by Randy Ooney
My Nickel’s Worth by Randy Ooney
The Show
My wife and I were out and about this past week, hitting the “After Groundhog Day” sales in the southwest suburbs, and since we were in the area, we stopped to visit Smilin’ Carl’s On Track Pro Shop at the Brunswick Zone XL in Eden Prairie.
The area has built up quite a bit since 1978 when I was the proprietor of the Stadium Restaurant in the Eden Prairie Center. Now one can easily get lost among the office buildings and retail stores in the area. Carl’s Pro Shop is well organized and well stocked, and one thing we noticed on the wall was a photo of Carl with Kirby Puckett. It reminded me that many professional athletes can also excel in other sport venues. So for what is becoming a tradition on Super Bowl Sunday, I tuned in to ESPN’s coverage of the Chris Paul Celebrity Tournament. I have a great deal of respect for all celebrities who use their status and influence to raise awareness and dollars for various causes. Kirby used to host an annual pool tournament for that reason. But the quality of the players on the lanes in Chris Paul’s event just isn’t very good. So what the show needs is trash talking. Pete Weber is one of the best trash talkers on the PBA tour, but he was in low form on the show. I suppose he may have been intimidated; yes, PDW intimidated. He has won over a million dollars on the tour, about the same amount Chris Paul earns in three weeks. Wes Malott?? About the only trash talking he does is mumble to the Glad bag when it’s his turn to take out the garbage. But it seemed like everyone had a good time, and I will probably tune in again next year.
On to the show. It’s really getting overdone. I know that’s an understatement since the Super Bowl has been over the top for a number of years now. I remember 2002 when E*Trade had a spot where a chimp and two ugly guys sang an off key ditty for about 30 seconds, and finished with a caption, “We just blew 2 million bucks, what are you doing with your money?”. Only Seinfeld brought a smile to my face this year. There was one ad that now has drock saying “Here, Wego” to every dog he sees on the street. “God Bless America”, and the National Anthem were both performed eloquently, but then were immediately followed by an ad for Sasha Cohen’s “The Dictator”. Poor timing to say the least. I think I was happy that GM can afford Super Bowl commercials again, and I know I was happy to see General Electric ads. I’m still waiting for their stock to return to $30.00 price I paid.
46 years ago, it was just a championship football game, Since then we have surrounded it with “Proud to be an American” opening fanfare, goofy commercials, pyromania half-time shows, and now a really bad bowling show for a good cause. It only comes once a year. I hope it was enjoyed by all.
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