A Welcomed Brees After the Hurricane
If you did anything yesterday other than watch the Super Bowl, then you were certainly in the minority amongst the people of North America. Yes, even our Canuckle-headed neighbors to the north hunker down for the American Pigskin Classic. It was a well-played game between the best two teams in the NFL, and you certainly can’t begrudge the winners for their tremendous performance. If only for a short while, the city of New Orleans has risen from the ashes to celebrate one hell of an accomplishment.
To many, the Super Bowl isn’t even about the game. Chicks who don’t give a rat’s ash and non-sports fans alike use the game as a social gathering while asking every five minutes, “Now what has to happen in order for me to get 6 – 8 in my box pool?” I try to ignore them, but when it’s your wife, that’s just plain hard to do.
Whether you like football or not, the food is what brings us all great happiness. Any Bowl game party is an eclectic mix of fattening foods we feast on fastidiously. Pictured here is “yours truly” slow-cooking wings on the grill in 20 degree weather, about an hour before the game. I huddled against the Weber with liquid hops and barley in one hand, and a Nestor Plasencia Special Selection in the other. It’s tough to enjoy a cigar in the outdoors for us in the north this time of year, but I managed to stay warm enough to revel in that delicious 
premium stick of tobacco. I’m sure those of you in more pleasant climates smoked a number of fine stoags. You have my permission to share your smoking pleasures right here.
As far as the chow at the Z home went, this year we didn’t go crazy and stayed with traditional fare. My daughter did a crockpot of chili that simmered for hours and made the whole house smell so good. She also made homemade pigs in the blanket, and when you use a good brand like Hebrew National, it really 
makes all the difference in the world. I basted the bbq wings in garlic and hot sauce, and like I said, slow-cooked them to stay moist. We didn’t go nuts, but I’m sure a lot of you did, and once again, this is the place to share. What kind of ethnic dishes or foods indigenous to your region did you gorge on?
I wanted to have another cigar at halftime, but didn’t want to miss The Who, a band I’ve always loved. And while I give the old boys credit for rocking at their ages, wow – their better days about 20 years behind them. Yeah, Daltry’s 66, but hitting those highs just wasn’t in the plans, and ol’ Petey has sure packed on a few extra pounds. The light show was great the crowd dug it, and I give them high marks for effort… but not so much on the execution. Me thinks I’m being “too” kind.
And then there were the commercials… the coveted Super Bowl spots that ran at 2.5 million dollars for 30 seconds. As and ex ad man of 20 years I tend to look at the commercials with a critical eye. And with that being said – as a whole: they totally sucked. There is NOTHING funny about a guy in a coffin full of orange 
chips. The problem is that the ad agencies got a little too self absorbed this year, trying WAY TOO HARD to be crazy/clever/wacky, and fell flat on their faces with their execution. The purpose of an ad is to create product recognition and brand retention. This is where the lot of them failed miserably. Inane beer ads, screaming fowl, and Betty White rolling around in the mud is just wrong. And even in satire, the Green Police pissed me off with its all “too-true” politically correct message.
Oh yeah, there was a game, too. I was admittedly sticking with the Manning family while rooting for the Colts. Unfortunately, Peyton threw one bad pass all day – at thee most inopportune time. I think EVERYONE believed he was going to tie the game and send the Bowl to it’s first ever overtime. No denying, Drew Brees has become one of the NFL’s elite and to think that the Chargers just sent the guy packing. And that onside kick was a hell of a goddamned call, one that will be remembered for decades to come. The entire world was taken by surprise and even the cameramen had a hard time following it. That was an incredibly gutsy call, knowing that the Colts could end up with the ball close to mid-field. You know, it wasn’t the greatest Super Bowl ever, but it was certainly entertaining. And what’s very cool is that I have the distinction of seeing all 44 of these matches, although I was a little dude during the first Green Bay wins. I vividly remember the Jets taking SB III and the heavily favored Joe Capp lead Vikings being embarrassed by the Kansas City Chiefs, the following January.
So another “Big Game” is in the books and a new champion is crowned. Around 4:30am the acid reflux set in and it was a hell of a reminder that getting older sure has a way of f’ing with your body. Did I forget to mention the barnyard type flatulence? Okay, okay, no need to stink up a perfectly good blog.
Til next time,
TOMMY Z
JR CIGARS Blog With the Zman
