Silliest Super Bowl Headlines

Bear with me, dear reader, as I post one of my occasional non-Ireland notes.

Personally, I enjoyed the big game this year. But I really love the way people seem to feel an odd pressure to say something different and interesting about it. Among my favorite headlines floating around this morning are:

“Man Cries for First Time in 14 Years” – AOL

“‘Massive Risk’ Pays Off in Super Bowl” – AOL’s description of the cataclysmic apocalypse that might have occurred, had The Saints failed to recover their onside kick at the start of the second half. Meanwhile, am I the only one that noticed the players on the edge of the pile punching and even kicking each other during the ensuing scrum?

“Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, happily together at the Super Bowl” – How can we help but feel relief hearing this from USA Today?

As everyone knows, one of the worst sins on earth is for a rock star to actually grow up. “The Who Rock Super Bowl XLIV With Explosive Medley of Big Hits” was the friendly headline from Rolling Stone. More typical, however, was this comment by a Chicago-Sun Times writer who plans to die before he gets old: “Out there in the field, fossils barely resemble the Who.”

The financial meaning of the game was explored in an ABC News articles called “Why Saints Super Bowl Victory Seen as Boost for Stocks”

“Super Bowl parties bring people together” was the cheerful, if somewhat obvious headline on the Kansas State Collegian

The blogisphere, being populated as it is by geeks and self-promoting marketers, was universally more obsessed with advertising than with the game – particularly with spots run by Google and Dave Letterman. It was almost impossible today to find a blogger who seemed very interested in who won or lost.

Finally, the UK’s Daily Mail summed up the real meaning of the event in typical British tabloid style: “Super Bowl sweetheart Kim Kardashian plants a huge kiss on boyfriend Reggie Bush after his team’s victory”