Super Bowl XXXVIII marked a disturbing trend to me: Apathy. Our very own Patriots won for the second time in three years. In 2002, Tom Brady was the youngest quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl, making him by far the youngest to win two. Adam Vinatieri scored his fourth ever game winning field goal in the post-season. The opening 26 minutes were scoreless, the longest period without scoring in Super Bowl history. And Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson's breast. It was a historic day.
Meanwhile, we at UConn were seemingly asleep. I saw a lot of "Go Pats" away messages, but did not hear any accompanying ruckus. I am not saying we have to riot every time a home team wins, but upon opening my door and windows after Vinatieri's beautiful, game winning kick, I did not hear a single shout, quite the opposite of the Pats victory in 2002.
Maybe it was the game itself, not us, that was the cause for this lack of enthusiasm. The first 26 minutes without a score were pretty painful. The Panthers were not as exciting an opponent as some of the other potential teams could have been. It was all a little anti-climactic.
"It was not a spectacular game," said Joe Mitchell, an 8th-semester sociology major, "but I watched it because it was the Super Bowl."
Mitchell also said he did not go to any Super Bowl parties, and was not even particularly excited for it.
To be honest, the commercials this year were not very exciting either. Budweiser had a few entertaining contributions, such as a miniature pony and a crotch-biting dog, but the much-hyped Pepsi ad never appeared and the rest were pretty dismal.
As for the halftime show, is it just me or do the performances get flashier, yet shorter, every year? This year's random assortment of Nelly, P.Diddy, Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson and Kid Rock definitely fell short of musical brilliance. Really the only memorable part was when Timberlake accidentally exposed Jackson's breast, just reminding us no matter how rehearsed and over-produced something is, there is always room for error.
Marisa Kushner, a 6th-semester journalism and media publicity major said, however, that while she did not watch the game personally, she knew of about four parties, which could prove that I was just in the wrong part of campus for all the excitement. Hopefully this is the case.
I know there is a lot going on in all of our lives, what with classes, friends, family, jobs and whatever else occupies our time. There is also a lot going on in the world, from war in Iraq to college basketball. I just hope all of those, including many of my friends, who stayed in their rooms and treated Super Bowl Sunday like just another day will not take this attitude towards everything. This year, when both the men's and women's basketball teams win the NCAA championships, I want to hear it!
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