SARAH THUET | SPORTS COLUMNIST
Super Bowl XLIX came and went this past weekend. Those who watched got to see the New England Patriots pull out a win against the Seattle Seahawks.
Not surprisingly, the game was filled with questionable calls, interesting commercials and a killer halftime show where Katy Perry entertained millions of people with her catchy pop hits and, more importantly, featured an appearance by Missy Elliot.
If you can’t already tell, I was not incredibly excited for this year’s matchup. Don’t get me wrong. I love watching football. There is nothing better than a lazy Sunday filled with good food and an even better game, but this year I just did not have as much interest.
But I do not expect to be the only one who was not excited to watch the Patriots take home another title or the Seahawks running-back Marshawn Lynch possibly supply yet another terrible interview.
I did, however, decide to watch it, or, rather, to have it playing in the background as I tried to do some homework. So did millions of Americans, apparently. Early polls are showing that this year’s Super Bowl brought home the highest overnight ratings of all time.
Like myself, many Butler students decided to tune in. Some tuned in for the game itself, some for the commercials and still others to see what Katy Perry would do to surprise us.
Sigma Chi brothers gathered at the house to hang out and watch it together. New member Justin Smith said it was fun to get together and enjoy the game.
Sigma Chi transformed one of the rooms into the perfect place to view the game, equipped with benches and extra chairs to fit as many of the brothers as possible and two TVs for all to see, no matter where members sat.
“We all wore either blue or green so that everyone knew who we were supporting,” Smith said.
Hayley Ross, a sophomore member of Delta Gamma, said she was swamped with homework but found time to tune into a bit of the halftime show to see what Katy Perry had to offer.
The level of entertainment Katy Perry brought to the night surprised her.
“I was extremely impressed with Perry,” said Ross. “She really showed her true singing voice and how it didn’t need autotune.”
For those students who did not have a TV readily available, Butler offered the Reilly Room for students to come watch the game and hang out with friends. Food was free and the game was projected in the room.
Although the game was obviously the main focus of the evening, you would have had to ignore all Super Bowl news to not be aware of some of the commercials that were seen this year. There were happy ones, sad ones and everything in between.
Budweiser tugged on my heartstrings with its adorable “Lost Puppy” ad while Nationwide stirred up a lot of commotion with their heartbreaking “Make Safe Happen” commercial, not to mention the confusing T-Mobile commercial featuring Kim Kardashian and her typical behavior.
As a strategic communications major, I would like to pick apart some of the ad teams for many of the companies featured in this years Super Bowl—wondering how some of them thought their ads would draw people to their products.
Overall, my feelings toward this year’s game are indifferent.
The game was close, offering a bit more excitement than last year’s blowout by the Seahawks, the commercials were interesting and the halftime show was entertaining.
Unfortunately, nothing drew me in enough to put down my homework and give NBC my undivided attention.
