A look back on the big game

A Super Bowl review
By Tom Woerner
For the Record

I have to say this year’s Super Bowl was one of the best I remember. There was good football, great commercials and I think one of the great sports stories in recent years.
The game established for sure what was true before the kickoff. The Saints were the best team in the league this year. They played the last game like they did the rest of the season and deserved to get the win. They deserve a giant Kudos from The Corner for their efforts, even if they came up a little short.
Believe it or not there was a time back in 2005 when I wondered about the existence of the New Orleans Saints. I wondered if they would ever return to the building still burdened with the awful smell of Katrina death. I never dreamed that five years later they would be taking a Lombardi Trophy back to that building. A city where people were fleeing by the thousands now welcomes a group of brave gridiron heroes home.
The story of Katrina was quickly put into the history books for the team Sunday. Most people will remember the 2010 Super Bowl champions before they think of that American tragedy.
It took the Saints a while to get untracked Sunday but they put together a great effort. They won on a big defensive interception but they played great on both sides of the ball all night.
The Saints have Drew Brees largely to thank for their success but one thing remains clear. Though he threw an untimely interception, Peyton Manning is the best quarterback in the league
He made passes in the Super Bowl I don’t think any other quarterback, including Brees, could make. He leads his team as well as anyone else in the league. He didn’t win the big game this year but there is no doubt Manning will eventually win another Super Bowl.
There is always a so called competition for the best Super Bowl ad. I saw a lot of them but my hands on choice goes to the one for Doritos entitled Dog Gets Revenge. That is where a small dog gets revenge on his owner by fitting him with an anti-bark, electronic shock device. The commercial with Tim Tebow in his mother, sponsored by Focus on the Family, received the press, but it required to much thinking for me. The topic of abortion is way to deep for a football game.
The good commercials provided entertainment between the hot action on the field. I didn’t even hear one note of The Who’s half time show, the chili seemed more interesting.
I think this year’s Super Bowl could be a turning point for the National Football League. The Saints and their story brought in fans who have drifted in recent years. It is not unlike what happened to the New York Yankees and Mets in the days following the September 11 terrorist attacks. The country suddenly came around the teams so horribly affected by these events.
The National Football League can only hope the new fans of the Saints will stick around longer than the post Sept. 11 baseball fans of the Yankees did. I think football fans are more resilient and will be back next year. They will wait for another Super Bowl as good as this year’s but it will be hard to find one.