2/7/11
Wild At Heart
Here it is the day after the Super Bowl and Green Bay beat the Pittsburg Steelers 31-25 in one of my favorite games. I haven’t been this excited about a game since the Cowboys played the Steelers back in ’95. The Steelers have always been my #2 team while the Packers are #3 but I was really rooting for Aaron Rogers to come out on top this year for a couple of reasons. This mainly stems from the idea of Rogers being a small town quarterback that almost didn’t make the NFL, much less college ball at the University of California. Added to the mix was the way Brett Farve left the team and the negative reaction to Rogers by fans who partially blamed him for the Packers organization decision to go with him over the aging Farve. Rogers is also that guy who comes to work and keeps quiet. He isn’t like a Farve, Ochocinco or Moss who makes the game about himself instead of the team and I appreciate that. As much as I like the Steelers, I still harbor some disapproval of Ben’s pre-season incident and I hate seeing people with questionable behavior get rewarded (besides, he has 2 rings already). I also really wanted to see Charles Woodson get his ring. Always been a big fan of defensive played ever since the watching “Ed “Too Tall” Jones and Randy White in the 70’s Cowboys which is why I esp like Collins’ 37-yr interception return in the 1st quarter. I loved the game itself as it had a number of good plays and excitement, esp when Ben had the ball with 2 minutes left in the game and a chance to win. It doesn’t get much better.
Despite all the hype for the game, I was largely disappointed by the rest of the show surrounding the game. Starting with O’Reilly vs Obama which while O’Reilly tried to ask some questions to trip up Obama, at times it seemed like he was trying to hard. This is the sort of interview that should be an hour on CNN, not pre-Super Bowl. Keep the politics out unless you are doing aid relief, like for Katrina or 9/11. I thought Christina Aguilera had a lot of passion for her performance of the National Anthem so it’s too bad she botched the lyrics. Kudos to the Super Bowl for getting a more modern band to take the stage in the Black Eyed Peas who I saw last year at the Palace (a great show BTW) and while they looked good on stage, their performance seemed to lack something. Staring with Fergie’s mic not being on at the start of her verse to Slash looking almost bored playing, will.i.am’s awkward Obama speech moment and the somewhat corny Tron tribute going on. So much potential and yet so average! For trivia buffs: The Black Eyed Peas joined Shania Twain as the only two performers to perform at both the Super Bowl and the Grey Cup (for Canada’ CFL). Lastly, I thought the ad’s were just average. There were a few laughs, but nothing really rememberable except maybe the little kid in the Vader suit. I’ll also give kudos to the Doritos commercial where the guy bring the grandfather back to life, the guy licking the Doritos off his coworkers hands, the dog-sitter and seeing shots of Detroit of Eminem as he drives around Detroit (maybe I’m just homesick). I also want to extend my sympathies to those 400 fans that got to the Superbowl and found out they had no seats due to an error in getting the fire marshal to check their safety. I think Jerry Jones should have let them watch from his sky box or maybe on the sidelines. These were actual fans and not corporate lackeys that got the boot. Shame on them for putting profits before fans, esp since the NFL knew about the issue before game day.
Despite the average halftime show, here are some upcoming concerts that should get the blood pumping.
Wednesday (2/09) – Jessica Lea Mayfield opens for Justin Townes Earl @ Magic Stick, pop singer Robyn @ the Royal Oak Music Theatre, Eisley opens for Rooney @ the Crofoot, reggae stars the Wailers @ the Ark
Thursday (2/10) – Blues At The Crossroads featuring Big Head Todd & the Monsters along with blues great Hubert Sumlim @ Hill Auditorium, George Clinton and P-Funk @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
Saturday (2/12) - Ozzy Osbourne and Slash @ Palace Of Auburn Hills, Women! featuring musical performances by Lightning Love, Audra Kubat, School Of Rock, Lettercamp, Misty Lyn and the Big Beautiful, etc @ the Crofoot
Sunday (2/13) – Trey Songz @ Detroit Opera House, local folk artists Annie and Rod Capps @ the Ark
Monday (2/14) – Japanese rockers Deerhoof @ the Crofoot, jazz/new age pianist Keiko Matsui @ Andiamo Celebrity Showroom (Warren)
Here is a tune by Sumlin, a great guitarist who played with Howlin’ Wolf. He was one of my favorite performers at last years Crossroads Festival in Chicago.
On a sadder note, there were a few celebrity deaths this Super Bowl week starting last week with British jazz drummer Tony Levin and yesterday with the passing of Thin Lizzy singer/guitarist Gary Moore. For cult film fans, last week also saw the passing of Tura Satana, the Japanese-born American actress and former exotic dancer who was best known for her role as "Varla" in Russ Meyer's 1965 cult film, “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!”. Tura Satana at one point dated Elvis Presley but turned down his marriage proposal.
Here is a Human Sexual Response video with scenes featuring the sexy Tura.