Super Bowl 2008: 2nd Quarter
Category: Sports (Pro/College/HS)...
Posted Sunday, February 03, 2008 at 06:10 PM [GMT-6]

Halftime score: 7-3, New England. Catch you on the flipside.

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22 seconds to halftime. Giants recover a fumble, but have no time to capitalize on it. I won't be blogging the halftime, by the way. I'm not that tough.

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Also, my apologies to those of you coming here expecting to find something useful regarding the "Talking Stain Commercial."

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The Gazette is third on Google for "Talking Stain Commercial." I'm so proud.

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Giants defense is asserting itself in a big way. This game is closer than I expected, so far.

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TV ad: Doritos (Mousetrap) - This is more like it. A guy in a mouse suit beats up an opera fan. What's not to like?

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TV ad: Pepsi (Justin Timberlake gets sucked in) - Would have worked better had I been able to recognize Timberlake (I've already established my anti-cool creds), but still pretty funny (and strange).

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TV ad: Planters Cashews (Unibrowed chick turns heads) - Pretty funny, but would have been better had it not been preceded by the Dell commercial with a similar theme. In fact, when it started I thought it was another Dell ad.

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Today is the third Super Bowl in which both teams have names consisting of three words.

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Tom Petty recorded his first album using a big round rock and a chisel.

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TV ad: Bud Light (American accent) - Ending line blew it, probably unintentionally, but still...

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TV ad: GMC Yukon (Sisyphus) - What percentage of the viewing audience recognizes the name, "Sisyphus"? (I'll bet it's higher for the Gazette reading audience!)

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TV ad: Parents - The Anti-Drug (Dealer) - Not bad for a PSA.

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TV ad: SoBe Life Water ("Thriller" Lizard Dancers) - First thought: Geico does lizards better. Second thought: Wow! Loved it.

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TV ad: CareerBuilder.com (Heart) - Intriguing start, if a little gross. Repeat viewings not advised.

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The Giants' punter, Jeff Feagles, is officially the oldest player to participate in a Super Bowl. AARP is so proud. And that might explain the support kicking shoe.

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Giants are looking flustered now. NE's defense might be having something to do with that. (Stay tuned for more insightful, um, insights.)

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TV ad: Garmin - (Napoleon drives) - Excellent. Intelligent AND amusing.

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TV ad: Toyota (Nursing badger) - Just my cup of weirdness. Good mixture of cute animals and face-chewers.

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Oh, great stop by the New York defense! New England has to punt for the first time in the game, and the Giants get a good runback. The INT didn't hurt NY on the scoreboard.

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TV ad: Budweiser (Hank training for the hitch team) - We've seen this commercial every year for the past decade or so. It works better with a burro.

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Ooh. That's gotta hurt. New England just got an interception on a tipped pass. The receiver messed up, but it goes on Manning's record.

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Manning draws a delay of game penalty. Giants have the only two in the game so far, but they're also still moving the ball well.

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I just realized that I was still posting to the 1st quarter post. Boy, is my face red!

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TV ad: Tide (Talking Stain on shirt) - Pretty high-larious for a laundry detergent ad; also insightful

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TV ad: Cars.com (Circle of Death match) - Understated and unexpected

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TV ad: Fed Ex (Carrier pigeons) - Great F/X and humor (as always)

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TV ad: Dell (Red laptop makes nerd sexy. Or something.)

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TV ad: GoDaddy.com (Danica unzips) - Typical sleaze.

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TV ad: Gatorade G2 (Derek Jeter) Another "Meh."

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