Super Bowl

I can picture it now. A triumphant Drew Brees holds the Super Bowl trophy aloft as confetti rains down on him and fireworks explode around the Miami stadium. A voice asks, "Drew Brees. You've just won the Super Bowl. What are you going to do next?" And instead the usual plug for Disney World, he says, "I'm going to crisscross this nation of ours promoting heath care reform, banking regulation, immigration reform and term limits!" The Super Bowl, a national holiday devoted to beer, football and food, has gone political.

Who doesn't need more bling these days? And what better way to impress your friends than flashing a genuine, diamond-studded Ravens Super Bowl XXXV ring? Right now, it can be yours for a little more than $8,000. OK, maybe that's not exactly a steal. But that's the current bidding price at Lelands.com, where the ring is being auctioned. Here's the back-story, though: the ring doesn't belong to a former player. The name “Dickson” is inscribed on it. But it doesn't belong to current tight end Ed Dickson, who was still a kid when the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2001.

Susan Reimer, you are obviously pro-choice ("Keep politics out of the Super Bowl," Feb. 1). If you don't like the pro-life commercial, then pony up and buy your own Super Bowl commercial. It's called freedom of speech. I guess all the other Super Bowl commercials showing off scantily clad women promoting beer, godaddy.com or whatever doesn't offend you. Go figure. Tim Tebow's commercial with his mom is promoting life. How would you feel if your mother had decided to terminate her pregnancy carrying you?

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh made some interesting comments about the New England Patriots, Spygate, and the Patriots' three Super Bowl titles during a Tuesday morning appearance on 98 Rock. Harbaugh, on the airwaves to promote the upcoming ALS charity run for O.J. Brigance, was asked by the 98 Rock morning show crew -- which I'm sure most of our Baltimore readers are familiar with -- about the New Orleans Saints and their recent bounty scandal, and also cheating in the NFL in general.

Pittsburgh will prevail Kevin Van Valkenburg Baltimore Sun Are you ready to live in a world where the Steelers have seven Super Bowl trophies? Where Ben Roethlisberger is considered Tom Brady's equal? Because that's where we'll be Sunday night. I'm not sure I'm ready. But I'd better get ready, because I'm convinced it's going to happen. This Steelers seem to be the perfect blend of style and grit. Their quarterback, whatever personal misgivings I may have about him, is a winner on the field.

Dodge flexes its muscle Steve Johnson Chicago Tribune The best ad was for the Dodge Charger. The clever, self-mocking script listed the many accommodations domesticated men make: "I will put the seat down," "I will watch your vampire TV shows with you," and so on. And because of this, it concluded, "I will drive the car I want to drive," positing the reborn Charger muscle car as "Man's Last Stand." Why it worked: It was cleverly written, and the visuals - a series of men staring blankly at the camera - were arresting.

Bears vs. Colts, Dolphin Stadium, Miami, Feb. 4, 6:30 p.m., chs. 13, 9 Line: Colts by 7

South Florida has it all Mike Berardino Sun Sentinel I'm tempted to say New Orleans, which has hosted the Super Bowl nine times (second on the all-time list) and, even post-Katrina, still does big events like no other town. There is, after all, only one Bourbon Street. Just ask John Matuszak and the old-school Oakland Raiders. Once-sleepy Arizona is coming on strong as a game site, thanks to that gorgeous new stadium in Glendale, and Tampa is deserving of a fifth crack at the big game.

The economic slump appears to have taken a toll on Super Bowl ads, pushing the price down for only the second time in the game's history. TNS Media Intelligence said Monday that 30-second commercials during next month's Super Bowl on CBS are selling for between $2.5 million and $2.8 million, down from last year, when ads averaged $3 million on NBC - a record. Pepsi won't advertise its drinks this year for the first time in 23 seasons, joining FedEx and GM, which dropped out last year. In their absence, newcomers and smaller companies have snatched up slots in advertising's biggest showcase.

Sunday night while watching the Super Bowl did you see the commercial for the Census? Did you notice the tag at the end, "Paid for by the U.S. Census Bureau?" The ad was paid for by all working people in the counrty, not some federal agency! Where does the department think they get their budget from? It comes from the tax payers. How dare they spend $3 million for an ad doing the Super Bowl? With a federal budget over $1 trillion in the red, some idiot spent $3 million on air time, plus the cost of making the ad. This is a total waste of our money.

In a Chrysler advertisement aired during halftime of Sunday's Super Bowl, actor and director Clint Eastwood says, "I've seen a lot of tough eras, a lot of tough downturns in my life, times when we didn't understand each other. It seems we've lost our heart at times, and the fog of discord, division and blame made it hard to see what lies ahead. But after those trials, we all rallied around what was right and acted as one. " To judge from the reaction he got, we haven't achieved that last stage just yet. Mr. Eastwood was pilloried the next morning by Republican political strategist and Fox News commentator Karl Rove, among others, as a tool of President Barack Obama's re-election strategy.

I didn't see Clint Eastwood's Super Bowl commercial for Chrysler - after Madonna's grotesque halftime performance, I turned the game off. Yet I couldn't miss the Monday morning fallout ("Critics go gunning for Eastwood spot," Feb. 7). I don't consider his ad political - I consider it insulting to Americans who are not enjoying any "halftime. " It might have occurred to Mr. Eastwood and the Chrysler honchos they should have spent their advertising dollars and creative talent thanking U.S. taxpayers for the bailout.

Kudos to David Zurawik for his spot-on commentary on the Super Bowl half-time show and the tasteless, unimaginative ads ("Super Bowl TV: Good game, nasty ads, pathetic half-time show," Feb. 5). The half-time show was ludicrous. It reminded me of something the Romans would have put on after they watched lions eat the Christians, had they had the technology. But the ads were appalling. I agree that they reflect a contemporary society sadly short on values. As a teacher, I face a battle everyday to convince my students of the value of learning and the importance of self-discipline and hard work.

I'm beginning to wonder if there is a connection between the Super Bowl and heightened feminist frenzy. Last year, it was the Tebows' commercial celebrating life and the gift of children that had feminists all in a lather. This year it revolves around the Susan B. Komen Foundation's decision (and then the retraction of that decision) to stop funding Planned Parenthood. My wife and I are contributors to the Komen Foundation, and our decision to continue or discontinue contributing will depend on whether the foundation remains true to its mission.

This is the first installment of a three-part series in which Baltimore Sun staff writer Matt Vensel examines all three phases of the Ravens and how those areas can be improved this offseason. He will tackle the Ravens defense in Friday's newspaper and the special teams unit on Saturday. The Ravens, who made significant changes to their receiving corps during each of the past two offseasons, would benefit from continuity and stability on offense as they transition into 2012.

The confetti has been vacuumed up in Indianapolis, so the sports book at MGM Grand in Las Vegas released its Super Bowl odds for the 2012 season. Apparently, their oddsmakers think the Ravens' championship window is narrowly open. Two weeks after losing a close one to the New England Patriots, 23-20, in the AFC championship game, the Ravens were given 20-1 odds to win Super Bowl 47. That's tied for 13th in the NFL with the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys, two teams that didn't even make the playoffs in 2011.

S omething about Super Bowl brings out our national craving for wings and fire. During the course of this weekend, hungry Americans will polish off more than 100 million pounds of chicken wings, many drenched in hot sauce. The stats of this big wing weekend are staggering. According to the National Chicken Council - the group that is to chickens what the NFL is to football - about 1.25 billion wing portions will be consumed during Super Bowl weekend. The demand for wings has grown so fast that wings now cost more per pound than chicken breasts.

Sunday's Super Bowl scored the third highest overnight rating in history with almost one out of every two households tuned to the game, according to Nielsen Media Research. The overnight ratings of 47.8 finished behind Super Bowl XLV (Packers-Steelers on FOX) and Super Bowl XXI (Giants-Broncos on CBS). They each scored a 47.9 ratings. Sunday's victory by the Giants earned a 71 share, which means almost three out of every four households with sets in use were tuned to the game.