Shift on What Worked in Super Bowl Game

For years many have watched the "biggest game" of the year for the commercials. Budwiser, Geico, and Frito Lay have always been knocking themselves out to make bigger, better, and more entertaining advertisements. However, this year, I don't think most of the conversations today will be about the 30 second spots, but about the quality of the game itself.

It seemed that the games had become anti climatic. One team would go in there and simply blow the other one away. Sure, there were the occasional "close ones," but most of them seem more like coronations, rather than competitions.

The last couple of these games, however, have been among the most interesting I have seen in years. It seemed that most plays were game changers and that the final results were completely up in the air. This was particularly true after the second half when St. Louis Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner came out to win. Typically calm, cool, and collected, Warner racked up more points in five minutes than he did through the rest of the game. It was an impressive performance, but not enough to compensate for the tough calls by officials and amazing feats by the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the end. the Cardinals came up short. We will be slow to forget many of these plays.

The commercials, on the hand, were not memorable at all and may be among the least interesting lot we have seen in years. The funniest one, in my opinion, was the Doritos spot (of the "crystal ball") which was developed by participants in a $1 million dollar contest and cost around $20,000 to produce. This shouldn't surprise us in our YouTube era. In fact, that may be part of the problem, we are surrounded by so much spontaneous and web driven humor, it may take so much more to make us enjoy a good commercial. I have read that NBC was barely able to fill its commercial spots. I guess the new media has even spread to the NFL.

Kevin Price is a syndicated columnist whose articles frequently appear at ChicagoSunTimes.com, Reuters.com, USAToday.com, and other national media. Kevin Price is Host of the Price of Business (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at PriceofBusiness.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Brett Farve Calls It a Career

I grew up in Michigan and was (and still am to a certain extent) a NFC Central (now North) fan. However, I never liked the Packers much, they were always difficult for my favorites (the Lions and the Bears) and I didn't like many of the personalities over the years. Brett Farve was one of the rare exceptions to that sentiment.

Brett Farve rarely spoke about how great he was, but he is one of the finest quarterbacks in the history of the game. He spoke with his strong intellect, unprecedented passion, and athletic ability and not with his mouth. During his career, Farve accumulated 3 MVPs, 8 seasons with 30 or more touchdown passes, 16 consecutive 3,000 yard passing seasons, 18 straight games with a touchdown pass in the playoffs, a record number of wins for a starting quarterback (160), 442 touchdown passes (a record), 5377 pass completions (an all time high), and many others. He was extraordinary.

For a while, because of injuries, Farve struggled with an addiction to pain killers. He didn't make excuses for the behavior, but owned it, went into recovery and put the problem behind him. He worked hard and never measured anyone by a double standard. He never expected anything from anyone, that he didn't expect for himself.

I believe we have yet to hear the end of Farve. I believe he will parlay his awesome career on the football field to a great career where ever he goes. Be it to the front office of a team, a career in coaching, or one in business. Farve's best years may very well be, yet to come.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Today Show Sends Warning to Men

I have been a big fan of the Today Show and have mentioned it often in this blog. The wildly successful infomercial (how I refer to it and it is a compliment) that was already on an hour longer than similar shows, has decided to expand to 11 AM. In anticipation of this big move, they have brought on several correspondents. With the exception of former New York Giant great, Tiki Barber (photo), all of the new people are women and their focus has been on topics that clearly leans towards women -- female fashion, cooking, make up, etc. I can't name any of these other women because none of them played in the NFL, but all of them are going to bring largely female oriented topics to the program in light of the way they were introduced (yes, cooking is a female topic, in my opinion).

In addition, the Today Show is investing a small fortune in a new set devoted to cooking segments. With four ovens and several stoves, this kitchen is serious! This kind of investment indicates to me that they will be spending a great deal of time cooking. It seems to me the future of Today is with women and that they plan on making it a competitor to the other lifestyle programs that are so common in the morning. The future of Today has a strong feminine bent.