#2 - Dyed in the Wool - Super Bowl Thoughts
I KNOW no one asked for these thoughts, but hey, you subscribed. So you're getting them.
Editor’s Note (it’s me; I’m the editor) - I didn’t mean to start this on a sad/emotional note, but as I was listing out my thoughts on the Super Bowl in my notes app, I kept thinking about my grandfathers and community.
I am a Tennessee Volunteers fan. I was one before birth. I was one at age 3. I am one now. I will be one when I am 80, Lord willin’ I live that long. I will be one when I am 6 feet under. My entire family was, is, and will be. I am also an Atlanta Braves fan. I have never lived in Atlanta. I did not attend the University of Tennessee. Nonetheless, I am a Brave Volunteer.
My paternal grandfather’s obituary said he was a “dyed in the wool fan of the Tennessee Vols.” He died when I was in 7th grade; I didn’t know what “dyed in the wool” meant or what death really meant then. I don’t know why he was a Vols fan. I never asked; I just became one too. Through a series of unfortunate events, my maternal grandfather’s obituary made no mention of my mother, my brother, or me, or his love of the Atlanta Braves. I am a fan of the Braves because he was, and he was a Braves fan because they were the only MLB team near us, and he and my grandmother lived in Atlanta for a while. Despite that series of unfortunate events, when I see that Braves script A logo, I feel connected to him, even when I’m on the other side of the country.
I am not a Titans fan. Not because they’re terrible. No one in my family was a huge Titans fan. So I wasn’t. So I’m not. So I won’t be.
Sporting events, especially really big ones, have always felt like church to me; concerts also feel like church to me. The point of lowercase c church is community. The point of uppercase c Church is a different story I’m not willing to write today. My favorite part of going to church has always been corporate worship. Football games and baseball games and concerts really aren’t much different than that when you think about it. Communal. I miss that community right now.
I don’t remember the first time I personally had a Super Bowl party, one I hosted and planned a menu with my mom’s help and invited everyone. I do remember learning early on that people can’t follow driving and parking instructions to save their lives. Even middle school Katelyn knew show advances would be like pulling teeth long before she became a tour/production manager. I don’t know how many Super Bowl parties I’ve had. I’m at a point now where it’s assumed among my close friends that I’m hosting a Super Bowl party. I love hosting. I love convincing Dan to smoke ribs and chicken wings, and I love making crack chicken dip. I love watching the game and commercials with friends. I love dissecting the halftime show with production friends most.
All of that is communal. So I love it.
To start this, I googled “Super Bowl 2025 viewership numbers.” There isn’t a lot of data out there. I know at least 6 people watched at my house, plus two of my best friends at their places. So we’ve at least got 8! I do love data, and I’m excited to see viewership numbers when they come out officially from good ole Neilson. But Super Bowl LIX is my #1 game and the halftime show is in my top 3 halftimes. The ads are not even top twenty. Here are my highlights, that you didn’t ask for, but you subscribed. So read them. And make a friend subscribe or something.
Eagles
I am married to a Steelers fan; the man does not own a single piece of Steelers gear so I’m not sure if we can say he’s a Steelers fan. Dan, like 95% of America apparently, was rooting for the Eagles. I’ve lived through an Alabama dynasty and a Patriots dynasty, and you know what, I just can’t keep doing it. Call me a hater. I don’t want to live through a Chiefs dynasty. FLY EAGLES FLY. Editor’s Note: Upon proof-reading this for me, Dan wants you to know that he “owns” a terrible towel and a hat… somewhere.
What a BEAUTIFUL game. The sack, sack, pick 6 for Mahomes in the second quarter sent me to another world. ESPN has a great breakdown of, well, the Chiefs’ breakdown. My favorite stat? “Mahomes became the first QB in Super Bowl history to take consecutive sacks before throwing a pick-six in a span of three plays.”
Social media before, during, and after large televised events like the Super Bowl and the Grammys is one of my favorite things about these shows. (Editor’s note: this is the sentence that made me go back and write an entire intro. I’m sorry.)
There are so many good memes and threads and posts, but I want to share this. May I present to you the best TikTok I saw ahead of the game: A Jewish congregation singing "Fly Eagles Fly" during a service. I saw this when it had less than 1,000 likes. I cackled. I love it. Communal!!
My Favorite Ads
I LOVE Willem Dafoe so I adored the Michelob Ultra + pickleball commercial. It did not convince me to drink an Ultra.
I also LOVE Harrison Ford. The Jeep ad was so well-written and well-delivered; I didn’t even realize it was two minutes. I loved the ending. I won’t spoil it if you haven’t seen it. For two minutes, Indiana Jones tells us about the best part of America “freedom of choice.” I just wish Jeep had chosen to show Indiana Harrison punching a Nazi.
The Weathertech grandmas had us rolling. Golden Girls meets music video. A+.
A local luthier got an adspot with Google. Delgado Guitars is based in East Nashville, and was chosen by Google to represent Tennessee in their 50 states, 50 stories of businesses using Google Workspace with Gemini campaign. Even if it was “just” a local ad run through Tennessee, that’s still a lot of eyes. Sometimes, I really do love Nashville.
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift is one of my guilty pleasure artists. I don’t hate her, but I didn’t go out of my way to get tickets to the Eras tour. I love the re-records, not sonically, but just as an idea to stick it to a/the man with vault records. (Big fan of beefs with men, but sonically, OG Red is better than Red TV. I’m not sorry.)
But what did she do to YOU? Seriously. She didn’t do anything to you, an ordinary Philly or KC fan. Taylor Haters - you’re wrong for booing. She was just sitting there coming to support her partner. If you have kids, your little girls hear you. If you don’t have kids, children around you hear you.
Also, hire more women.
The Whole Poppi Vending Fiasco
Jenn Richter wrote a longer piece about this health soda trend, but pay particular attention to the part abut the vending machines.
Go ahead and type in “Poppi Vending machine” into good ole Google, and see what happens. Now look, you won’t catch me drinking one of these things. I’m going to hell drinking a Diet Coke. I wash my probiotics down with a swig of Diet Coke. Why on earth did they send a WHOLE VENDING MACHINE to these influencers? Why not put it in like, I don’t know, a hospital break room or teachers’ lounge at a high school or a women’s shelter? Apparently these things cost $25k each, which is just insane to me. This is over-consumption at its finest, and just ridiculously tone-deaf.
And then the ad itself. Jesus Christ.
Jake Shane saying “It’s a drive-thru, not a confession booth” did make me laugh though. I HATE rolling up to a drive-thru and my partner in crime doesn’t know what to order. Baby, we’re at McDonald’s. Get some nuggets.
I’ll stick to my Diet Coke, thank you.
Don Cornelli
One of my favorite moments from the broadcast was the announcers shouting out Don Cornelli and his retirement. Cornelli is in the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame and has worked in sports for longer than some of the guys on the field have been alive.
Kendrick’s Mic
After everyone went home, Dan and I were sitting at the table together when I saw this reddit post on r/livesound. (I *loathe* any audio/video/lighting/touring, etc. social media group, and do not frequent them. But MAN do they have some good content for laughter.) I actually laughed out loud over the post title. “Fake mic or model I’ve never seen before?” That sums up most people men in these types of group. Yes! Of course you have seen EVERY mic, and of course this one must be a fake!
It’s the Sound Devices A20-HH. Sound Devices is owned by Audiotonix, DiGiCo’s parent company. Dan got to demo these earlier this week, and according to him, it’s one of the most impressive wireless products he’s seen.
So, men on Reddit, it’s not fake; it’s just out of your budget.
Kendrick Lamar
Look, I really *do* want to be a lover. But I’m not. I’m a hater. Ask two of best friends, Allyson and Jacob. Ask Dan the Man. All three of them will tell you that I’m a hater and that I cry over everything. EVERYTHING. I don’t even know how you can be a hater and cry over everything, but here I am!
Jacob sent me this.
The invite to my Super Bowl party said “Only Grade-A Drake haters allowed. We stan Kendrick Lamar in this house.” I meant it too. I love Kendrick. “King Kunta” came up on a playlist once years ago, and I’ve been a fan since. Something about Drake just irritates me, among other things. So I was R E A D Y for this halftime show.
Kendrick inspires me to be a Grade-A Hater. What I will not be hating on is this show and production. Clean. Gorgeous. Perfect camera work and directing.
Live Design has an entire page dedicated to the lighting elements. Check out the lightning drawings for both the game and halftime show for sure!
To the Steadicam guys - you deserve the world. Your work was magical.
During the panelist discussion right before cutting to the show, we saw Kendrick hopping up on the car so we knew what the first shot of Kendrick would look like. I do wish they could have hidden that better. We all said “He’s on the car!” at the same time. The opening immediately made of think of Squid Games, and Samuel L. Jackson popping up on my screen, as Uncle Sam!, made me scream. But man, even knowing he was on that car didn’t prepare me for how beautiful the car would be. We should have expected it to be an entrance for dancers, though.
“The revolution is about to be televised. You picked the right time, but the wrong guy.” HELLO? The flag made out of black bodies during “Humble” of all things? Trump is out here b*tching about Taylor Swift, and this is happening in front of him? If there was ever a thing to go over his head, it’s this.
The usage of the entire field as a predominately flat stage was stunning. The look of simplicity was so refreshing.
Kendrick’s flare jeans *MUAH* chef’s kiss!
The X with the turf showing through during “Peekaboo” and cut to the ladies and the tease of “Not Like Us” might be my favorite camerawork of the entire show. The circles were beautifully executed.
Kendrick looking straight at that steadicam and saying “Say, Drake” with a shit-eating grin. Kendrick censoring himself on “pedophile.” The entire stadium screaming “A minor".” Serena freaking Williams. I feel like Sefon. This place has everything!!
Listen, if you didn’t like this, it wasn’t for you. All art is not for everyone. It’s okay. Also, if you’re upset about no white people being on stage, well, that’s no DEI for ya!
I leave you with this and my top three Super Bowl halftime shows.
1. Creed - This is technically not the Super Bowl, but I don’t care.
Reminder: please send me Creed memes. It makes me so happy.
2. Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and 50 Cent
3. Kendrick Lamar