Once again, America’s number one cultural phenomenon – men running around in padded tights and helmets throwing a ball that’s not even shaped like a ball while clobbering each other – fails to impress me. I’ve tried, but I just can’t get excited about football or work up an emotional attachment to a team. Like a lot of people, I tend to view the Super Bowl as great commercials getting interupted by a silly game. But this year, even the commercials were lame.

Credit must be given to the beer companies, of course, for coming up with what seemed like eight different advertisements per brand. There was the standoff between the two dudes and their dogs, the bikini wax ad and the coach who learned how to yell from his wife. Clever stereotypes. The bears purchasing a case of Pepsi was cute. The monkey trying to convince the lady to “just get down to business” was a hoot. And let’s not leave out Willie Nelson’s “endorsement” for H&R Block. Good job, advertisers. The irony worked.

But nobody started any new fads, like the Budweiser “Whassup guys.” After halftime, the other commercials were just the average run-of-the-mill “boy” ads for cars, IBM, cell phones and FedEx that would air during any football game. How disappointing.

This year no one seemed to care, given that neither team was from the Midwest, which is possibly why the advertisers weren’t willing to dole out that extra cash. In fact, The Des Moines Register ran a story called “The Who-Cares bowl” where the reporter asked a native Carolinian if she was excited for the Panthers. The Carolinian was pretty much indifferent.

And then there were the performers and halftime entertainment. Beyonce Knowles sang the national anthem beautifully. I’ve never seen her dessed so modestly – that white suit worked. Aerosmith did a few classic numbers right before kick-off. Thank heavens it was only a few. Aerosmith is best “enjoyed” in small doses. Strangely enough, Duran Duran’s performance during the mid-afternoon tailgating parties was much more impressive.

Why was Janet Jackson chosen to headline the halftime show? She hasn’t been in the public eye or done a decent record in years. Is watching Janet in her usual form – all flash and showy with no substance – supposed to make us think more fondly of her older brother? Can’t all the Jacksons just go away? Can’t Justin Timberlake keep his hands off Janet? She seemed a little stunned after he ripped open the front of her costume. The moment was brief, so I wasn’t sure if it actually happened until CBS verified it later during the news – and apologized, claiming no responsibility if anyone was offended. MTV also claimed to know nothing about Timberlake’s stunt.

I am too old to appreciate anything Timberlake or Nelly does. As for the rest of the show, P. Diddy, or whatever his name is now, and Kid Rock were thrown in for good measure.

This year, instead of watching only the game, I watched the pre-game presentations and players’ biographical sketches in an effort to develop some interest in the NFL.

I had no idea that these athletes spend much of their time doing community volunteer work, or how many charities have benefited from NFL contributions. Learning about how some of the past and present players grew up and got to the point of being able to play professional football was amazing. The common thread in most of their stories was hard work, really hard work, even more determination, discipline and support and encouragement from their loved ones. Hardly a surprise, I know, but it helped me understand the players as real people who had some adversity to overcome – not simply men running around in padded tights and helmets throwing a ball that’s not shaped like a ball while clobbering each other.

One particular former NFL player and his wife talked about their young son who suffers from cystic fibrosis. A few others involved in the NFL also have special needs children, so they decided to establish a foundation through the NFL to raise money for their medical expenses. It’s comforting to learn that some of these grossly overpaid professional athletes do show integrity, character and generosity off the field.

Let’s hear it for the Patriots. As was predicted, they earned the ring. We’ll all sleep better now and yes, as hard as it might seem to believe, life will go on without football until next fall.

I’m still not any more interested in the NFL than I was before the Super Bowl, but I sure didn’t miss out on the American cultural experience of cracking a cold one to watch men running around in padded tights and helmets throwing a ball that’s not shaped like a ball while clobbering each other.