Happy Monday, Eleven Warriors!
Since we will likely have no shortage of discussion about Ohio State’s basketball team in the coming weeks and the 2024-25 football season has finally ended, let’s go out with a bang for This Week’s Question after the big game last night:
Was Super Bowl LIX the Worst One Ever?
Bear in mind that an event of this magnitude has many different elements involved than just a regular football game that can make, break or otherwise salvage a below average evening. Personally, I find commercials and the halftime show to be two of the traditionally most crucial components of a Super Bowl experience. But a compelling game between the two best teams of the NFL Playoffs obviously remains most important.
I feel pretty confident in saying last night was the worst Super Bowl across my conscious memories of watching football. The Eagles made that game noncompetitive from the opening quarter, and I wasn’t somebody that necessarily wanted to see the Chiefs tarred and feathered out of spite for their success.
Commercials have gone downhill for a while now, but last night felt like yet another new low relative to creativity in favor of sheer celebrity endorsements and pop culture callbacks. I have been a fan of Kendrick Lamar for a while, but I never thought his discography would be a good fit for a live performance of this scale, even if everybody received the payoff they anticipated with a public shaming of Drake when “Not Like Us” finally played.
Don’t even get me started on that god-awful minimalist scorebug FOX rolled out, either.
My previous worst Super Bowl choice was the Broncos/Seahawks game from the 2013-14 season, but even that night featured what many consider to be one of the greatest halftime shows ever from Bruno Mars. People also had the same disdain for Peyton Manning’s Broncos back then that many did for the Chiefs this year, so a blowout at the hands of a more likable Russel Wilson in an era when he had yet to be universally classified as cringe felt much more welcome.
Last night was the most disinterested I can remember being in the big game while it was happening. I have to imagine the Eagles will find themselves similarly vilified as the Chiefs were if they make it back to another championship game in short order.
But what do you think? Was last night your least favorite Super Bowl ever, or does a worse one still live in your memory?
