafoe as the Faustian devil tempting the poor sod with supermodels and fame! I would have signed - for $29,900 you only get the car!
But the pre-game America the Beautiful with Jennifer Hudson and the Sandy Hook Choir & the superlative anthem by Alicia Keys at the piano! were overpowering and even more memorable than the actual game will be for me.
As for the game, the 49er's had the chance to win it, but Baltimore had the best offense (a good defense).

[Gary Brown]

According to a Detroit Free Press article, “Chrysler said the Ram brand commissioned 10 noted photographers including National Geographic icon William Albert Allard and documentary photographer Kurt Markus to take photos for the commercial.”

Here's the commercial on YouTube.

(I couldn't find an announcement directly from Chrysler.)

[crabby umbo]

Ditto for the Paul Harvey, Farmer ads...great use of strong stills!

[Scott U]

"For its version of the video, Chrysler commissioned 10 well known photographers — including documentary photographer Kurt Markus and National Geographic photographer William Albert Allard — to capture beautiful photographs of farming.

The ad is also possibly one of the most expensive photo slideshows ever produced… The average cost of a 30-second Super Bowl ad this year was upward of $4 million, which means Chrysler may have paid close to $16 million to broadcast this photo-based ad. Wowzers"

Via (the always awesome) Petapixel:
http://www.petapixel.com/2013/02/04/the-dodge-ram-super-bowl-commercial-composed-entirely-of-photos/

[Eddie]

>>>>>Runner up: the cool farmer pictures in the ad about the farmers....

WAY too much HDR in some of those photos in my opinion.....maybe I have to get more "used to it"??

[Rob]

Another good Super Bowl game. How many in a row does that make? Remember the days when they were mostly lopsided affairs? We can thank parity for the current state of affairs.

I'm a killjoy who cannot abide television commercials, so I record all sporting events on my DVR and watch them as they were intended to be watched--without inane commercial interruptions. It's amazing how much more enjoyable sports are without distractions, and I include in that category overlong halftime TV extravaganzas. Those I find especially intolerable.

BTW, the ref must have choked on his whistle when he failed to call that obvious defensive holding penalty in the endzone on SF's final drive. Crabtree may have pushed off as well, but he was only trying to get away from the defender who had him in his grip.

[paul in AZ]

Your comments on Ray Lewis were right on target.
I got sick of the media fawning over that loud mouthed, bible thumping thug.

[Aw, he's a good guy, and a good story. Just wears his heart on his sleeve, and is too intense by half. But a character, and we love characters. And maybe justice was done in 2000, I have no idea. I just get weary of the "God of Our Team" in sports, is all. --Mike]

[Francisco Cubas]

I underestimated Kaepernick in the playoffs, yesterday he proved that he's not just a runner but a great passer. He also showed great mental strength, very unusual for a quarterback with less than a season as a starter. But I'm happy that Flacco finally got the respect he deserved.

Donald Driver is my favorite kind of player, the quiet, unsung local hero that remains in his team forever.

About the safety at the end of the game: that rule needs to be changed for the next season. It was the ugly picture in a very good game. To watch a player dance in his own endzone to let the seconds fly away... that's not sportsmanship, and should be banned.

I also liked the farmer commercial and I think I can guess what you didn't say: those farmers are mostly gone, done by big agribusiness, those good pictures reminded me of the natives of Curtis, not a real subject, but an idea. The Budweiser Clydesdale was sweet, but the funnier for me was the Miracle Stain of Joe Montana on the Tide commercial, here in Latinamerica is pretty common to hear about the Virgin or Jesus showing up everywhere like that.

Good luck for next year to the Packers.

[B Grace]

Sounds like the Chiefs are looking at Leon Sandcastle in the draft. I've actually heard of a guy here looking at having jerseys made. I'd buy one.

Seriously, I'm also a fan of Art Monk but I'd place Jerry Rice as #1 on that receivers list.

[Dan Smith]

That Steve Young got into the Pro Football Hall of Fame before Art Monk is shameful and possibly racist as well.

[Hans]

Every one of the dozen people at the party I attended thought the "Farmer" add was "a little creepy", or words to that effect.

[Yes, there seems to be little limitation on what commerce will appropriate. "Naming rights" for sports stadiums, for instance. Lambeau Field is still Lambeau Field and Soldier Field is still Soldier Field, thank god. --Mike]

[tex andrews]

Mike, two agreements and one big disagreement.

Agree:

1. Yeah, Ray Lewis is a gasbag about god. The whole thing is offensive to me, always, whether it's him, or Tebow, or former great Ravens kicker Stover, and all the rest of them crossing themselves and pointing at the sky or blathering on. On the score of Christianity (or Islam or Judaism, for that matter), walk the walk....and SHUT UP.
2. I'm a Ravens fan who thinks Rogers is pretty dang good! Certainly better than Flacco, and I'm not a Flacco h8r. All these other flash new guys....I'll wait and see how they do after being mangled in a game or three. Uh....like RG3.

Disagree:

3. The Ray Lewis murder thing. Let that go. The "justice system" did its work. Here in Bawlamer we got TONS of coverage on that to read when it happened. The prosecution had no definitive evidence at all on that one, just confusing circumstantial evidence. If I'd been Ray, I'd have gone to trial on it. Was he an idiot to be at that club and hanging out with those cats? Oh, mos def. Did he behave like an idiot immediately afterwards? Absolutely, criminal idiocy. That doesn't make the guy a murderer. I've been involved with the "justice system" lately on a number of fronts---today at a hearing for a buddy in a custody situation---and let me tell ya, what we have that passes for justice system in this country now is a far cry from justice. The tales of prosecutors' excesses, police incompetence, judicial boredom, are too many to even touch on here. Does anybody think that if the prosecutors had the goods on Lewis they would have let him cop to a misdemeanor OoJ plea? Give me a break, they had nothin. What they had was a celebrity they could "charge" and get to turn on his "friends" (were they friends? wtf...) Isn't it fascinating that there's never been a resolution to that case? That the other 2 guys were acquitted? It was a small melee, and I'm not sure anyone actually knows what happened, even the guys who were there. Complete stupidity all around.

So, let it go people. The only honest thing to say is "I have no idea what really happened there and then". We never will.

[CKDexterHaven]

Agree with most of this.
GoDaddy — horrible. Charmless. Offensively tasteless. I'm a designer and I used to use them for hosting sites, but not since they coupled with Danica Patric. This was a horrid amalgam of Danica and even 'more stupider' stuff.

The Farmers — maybe my favorite. Some nice photography in there. Some lovely words.

Ray Lewis — so sick of ALL narcissistic athletes invoking their gods. "He" is not interested in your touchdowns or tackles. But, re: his guilt in the homicides... have you read the actual testimonies and concluded this?

The Mercedes looks pretty fantastic (the outside, at least), for a $30k car.

The Clydesdales — cute commercial, but I'm just not understanding how the whole 'horses thing' is performing in efforts to sell beer. The brand is established. The horses aren't contributing anything at this point.

Black — yeah, i laughed out loud at the "here's to taste'' line. Unbelievably bad. I'm in advertising (sometimes), and have written only one produced commercial, but I know that line never would have survived even Draft One of anything my agency would have come up with. Not even in a spitballing session. Yes, fire that agency.

[Gary Brown]

No need to approve this comment since it's redundant, informationally speaking, but FYI here's Chrysler's press release: Jeep® and Ram Truck Brands Air Two-minute Videos ‘Whole Again’ and ‘Farmer’ During Super Bowl XLVII:

“The Ram Truck brand commissioned 10 noted photographers including National Geographic icon William Albert Allard and renowned documentary photographer Kurt Markus to document American farm life, yielding a beautiful and comprehensive catalog of farming images.”

Alas, it doesn't name the other eight photographers.

[KeithB]

Frank needs to get out of the Echo Chamber. The Jeeps to be made in China are for the Chinese market, not the American market.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/blog/2013/jan/18/lie-year-still/

[hugh crawford]

"It would have been perfect had not Fiat/Chrysler admitted that they were moving Jeep Liberty production from Ohio to China last week"

Where are you getting that from?
There was an announcement that they were expanding USA production adding 1,100 new jobs for a second shift at the Toledo, Ohio plant.

They also announced that they were resuming production in the Chinese factory that they closed down in 2009 to build a Fiat based small SUV on the same platform as the Dodge Dart, Alfa Romeo Giulietta, and next generation Liberty.

How does that get translated into "moving Jeep Liberty production from Ohio to China" ?

[m3photo]

I say; "That's not cricket!"

[Nathan DeGargoyle]

Well I tried, I really did but the first half (or would you say the first two quarters?) didn't live up to my expectations and I fell asleep on the couch while waiting for the half-time show to start (about 1:30 am).
Looks like I missed all the good bits! And of corse because I was watching on the Beeb I missed all the adverts, good and bad.

[James]

Couldn't have been a better result to my mind. If Alex Smith had still been the Q back for the 49'ers I may have been more neutral. What a great coaching decision the deliberate safety was. I love football.
Gonna miss The Driver, he was my fave to watch for a long time. If the light was poor you could always throw toward his smile.

[John Krill]

Right at the beginning of that 3 hour power failure you heard nothing, total silence, mute, from the play-by-play duo and it was the most perfect few minutes in the entire history of televised football.

But when the other TV commentators got into the action it was pure torture.

The CIA hopefully recorded all that chatter and plan on using it for torture exercises.

What do you mean the lights weren't out for 3 hours. Sure felt like it. No it was 3 hours. I could hear the screams up and down my block for the entire black-out. Had to be 3 hours.

[Dave Van de Mark]

Mike,
You started this with a "memories" story, and I must tell you mine, now fading as I turn 70. It was a preseason game between the LA Rams and Eagles, made interesting because the Rams had just traded popular quarterback Norm Van Brocklin to them. The LA coliseum was nearly full with fans wanting to see him perhaps one last time. What was intriguing was the fact the LA Dodgers were in a playoff battle the same night and everyone at the Ram game was at least in ear shot of a big portable radio. Don Drysdale walked the first 3 batters he faced and then proceeded to strike out the next 3. Just as he was throwing that last strike, the 22 players on the football field were ready for the snap. Then, without a hint it was coming, the crowd erupted in a stupendous roar every bit as loud as if a touchdown had just been scored. All 22 men stood up and, along with the refs, looked around in all directions totally confused as to what was going on! At the very least, flags for multiple illegal procedures, and probably offsides too, should have been thrown. But after a few hesitant moments, play resumed. I don't recall any penalties being assessed cuz the refs were as thrown by the roar as the players were.

[Steve]

That Dodge ad is a complete rip off of this You Tube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QuzhwkaNC40

[Except it's not a rip off. Farms.com was a partner in the ad. What aired on the Super Bowl is just a better-done version with new, commissioned, photographs. --Mike]

[Ari]

Regarding the "God Made a Farmer" ad: Popular sentiment notwithstanding, my wife and I both found the voice-over (however skillfully delivered) to be appallingly, squirm-inducingly irony-free, given that it was ultimately an automobile commercial -- to the point that we were looking at each other with that queasy "when is this going to end?" expression. But I did remark to her that the photography, at least, was really quite good.

[Except it wasn't originally an automobile commercial. Paul Harvey (who wrote and spoke the voiceover) died four years ago. He had a folksy "News and Comment" program on the news for years. Extremely popular in its day. I don't know when the commercial segment was recorded, but it's probably a lot more than four years old. It's typical of him as far as I know. He did segue seamlessly into commercials on his show, but he told you when he was doing so. --Mike]

[Barry]

Don't kill yourself Mike!!!! We'd all miss you a lot.

The following are reputed to be Hunter S. Thompson's last written words:

"Football Season is Over,"

"No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun -- for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax -- This won't hurt."

[Ari]

[Except it wasn't originally an automobile commercial. Paul Harvey (who wrote and spoke the voiceover) died four years ago. He had a folksy "News and Comment" program on the news for years. Extremely popular in its day. I don't know when the commercial segment was recorded, but it's probably a lot more than four years old. It's typical of him as far as I know. He did segue seamlessly into commercials on his show, but he told you when he was doing so. --Mike]

Ah, interesting -- clearly I had no idea! How sad that something so powerful and heartfelt in its original context, becomes crass and overwrought in a new context....

[bill]

Black ...drink r beer!, and it only took a second and is so much "catchier"

[David]

When I saw the first flash of a styled truck in the Paul Harvey ad I seized and puked across the room.

Until that moment I was riveted listening to him.

Dodge could have showed some class and made it BE a tribute to private american farmers slugging it out against the corporate farms and Monsanto cloud, instead of the sneaky product placement vehicle that it was.

Paul Harvey's probably squirming around in his grave trying to figure a way to wazoo someone on that.

[ce9999]

Being a sometime appreciator of bad taste (i.e., it cracks me up, on occassion), I decided to track down an online copy of this notorious GoDaddy ad, expecting to get a good laugh, and also expecting all the negative commentary about it to be way overblown, as these things usually are.

Well....you all are absolutely right. Good grief.

In fact, it's even worse in light of some of the lesser known factoids about that ad: CBS actually refused to run the original version of it, considering it "indecent" due to closeups of lots of tongue action going on. Yikes. But it gets better: Apparently they did sixty five takes. Yes, that is correct: SIXTY-FIVE TAKES.

I don't even know what to say.

[Richard]

Another take on the God Made a Farmer commercial:

http://www.theawl.com/2013/02/so-god-made-a-farmer?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAwl+%28The+Awl%29

[Thomas Caverly]

Wonderful portrait of driver, truly one of the greats!

[Bob Dales]

.... Page Two

Thank you Paul.

[Ken]

I did not get the farm commercial for Dodge trucks. If the whole point of the commercial is to make the viewer identify with a product, it failed: had no idea it was a truck commercial except for a fleeting written tagline at the very end. Even the ending photo of the truck didn't make it obvious it was not just another farm photo. But cool photography.

As for the game itself - to me, two really bad non-calls left a bad taste from what was otherwise an enjoyable game: One, several players from both teams (but especially #29 for Baltimore) were not ejected after the 2nd quarter brawl but I think should have been; and two, that blown pass interference non-call on the 49ers last drive.

[Yger]

Why do you call it football? Looks more like wresting to me. (Should be called "American rugby" at best.) But "football"? That's what we've played in Europe for centuries.

[JTW]

Mike, I agree .... I'm going into withdrawal over the last NFL game. However, my wife is probably overjoyed.

[Jeffrey MacMIllan]

My sons, 20 and 24, both swore up and down that the Go Daddy ad,super model and geek kissing, was the most effective... and their point was.. Everyone in the room was completely riveted, quiet and watching the screen...true they were grossed out but..... It got complete attention and presented the company behind it.... Ads that get attention win.....That is their function....
I preferred the farmer one myself.

[Tom Duffy]

Audi certainly has fallen a long way since the "Green Police" commercial, probably my favorite of all time. "Good afternoon, officers. Are those styrofoam cups you're drinking from?"

[Doug]

According to ifitshipitshere, the ten photographers are, in alphabetical order:

* Andy Anderson
* William Allard
* Jim Arndt
* Daniel Beltra
* Mark Gooch
* Andy Mahr
* Kurt Markus
* David Spielman
* Matt Turley
* Olaf Veltman

[Dr__Nick]

Ahhh, Dave Butz- he of the battle scarred helmet almost as big as his son who used to carry it after the games.

Memories of my childhood.

[Keith Poole]

Is "Here's to taste" really any better than "Here we go" which they've been using for probably a year or so. I liked the Oreo argument in the library for inspired lunacy, sort of an amped up "great taste, less filling".

[Roy Feldman]

The really subtle 3d work on the farmers commercial was perfect. Local guy Chris Moore (Detroit)did the edit. Usually the added 3d layering is overpowering, in this case (birds shot, hands shot) you really don't notice it. But not easy to do, spent a better part of the day in Photoshop and After Effects trying to copy it.

[Paul Crouse]

That is a great shot of a lineman. Good choice. There are so few shots like the truly show a giant who is coming to get ya!

[Rob]

"Regarding the "God Made a Farmer" ad: Popular sentiment notwithstanding, my wife and I both found the voice-over (however skillfully delivered) to be appallingly, squirm-inducingly irony-free, given that it was ultimately an automobile commercial -- to the point that we were looking at each other with that queasy "when is this going to end?" expression. But I did remark to her that the photography, at least, was really quite good."

On the subject of irony: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/les-miserables-and-irony/

[Stephen Gilbert]

I'm still a football fan, but I'm starting to find the occasional hit disturbing. Apparently ESPN doesn't. Though they pay lip service to being concerned about concussions and other brain injuries, they still show big hits as highlights. See this discussion of the NFL's grudging response to the damage that's being done: http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/02/05/is-big-football-the-next-big-tobacco-ctd-6/

[John MacKechnie]

"Apparently they did sixty five takes. Yes, that is correct: SIXTY-FIVE TAKES.

I don't even know what to say."

I hate it when wors fail me.

[Amin Sabet]

Tex Andrews (partial comment): "Disagree: The Ray Lewis murder thing. Let that go. The 'justice system' did its work."

Thank you! When I see someone call Ray Lewis a murderer on Twitter, I unfollow them. If someone retweets someone else saying that, I unfollow them too.

I've been following this blog way to long to unfollow it over this, but I am very, very disappointed to have read it here.