Super Men!

Unless you have been buried under a rock the past 24 hours you already know that the New York Giants beat the nearly perfect New England Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII. The Giants victory is being called one of the greatest upset victories in Pro-Sports history and included a huge clutch pass and catch from Eli Manning to David Tyree that will go down as the greatest play in Super Bowl history.


Needless to say I am elated (now that the initial shock has worn off) and plan on attending the victory parade in the Canyon of Heroes tomorrow!

Although all the ratings haven't been announced yet, all signs point to Super Bowl XLII being the most watched Super Bowl ever and could possibly become the #2 most watched telecast in history, behind the series finale of M*A*S*H.

Ever since "Nipplegate" during the Super Bowl XXXVII halftime show, when Justin Timberlake removed a piece of Janet Jackson's outfit revealing her pierced nipple, the NFL has been trying to keep the halftime show as safe, family friendly, and vanilla (save for Prince's performance, but we'll get to that in a minute) as possible. This year's show saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers take the stage and crank out songs from an album close to 20 years old. A band named The Heartbreakers performing a song titled "Free Fallin" actually turned out to be pretty damn appropriate for a Super Bowl ending that saw a team lose it's chance at perfection in the last minute of the game to a team nobody gave a chance in hell to win.

Unfortunately for the NFL, no matter how hard they try to keep the halftime show family friendly and controversy clear, they just can't seem to get out of their own way. This year was no different. At the beginning of the the Halftime Show the stadium lights went dark and a pink heart was illuminated. From off to the right of the screen an illuminated white ax guitar moved towards and eventually pierced the heart, setting off show. Innocent enough right? Wrong! The guitar was quite phallic and it penetrated that heart, if you know what I mean. Intentional or not the symbolism was unmistakable.


Previous Halftime Show Controversies:

Super Bowl XLI - A Royal Phallacy
Prince's performance at Super Bowl XLI has been called the greatest Super Bowl Halftime show ever, but it was not without controversy. At one point during the performance using back lighting, a giant silhouette of Prince and his guitar was cast onto a large screen giving off the illusion that Prince had an enormous exposed cock. Hasn't the guitar always been considered an extension of a rock stars penis anyway?



Super Bowl XL - Dirty Old Men



The Rolling Stones had to be muted by ABC several times for using foul language during their performance. They also had to deal with Kieth trying to run off the stage and snort the giant white lines on the field.





Super Bowl XXXVI - A Big Penis on Stage



When U2 performed in 2001 there wasn't literally a penis on the stage, but there certainly was a dickhead!





Super Bowl XXXVIII - Nipplegate




The biggest of them all, it was the event that introduced the term "Wardrobe Malfunction"into the national lexicon. Janet Jackson's exposed pierced nipple changed the way broadcast television worked forever.