From the editor

Super Bowl reflections

Wed, 02/14/2024 - 9:00am

Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback since Tom Brady. He doesn’t get rattled, used the short passing scheme (a la Brady) to drive the team to the winning touchdown in overtime, and has now won three Super Bowls. He’s only 28.

Watched the game, as usual, at our daughter and son-in-law’s house. Had a great spread of finger food and had two adult guests (a first) and two young friends of our granddaughters, who were all great company. Conversations about the game and other topics were lively.

Our youngest granddaughter and her two friends put on a “before halftime show,” dressing up like Taylor Swift, played her music on their phones, and cascaded through the living room. It was a hoot. They also did a lot of screaming whenever Ms. Swift appeared on the TV screen.

Missed about 8 minutes of the fourth quarter as we wanted to watch the ending at home (a 13-minute drive) – but we did stay up until the winning score was done. Somehow you knew that the Chiefs were going to win their second straight championship. San Francisco just didn’t have enough in the tank to score a touchdown in OT.

Commercials were entertaining and the halftime show was ... for a different generation ... but it was fun to watch. The Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, Elton John and others from the 1970s (my era) wouldn’t have cut it. Too old.

The first Super Bowl that I watched was at my Uncle Raymond and Aunt Barbara’s house on Park Street. Super Bowl III when Joe Namath and the New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts. I think a marching band played at halftime and the commercials were not memorable.

According to Poynter, CBS Sports’ coverage of Super Bowl LVIII delivered the most-watched telecast in history with 123.4 million average viewers across all platforms. Super Bowl III had an estimated 41.66 million viewers.

God willing, I will get to watch Super Bowl 59 about a year from now. Can’t wait!