On the Superbowl...

(These titles are odd, but satisfying...)

So. Last night was the Superbowl. While some people sat in the living room and watched the proceedings, I turned on my computer and jumped into my other life: World of Warcraft. I did, however, take some time to watch the opening ceremonies, the halftime show, and some commericials. The game was wholly uninteresting to myself, especially since I was not invested in either team. Getting past the introductions, I now take you into the meat of the subject.
Putting the game aside, last night was the best Superbowl I can remember. When was the last time I felt proud to watch the opening cermony (minus the ick I felt, still do, from seeing Clinton's face... nice tie, though)? That was the best... The Best rendition of the national anthem I have ever heard. There is nothing like it in the world. My heart swelled so large it seemed to be searching for escape from the confines of my ribs. Indeed, I was moved to choke back my tears, even as I just think about it as I write a day later. I thought only Air Force commericials from a couple years ago would do that to me.
Moving on.... The halftime show was great. I can say it is the best I have ever seen. Hurrah for being prudish! Paul McCartney seemed happy to be there and I could not find evidence of lip-synching (Shania Twain, you know who you are!), even though I did look. Of course, the best part was "Live and Let Die," but then again, I've always been fond of Bond and that theme in particular. The whole segement was great, though "Hey Jude" is definently one of my least favorite selections (a little too... wishy washy).
As for commercials, I was suprised to see the GoDaddy.com commercial, but at the same time I didn't think anything of it. It did seem out of place among the others. I don't remember much of the commercials, most were for cars, I think. Apparantly I missed a really great one involving a cat, spaghetti sauce, a knife, and an unfortunate circumstance. Hopefully, I'll catch it sometime.

All in all, I can say I'm glad last year's debacle happened. Otherwise, we'd not have had such a great event this year.

UPDATE - Tuesday, February 7th, 2005:
Apparantly, the Superbowl did not go down as well with other people:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,146712,00.html
http://www.danieldrezner.com/archives/001878.html

In a way, I am saddened. I ask, "What more do you want?"
Are people in this society so deadened that they prefer to watch oversexed performers wiggle and gyrate across the screen? Don't get me wrong, I am not a "prude" or whatever you may think I am. I just prefer something light hearted and fun as opposed to watching something so vulgar that I turn away. Last year's Superbowl halftime was almost painful too watch. In fact, I turned away from it in disgust. This year was so well done, and without the oversexed performances of old. I was hoping that this might be a turning point for culture, maybe bring back or support that little known concept of "values." ("Values? What's that mean?"... "oh, nevermind"). If you look at it one way, it seems as though the media (read: popular culture) is pushing an agenda to get rid of values and modesty. I've written about this before (See On Freedom of Religion). It just seems to me that most people wouldn't want to read a book or see a movie if they already know the ending (figure that one out... if you can). Or maybe it's the other way around.