Quick hits on the Super Bowl

This is an age when it’s fashionable to complain about everything in America going downhill. So it’s worth pointing out that, compared to my youth, the Super Bowl is an event that has improved with age. This past decade the games have been far more competitive than the first 25 Super Bowls. The NFL has ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

This is an age when it's fashionable to complain about everything in America going downhill. So it's worth pointing out that, compared to my youth, the Super Bowl is an event that has improved with age. This past decade the games have been far more competitive than the first 25 Super Bowls. The NFL has been smart enough to dispense with the military metaphors. Even the halftime shows have gotten better -- props to Bruce Springsteen.

This is an age when it’s fashionable to complain about everything in America going downhill. So it’s worth pointing out that, compared to my youth, the Super Bowl is an event that has improved with age. This past decade the games have been far more competitive than the first 25 Super Bowls. The NFL has been smart enough to dispense with the military metaphors. Even the halftime shows have gotten better — props to Bruce Springsteen.

Yesterday’s game was thrilling, if a bit sloppy and very chippy. There was some excellent scrambling from Ben Roethlisberger and some outstanding wide receiver play (also a more recent and pleasant change: wide receivers with exceptional talent who don’t shoot off their mouths, or their hips).

While the game was good, I’m not so sure about the ads. I liked the one with Jason Statham, and I loved the one with Conan O’Brien. Otherwise, it seemed like a down year. Enough with the f$%^ing Clydesdales, Budweiser. And that Alec Baldwin Hulu ad was funny peculiar more than funny ha-ha.

Readers, what did you think?

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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