A Welcomed Brees After the Hurricane
If you did anything yesterday other than watch the Super Bowl, then you were certainly in the minority amongst the people of North America. Yes, even our Canuckle-headed neighbors to the north hunker down for the American Pigskin Classic. It was a well-played game between the best two teams in the NFL, and you certainly can’t begrudge the winners for their tremendous performance. If only for a short while, the city of New Orleans has risen from the ashes to celebrate one hell of an accomplishment.
To many, the Super Bowl isn’t even about the game. Chicks who don’t give a rat’s ash and non-sports fans alike use the game as a social gathering while asking every five minutes, “Now what has to happen in order for me to get 6 – 8 in my box pool?” I try to ignore them, but when it’s your wife, that’s just plain hard to do.
Whether you like football or not, the food is what brings us all great happiness. Any Bowl game party is an eclectic mix of fattening foods we feast on fastidiously. Pictured here is “yours truly” slow-cooking wings on the grill in 20 degree weather, about an hour before the game. I huddled against the Weber with liquid hops and barley in one hand, and a Nestor Plasencia Special Selection in the other. It’s tough to enjoy a cigar in the outdoors for us in the north this time of year, but I managed to stay warm enough to revel in that delicious 
premium stick of tobacco. I’m sure those of you in more pleasant climates smoked a number of fine stoags. You have my permission to share your smoking pleasures right here.
As far as the chow at the Z home went, this year we didn’t go crazy and stayed with traditional fare. My daughter did a crockpot of chili that simmered for hours and made the whole house smell so good. She also made homemade pigs in the blanket, and when you use a good brand like Hebrew National, it really 
makes all the difference in the world. I basted the bbq wings in garlic and hot sauce, and like I said, slow-cooked them to stay moist. We didn’t go nuts, but I’m sure a lot of you did, and once again, this is the place to share. What kind of ethnic dishes or foods indigenous to your region did you gorge on?
I wanted to have another cigar at halftime, but didn’t want to miss The Who, a band I’ve always loved. And while I give the old boys credit for rocking at their ages, wow – their better days about 20 years behind them. Yeah, Daltry’s 66, but hitting those highs just wasn’t in the plans, and ol’ Petey has sure packed on a few extra pounds. The light show was great the crowd dug it, and I give them high marks for effort… but not so much on the execution. Me thinks I’m being “too” kind.
And then there were the commercials… the coveted Super Bowl spots that ran at 2.5 million dollars for 30 seconds. As and ex ad man of 20 years I tend to look at the commercials with a critical eye. And with that being said – as a whole: they totally sucked. There is NOTHING funny about a guy in a coffin full of orange 
chips. The problem is that the ad agencies got a little too self absorbed this year, trying WAY TOO HARD to be crazy/clever/wacky, and fell flat on their faces with their execution. The purpose of an ad is to create product recognition and brand retention. This is where the lot of them failed miserably. Inane beer ads, screaming fowl, and Betty White rolling around in the mud is just wrong. And even in satire, the Green Police pissed me off with its all “too-true” politically correct message.
Oh yeah, there was a game, too. I was admittedly sticking with the Manning family while rooting for the Colts. Unfortunately, Peyton threw one bad pass all day – at thee most inopportune time. I think EVERYONE believed he was going to tie the game and send the Bowl to it’s first ever overtime. No denying, Drew Brees has become one of the NFL’s elite and to think that the Chargers just sent the guy packing. And that onside kick was a hell of a goddamned call, one that will be remembered for decades to come. The entire world was taken by surprise and even the cameramen had a hard time following it. That was an incredibly gutsy call, knowing that the Colts could end up with the ball close to mid-field. You know, it wasn’t the greatest Super Bowl ever, but it was certainly entertaining. And what’s very cool is that I have the distinction of seeing all 44 of these matches, although I was a little dude during the first Green Bay wins. I vividly remember the Jets taking SB III and the heavily favored Joe Capp lead Vikings being embarrassed by the Kansas City Chiefs, the following January.
So another “Big Game” is in the books and a new champion is crowned. Around 4:30am the acid reflux set in and it was a hell of a reminder that getting older sure has a way of f’ing with your body. Did I forget to mention the barnyard type flatulence? Okay, okay, no need to stink up a perfectly good blog.
Til next time,
TOMMY Z
JR CIGARS Blog With the Zman
February 8th, 2010 at 2:48 am
Alas Zman, I did something yesterday besides the Super Bowl. I shoveled. We had 18″ of snow and we had to dig out. THEN I went to watch the Super Bowl at one of my favorite cigar hangouts. The commercials sucked big time, the game didn’t. In fact I think it was one of the better games in recent history.
February 8th, 2010 at 3:11 am
No snow in north Jersey. Kind of unbelievable.
February 8th, 2010 at 3:35 am
Enjoyed the game Z-man even though my numbers didn’t work out. I had a Monty White before the game and that was all. Too cold! Don’t be disappointed about the snow. We’ll get ours Wednesday.
February 8th, 2010 at 3:52 am
I’ve got a hankerin’ for pigs in blankets. With a nice horseradish loaded mustard to dip them in.
February 8th, 2010 at 4:12 am
We had about 20 people, and most everybody brought something awesome. We had hot wings, homemade chili, meatballs in spaghetti sauce, big boiled shrimp (yum), queso, chips and dips, salads, chocolate and lemon pies, a king cake (Louisiana Mardi Gras tradition), beer and wine and every kind of booze imaginable. Just before halftime, the brother-in-law of one of the guys who owns a bar a few blocks away called to ask if we wanted any free crawfish. He had a boil at the bar and had too many. We ran over there and got about 60 lbs. I also won $25 three times in our two $1.00 squares pots. And the Saints won (my wife’s a Cajun). And I got to smoke an RP Edge lite, one of my fave’s. All in all, a fantastic night.
February 8th, 2010 at 4:15 am
Oops, I forgot the grilled chicken and baby back ribs, and the chicken and sausage gumbo, and the jalapeno poppers, and fried pickles.
February 8th, 2010 at 4:29 am
Geez… Is that all, light weight?
February 8th, 2010 at 4:49 am
We had a small group of us (7) that got together at a buddy’s house. We dined on wings, chili and some kick-ass homemade stromboli. Seeing as I wasn’t driving, I indulged in many beers.
The game was good. It was entertaining. I thought the Colts would win, but give credit to the Saints, who played a great game. The City of New Orleans and the good people from there, deserved a winner. As for The Who, our group thought they sounded good. I snuck in a cigar (a small Punch London Club maduro) before the game. Cigars just don’t seem to taste as good as they should when you are outside in 20 degree temps.
February 8th, 2010 at 5:11 am
zman Says:
February 8th, 2010 at 4:29 am
Geez… Is that all, light weight?
After all that, I’m not nearly as much of a lightweight as I was. And I did have a lot of help eating all of that.
February 8th, 2010 at 7:49 am
“Football is the Devil.” Momma from the Waterboy.
February 8th, 2010 at 8:39 am
2 stars today, mullet boy….
one of the best spots this year was for jack in the box.
the tebow ad was good.
the chicken one got anoying after the 2nd one
the 2nd 1/2 kick off was one of the gutsyest calls i have seen.
it was for the most part a clean game with no real bad calls. hats off to both teams.
you aints fans owe me big time for betting against the aints the whole play off. if i woulda bet on them they woulda got blown out…..
February 10th, 2010 at 12:39 am
Super Bowl Sunday –
Started off with some skiing at Belleayre in the Catskills (incredible views, NOBODY on the slopes that early in the morning, and fantastic conditions). We got finished and headed home, stopped by the firehouse (I am a volunteer) and joined the guys for our annual indulgence. For a measly $10, we get all the beverages we can consume, all the food we can stomache, and two monster flat screen HD televisions.
The food was good: a six foot sub with all the trimmings, hot wings, bbq wings, jalepeno poppers, dogs, cheese and crackers, and more. The only thing missing (and it rather upset me) was our Chief’s venison stew.
I thoroughly enjoyed the game, too. To me, this game was a classy showing. I would have been happy with either team winning, but would have been happier if some of my numbers would have come in.
Next year’s super bowl will be better, especially with the JETS playing in it!
February 10th, 2010 at 2:24 am
Rex Ryan, is that you?!!!
February 10th, 2010 at 6:31 am
They call that “wishful stinking” I believe…
February 10th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
You were right-on with your observations about
the commercials: Lack of “…product retention and brand recognition…trying way too hard to be crazy/clever/ wacky…
My pick for #1 was the Megan Fox in the bath tub scene. Hey, some of us senior citizens still enjoy looking because that’s the best we can do.
And where the hell are the “regulars” on this blog? Great commentary from Zman, but not
much response from the many who used to
be here for Zman when he was not at his best -
and they always let him know it. No CottyG., no Lucy, and the guy from Washington State – all
gone.
Keep cranking ‘em out once week, Zman, (thanks, Lew). Some of us still love you and enjoy your new TeleBrands blog, courtesy of Mr. AJK.
February 11th, 2010 at 2:11 am
Thank you so much my war veteran brother!
February 11th, 2010 at 4:41 am
KWV, I liked the Megan Fox ad, too. Of course, the fact that she has a tattoo with the name “Brian” right around her waistline has nothing to do with it….
February 12th, 2010 at 8:13 am
look a little lower and you’ll see the other “b” . . . she got that in memory of me.
February 12th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
You know fellas, they make medicine for those psychotic delusions.