February 07, 2005
NYC Letter: Thank You
The Eagles have just lost to the Patriots, 24-21. If justice were done, the Superbowl XXXIX MVP would rightfully belong to Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro receiver Terrell Owens. Superbowls are rarely good games, rarer still great games. Certainly not as good and never as great as the tarted up forecasts. The Superbowl, as its name announces, is out-sized and over-big. A typical American excess.
Of course, many of us watch the Superbowl for the over-produced big-budget commercials. One of the regular Superbowl advertisers is Anheuser-Busch. Among its usual clutch of jokey and beer-qua-cachet offerings, there was this extraordinary sixty seconds.
[You will need to click the link and view the spot to make sense of the remaining post.]
Why was this good?
Everyone will have their own opinion about this spot. Here's ours.
This spot depicts an ordinary moment interrupted by an extraordinary passage. Everyone is here. All around us are lives unconnected to ours. We are busy about our business, busy about our lives. So busy that we almost miss the extraordinary passing right before us. A passing of such quiet unpresupposing dignity that we suddenly feel the weight of how often in our busy lives similar passings have gone unnoticed.
When hands are put together to express a common thanks where words would be crowded and rough, we feel whelmed by this same ineffable thanks. We stop and join all around us, thankful that the moment is marked, because the passing is brief and doesn't wait on our thanks.
The spot has only two unspoken words on an end title card: Thank you.
Nobility and sacrifice are not given much play in modern discourse. They are demanding ideals that reside solely in the character of individuals. Not government programs, not political agendas. We would like to thank Anheuser-Busch for putting these ideals in play if only for sixty seconds. In the middle of the Superbowl.
Posted by Damian at February 7, 2005 07:40 AMThanks for link, Damian.
I guess we know now that moonbats don't drink Anh Busch beer...
Posted by: Valerie at February 7, 2005 09:14 AMShort and simple and most importantly involved regular people. Well done.
Posted by: Jay at February 7, 2005 11:53 AMEnough said indeed. Beautiful, because it is true.
DFW airport is a site for departing/returning soldiers. This touching moment happens. One cannot view such scenes and not be moved. Unless, you are Chris Mathews.
Many thanks, many, many thanks, Damian.
Posted by: Valerie, Texa` at February 7, 2005 03:27 PMDamian,
Agree with you about the commercial, but...
MVP stands for Most Valuable Player, not Most Vocal Player.
T.O. is a shameless self-promoter, often poor sport, and real annoying character. The "watch me play" stunt was not so much about courage as making sure he didnn't miss the opportunity he wanted most - to be at the center of the media's attention. He didn't have as much to lose as it would seem; if he could not play, everyone would point out how valiant his effort was for trying, and he could just walk off with a sore ankle. If he did play and but did not make much difference, there were no expectations of him anyway.
In any case, if you have followed him and his career, you would not be so impressed.
As for the Superbowl being never as good as the forecasts, I think you need a different perspective to enjoy it. Some are good, some bad, but the you can't really appreciate any contest unless you have some passion for it.
Americans may take an interest in the World Cup, but to most of us, it looks like any other soccer game. I've been to Europe enough times to note that the World Cup gets an awful lot of hype, and not just for a couple of weeks, but for the whole year in which it's played. At the end of the day, 1-0 or 3-2 does not inspire a lot of cheering from here because we don't follow the 4 year road it takes for a team to make the finals.
Anyway, I leave you with this parting comment from the only king America has: "Soccer is a game invented by European ladies to keep busy while the men do the cooking"
-Hank Hill
Posted by: southpaw at February 7, 2005 05:39 PM
In the AOL poll for favorite Super Bowl commercial Anheiser Busch's Thank You is leading with 15%. Coors is in second place with 11% for their Reluctant Skydiver.
Feel free to vote at AOL Sports.
They have a nifty little set up, with the commercials listed in thumbnails by the quarter in which they originally appeared.
Mr. Southpaw,
You see the advantage I have in only watching this one game out of the year rather than following the invented dramas of players and sportcasters during season play. Whatever Terrell Owens was before the game and whatever he is today, on Sunday he came to play and he kept Philadelphia in the game with big plays and big catches.
Bobby Fisher was and is also obnoxious -- and freaky weird -- but when he showed he came to play. And it was glorious.
DGB
Posted by: Damian at February 10, 2005 08:59 AM
