Looking Back on the Harbowl/Beyonce Bowl/Blackout Bowl
1. The Harbaugh brothers
To understand how absolutely ridiculous and lucky it is that two brothers faced off as head coaches in the biggest sporting event of the year, all you need to do is think about it as a movie. If you were to watch a movie where this happened, not only would you find it unlikely, you would find it utterly implausible. Not only is it too good to be true, it's too crazy to be real. Math is not my strong suit, but I'm sure the chances of this happening ever again are something like, 3 gazillion to one. The number of things that had to go right for this to happen is stupendously high. What if an eight year old Jim decided he liked bocce more than football? What if he got hired by an AFC team instead of an NFC team? The list goes on, and the longer it goes on, the more mind-boggling their Super Bowl meeting gets.
2. The Blackout
The real loser in this game wasn't the 49ers, it was whoever was in charge of electricity. The biggest sports event of the year, millions of people tuning in, and... they lose power. It was almost surreal. Initially, when it happened, it felt like Bane was going to come out and proclaim that he was taking the stadium hostage. Luckily, (or unluckily, for the Batman fans), that didn't happen and power was restored within half an hour.
3. Beyonce
Beyonce was spectacular, and almost definitely won back any fans that were lost after the whole inauguration lip-syncing fiasco. She managed to captivate both males and females with her performance, although probably for different reasons, and was much more pleasing to the eye than a wrinkly Mick Jagger.
4. Ray Lewis
Lewis managed to somehow escape unscathed from the PED issue that was brought up earlier in the week, but was nothing special in the actual game. He recorded seven tackles, and didn't have any real significant moment in the game. But his team won, thus completing one of the more storybook-type endings to a career in history. Disappointingly enough, he did not ascend into the heavens after the game, as predicted by SNL's Kenan Thompson, but still gave us one last classic Ray lewis interview. It will be a little strange not seeing him stomp around on Sunday afternoons anymore, but he'll be back in the spotlight soon enough, whether it be on TV or at the Hall of Fame.
5. The commercials
Honestly, it was a weak year for commercials. The numerous wives who tuned in merely for the ads were almost surely disappointed, as well they should be. The Samsung one posted below was killer, and there were a few other gems scattered throughout. But what will remain most indelible in our memories is the Bar Rafaeli Go Daddy ad. Basically, the commercial is just the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model making out with a dorky looking guy for 30 seconds. If the goal was to make the audience uncomfortable, then mission accomplished. I would post it, but I don't want to make anyone cringe. Look it up if you must.
6. Karma
Earlier in the week, Chris Culliver made a series of homophobic statements in an interview with a comedian. He apologized profusely afterwards, and said that the words that "came out of his mouth weren't his beliefs". Not surprisingly, not many people went for that explanation. Nonetheless, he played the game, and all was going fairly normally, until a little before halftime. Flacco wound up, and delivered a deep ball to a wide open Jacoby Jones. Jones fell as he caught it, and when he got up, only Culliver was separating him from the endzone. In a supreme act of quickness, Jones spun left, leaving Culliver grasping at air. It was a spin move for the whole gay rights community, and only served as further evidence that karma is real and alive. Culliver, you had it coming.
