the Super Bowl

JD's picture

I would just like to say: 18-1, New England! How does that feel?!

Andrew's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

As someone who didn't really care either way, I was a little disappointed to see NE lose since I wanted to knock the '72 Dolphins off their pedestal. However, I heard that the Patriots tried to trademark "19-0" a few days before the game, so they got what they deserved.

The 4th quarter was awesome, which almost made up for the mind-numbingly boring first 3 quarters and lame-ass commercials. Seriously. I didn't even chuckle at any of the commercials. I want the Audi R8, but that was true before the game.

Tom Petty sounded surprisingly good. The song choices were nothing inspired, and the lead guitarist's double-headed guitar with two six-strings would've made Spinal Tap envious, but Petty made the Rolling Stones (the last half-time act I saw) sound like an unrehearsed bar band.

Re: the Super Bowl

Something I noticed - Nike didn't advertise. In fact, if you look at the archives going 5 years or so back, they don't seem to have any commercials at all.

JD's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

Yeah, the commercials were pretty dull this year. The one with Shaquille O'Neal horse racing was about the only one I really liked. The rest of them were mediocre at best. Babies vomiting on keyboards, yeah, that really makes me want to use Etrade.

Re: the Super Bowl

The Best Football Game EVAR

I'd never really felt schadenfreude until last night. I was absolutely ectstatic that the Pats lost. I wanted to see an interview with Brady that had questions like "How does it feel for this season to mean nothing?"

I want to see pictures of Giselle on Eli Manning's arm.

Glorious.

Re: the Super Bowl

Note to advertisers:

Anthropomorphized animals have been done. Please stop.

Dangerman's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

As a pretend Pats fan, I was more interested in talking smack at Eli Manning than the game, which was pretty boring to be honest. Idea for next year: 2 minute quarters. Keep it fresh out there, you know?

I liked the last baby/eTrade commercial about creepy clowns. That made me LOL.

But the Eli Manning smack talk was to die for. We had a blast. I have to give it to the Giants, they played really hard in the last 15, and it can't be easy to concentrate on the game when you have Eli Manning prancing around the backfield putting on lipstick and stuff.

*zing*

__________________

"Hey, any chance to show off my eru — erudi — my book learnin'." - David L. Watkins

Dangerman's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

JasonL wrote:
Note to advertisers:

Anthropomorphized animals have been done. Please stop.

Also, CArmen Electra? C'mon we can do better than that. Yeah, she's hot, but there were extras in the other commercials that were better looking than her.

Also, since when is Budwieser a "lager"? (With scare quotes.)

__________________

"Hey, any chance to show off my eru — erudi — my book learnin'." - David L. Watkins

lunchstealer's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

So I take it that the Giants won?

__________________

"But if it makes you feel better, I would also enjoy a world in which there are men, women, transsexuals, genderqueer folk, etc. who all enjoy pelican role-play." - JD

"Extraordinary conditions do not create or enlarge constitutional powers."

Stevo Darkly's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

Yes, I heard they had the most homeruns, or something.

I didn't watch the game because (1) I'm not all that interested in football, and (2) I hadda do a bunch of junk at work. But I heard the commercials were lame, even more so than last year.

I can't help but notice that the decline in the quality of Super Bowl commercials has pretty much paralleled the decline in the quality of presidential candidates. What could be the connection there?

Also, I believe that Budweiser does indeed fall into the classification of a lager. I once had to write a description of what that is:

Quote:
The word “lager” comes from the German “lagern,” meaning “to store.” Lagers, unlike ales, are traditionally “bottom-fermented”—the special strain of yeast used sinks to the bottom of the vat during fermentation. Lagers are also aged longer and at cooler temperatures--traditionally they were stored in chilly Alpine caves. The aging processes allows more of the yeast cells, proteins, and other matter suspended in the beer to sink to the bottom of the tank. They are then removed, and the result is a brew that’s lighter in both flavor and color.

__________________

"My intellect is gigantic, monstrous, terrifying."

smacky's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

Correct. Budweiser is a lager.

EDIT: a really crappy lager pilsner. Although the original Budweiser is supposed to be pretty good...I may have tried it when I was in Germany, actually...I drank a lot there, though, so it's all kind of a blur now.

EDIT II: for wrongness.

__________________

A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having. - V

UNDERPANTS HAWK
DOES NOT DESIRE YOUR TOUCH

I long for the day that a chimp will ghost-ride someone's boomcar into a lake. - tymac

smacky's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

Correction: No, wait a second, Budweiser is a Pilsner. That's not the same thing as a lager, is it.

__________________

A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having. - V

UNDERPANTS HAWK
DOES NOT DESIRE YOUR TOUCH

I long for the day that a chimp will ghost-ride someone's boomcar into a lake. - tymac

Dangerman's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

smacky wrote:

Correction: No, wait a second, Budweiser is a Pilsner. That's not the same thing as a lager, is it.

See? And really, if you have ever had it, you know that Budwieser (especially Bud Lite), is not a lager, or a pilsner, but actually some kind of Jenkum by-product, and should be labeled as such.

__________________

"Hey, any chance to show off my eru — erudi — my book learnin'." - David L. Watkins

Stevo Darkly's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

Or, come to think of it, have I heard it called "a pilsner lager"?

__________________

"My intellect is gigantic, monstrous, terrifying."

Stevo Darkly's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

Yeah, I just did some quick research. Supposedly all beer can be classified as either an ale or a lager, and a pilsner is an especially pale lager.

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/1639
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilsener
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American-style_lager

Technically, if not aesthetically by the standards of many here, Budweiser is a lager. I don't know if it's also a pilsner lager -- it sure is pale, though.

__________________

"My intellect is gigantic, monstrous, terrifying."

Stevo Darkly's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

One of my friends and co-workers is a long-time, knowledgeable beer brewer. I have put this question to him:

Quote:
I'm in contact with some people online, and a controversy has erupted. I believe you have the knowledge needed to quell it.

Is Budweiser -- the American-made A-B product -- technically classified as:

1. A pilsner lager?

2. A lager, but not a pilsner?

3. Swill?

In the past, he has said that Budweiser "is a perfectly acceptable beer, for what it is."

__________________

"My intellect is gigantic, monstrous, terrifying."

Kwix's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

Bud is technically a lager. It is brewed at a low temperature over a long duration with bottom fermenting yeast, hence a lager. This does not however change the fact that it is pale swill as are most "American Style" pilsners.

Stevo Darkly's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

My friend has replied.

my beer-brewing friend wrote:
It is actually defined in the American Homebrewer Association's style guidelines as a classic american pilsener, noted for it's light body, lack of head retention, lack of hop flavor and bitterness, and in some examples, a slight corn flavor (although Budweiser doesn't use corn as an adjunct like Busch does).

All "beer" is either an ale (fermented by saccromyces cervacae) or a lager (fermented by saccromyces carlsbergenis), so those are the two big divisions.

All pilsners are lagers, therefore it's by definition a lager. However, not all lagers are pilsners. Pilsner is a style that developed very early on in the genesis of the 'new' lager category of beer. (Ales have been around for millenia). Lagers 'happened' on the scene really in the western portions of the Czech republic when cool beer in the storage caverns continued to ferment beyond where they did during the active fermentation above ground in the brew house. They didn't know it then (it was in the late 1600s/early 1700s) but they stumbled upon a mutation of the yeast that they'd been repitching into their beers for the last, oh, 1000 years or so. This was the new lager yeast S. Carlsbergenis, which has the ability to ferment trisaccarides, allowing the beer to ferment at a slower pace at a much cooler temperature, and therefore have little fermentation by-products such as fruity esters or high molecular weight alocohols (phenols, polyphenols, aldehydes, etc.). This created a beer with a much more delicate, clean taste.

The Germans (go figure) really became the true masters of this process and were able to reproduce this yeast ad nauseum, spawning several different 'pilseners' of their own. The word Pilsener literally means "from Pilsn", a city in the Czech republic, but the Germans didn't care about the Pilsn part and just named their beers after the names of their own cities (Dortmunder, Munchner, etc.) with each different city/region/brewer having its own characteristic (whether full and malty, or dry and crisp, or a blend of both, or whatever).

It's from this tradition that the word "Budweiser" sprung. It actually means "from Budvar" (again a city in Czech republic) and was 'borrowed' from our own local brew masters when they joined forces to created Anheuser-Busch. They eventually would buy the rights to the name, although this classic american pilsener pales in comparison in body, taste and class to the Czech original. Swill? I wouldn't go that far...it's great after mowing the lawn on a very hot day, but Budweiser certainly isn't in the same league as the 'originals'...

Too much info?

__________________

"My intellect is gigantic, monstrous, terrifying."

lunchstealer's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

All of the following terms apply to Budweiser.

Lager
Pilsner
Swill
Shite
Shit
Fucking Close to Water
Adulterated rice-and-barley malted beverage.

A good portion of Budweiser's problem is, in fact, that it is a pilsner. Good German/Czech pilsners are in fact significantly better than Bud, but that's like saying that a gut-shot is better than a lung shot. True, but of less value than not being shot at all.

Budwieser is NOT a bier, at least not in Germany, because it contains disallowed ingredients, most notably rice.

__________________

"But if it makes you feel better, I would also enjoy a world in which there are men, women, transsexuals, genderqueer folk, etc. who all enjoy pelican role-play." - JD

"Extraordinary conditions do not create or enlarge constitutional powers."

Warren's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

You said it Bruce. American beer is like making love in a canoe.

Immanuel Kant was a real pissant
Who was very rarely stable
Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar
Who could think you under the table
David Hume could out-consume
Schopenhauer and Hegel
And Wittgenstein was a beery swine
Who was just as sloshed as Schlegel
There's nothing Nietszche couldn't teach ya
'Bout the raising of the wrist
Socrates himself was permanently pissed

__________________

seriously though, i think you're crazy on this. and you think i'm crazy. everybody wins! - dhex

GinSlinger's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

John Stuart Mill
of his own free will
after half a pint of shanty was particularly ill
Plato, they say
could put it away
half a crate of whiskey every day
Aristotle, Aristotle
was a bugger for the bottle
Hobbes was found of his dram
and Rene Descartes
was a drunken fart
"I drink therefore I am"

Yes Socrates himself is particularly missed
A lovely little thinker
butabuggerwhenhispissed

__________________

This is not a signature.

lunchstealer's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

Crack tube!

__________________

"But if it makes you feel better, I would also enjoy a world in which there are men, women, transsexuals, genderqueer folk, etc. who all enjoy pelican role-play." - JD

"Extraordinary conditions do not create or enlarge constitutional powers."

Sandy's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

Yeah, I had Ceske Budvar in Poland, and I wondered what all the fuss was about. Sure, it had an actual definable flavor, but...it wasn't appreciably better than the Polish beers I was drinking, which were only decent at best (pre-Westernization Okocim), and nearly-American awful at worst (Lech, I'm looking at you).

I had Vielpopovitsky Tmava (no longer made, sadly) and the dark beer at U Flecku, and I saw no need for Budvar.

__________________

This is a personal problem. There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable use of high explosives. This is not one of those exceptions.

lunchstealer's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

Krusovice (croo-so-VEE-chah, if my Czech pronunciation is correct, which it very well may not be as it is based upon almost nothing) is vastly superior to your general pilsners (including Budvar and Pilsn), except on a hot afternoon.

__________________

"But if it makes you feel better, I would also enjoy a world in which there are men, women, transsexuals, genderqueer folk, etc. who all enjoy pelican role-play." - JD

"Extraordinary conditions do not create or enlarge constitutional powers."

Kwix's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

lunchstealer wrote:
Budwieser is NOT a bier, at least not in Germany, because it contains disallowed ingredients, most notably rice.

Of course, the old Beer Purity Law (replaced in 1993) didn't allow for that heavenly ingredient, wheat, without which there would be no Hefewiezen and for a hot, summer afternoon, easy drinking beer, Hefe not Pils is where it's at*.

*That's not my opinion, it's fact, just ask Chuck Norris.

Isaac Bartram's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

smacky wrote:
Correct. Budweiser is a lager.

EDIT: a really crappy lager pilsner. Although the original Budweiser is supposed to be pretty good...I may have tried it when I was in Germany, actually...I drank a lot there, though, so it's all kind of a blur now.

EDIT II: for wrongness.

Actually Budweiser is a name that A-B made up in 1876. Now I don't know if their story that their brewmaster was from the Budweiss region is true or not.

Anyway it seems that many American brewers used rice and corn because it was cheaper than barley and if I'm not mistaken also ferments faster. Might be wrong, though.

Interestingly enough Budweiser in Europe is completely unrelated and is a brandname that has been used by a Czech brewery since 1895. There was a court case a few years ago where Anheuser-Busch won the right to use the brand name in Switzerland because they had been using it for longer than the Czechs.

I don't know what its status in the EU is. I had some Czech Budweiser in Italy in 1992.

Edit: The first sentence of my last paragraph made it look like I didn't realize that Switzerland is not in the EU, so I changed it, because I do.

__________________

I am not young enough to know everything.
— Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

lunchstealer's picture

Re: the Super Bowl

Kwix wrote:
lunchstealer wrote:
Budwieser is NOT a bier, at least not in Germany, because it contains disallowed ingredients, most notably rice.

Of course, the old Beer Purity Law (replaced in 1993) didn't allow for that heavenly ingredient, wheat, without which there would be no Hefewiezen and for a hot, summer afternoon, easy drinking beer, Hefe not Pils is where it's at*.

*That's not my opinion, it's fact, just ask Chuck Norris.

Dunno. I mostly like me a good IPA under those circumstances, but to each his own. And since my grocery store puts the beer on a different aisle from the canned stuff, I usually don't have to wade through the proles to get a good six of the real stuff.

__________________

"But if it makes you feel better, I would also enjoy a world in which there are men, women, transsexuals, genderqueer folk, etc. who all enjoy pelican role-play." - JD

"Extraordinary conditions do not create or enlarge constitutional powers."