One thing we can count on as Americans is our love affair with Super Bowl Sunday. People who don’t normally watch sports – Football in particular – will stop what they’re doing to attend a Super Bowl party. I guess that’s more about the party… We do love a good party…

This year, the New York Giants got to defend their Super Bowl XLII win over the New England Patriots and they did just that. But, it was a bit of an uneventful game for me…

The game: Final score was Giants 21, Patriots 17. A very low scoring game in a season that saw some very high scoring games. And I must admit, I thought Tom Brady would redeem himself this time. In their first Super Bowl, the Giants did exactly what they needed to do – shut down Tom Brady. The defense stayed on top of him and that did the trick. So, I was sure, this time, the Patriot’s defense wouldn’t let that happen and they didn’t.

This time, their offense let them down. They just missed too many opportunities to catch the ball. And, like I always say, if you can’t score points/catch the ball, you can’t win the game. The Giants managed to defend their QB AND catch the ball more than the Patriots. Therefore, the Giants win.

But, in an interview with Bob Costas before the game, Tom Brady said, “The team that executes the best will win the game.” It is what it is. Precision QB or not, it’s a team effort. Tom’s wife after the game said, “My husband cannot throw the ball and catch the ball.” Got a lot of backlash, but, she didn’t mean it derogatorily. She meant it takes the whole team to win or lose a game, not one person. Not all Tom’s fault. By the way – She’s right…

But, I want to take a minute to acknowledge the team effort the Patriots have shown over the course of the season. Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Wes Welker and Danny Woodhead. The only thing standing in their way is youth and experience. Watch out…

The Halftime show: Madonna. No matter what you think of Madonna, she knows how to put together a full-on production. Amazing how she managed to create such an elaborate show of lights and technology that could be set up and taken down in 8 minutes each.

Her 12 minute show as well was impressive. And while there are people who are criticizing the intensity at which she performed, I say, any 50 year old woman who can survive through the level of acrobatics Madonna performed gets my vote. She cartwheeled and backbended… dipped repeatedly and climbed over things. Hats off to her. I hope I can still do a cartwheel when I’m 50… I don’t remember the last time I did one… You?

The commercials: I saved this for last because, the advertising has grown into a bigger deal than the game. Confession: I found myself running over to refill my drink during the game, not the commercials just so I could see the commercials. How ass-backwards is that?

But, this year’s commercials were disappointing. We’re losing our creativity as a society across all genres. Everyone is pulling the throwback card. Or maybe I should use the term, vintage. What’s old is new again? No, what’s old is easy to recreate and call new so you don’t have to do any work, but still get paid lots of money. Somebody had to say it.

This year’s commercials were animal-heavy. Came off as overkill and trendy. The only commercials that actually weren’t bad were the car spots. Matthew Broderick spoofing Ferris Bueller; Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno in a bidding war over the first next generation Acura NSX; Clint Eastwood for Chrysler and Detroit. All good because they at least connected back to the person in the commercial. Authenticity is still appreciated.

So, the 2011 Football season is a wrap. Despite the BS it took to get the season started, there were some really great games. Haven’t seen as many blow-outs in one season in a long time. I hope the players bring back that energy for NFL season 2012. On to the NBA. Let’s see how well they do at redeeming themselves from their contract BS. The millionaires got more millions, now let’s get to work.

Congratulation to the New York Giants…