The Man of Mars

The American Super Bowl, the championship game of our football season, was held Sunday.  And my husband and I learned a lesson about assuming.

There are three keys to every Super Bowl event.

1.  The game.  Yes, sometimes it is easy to forget they are playing a championship game down on the field, with all the hype, but they were.  And, the stadium was just a few miles from my hometown.  And it didn't get snowed out!  (If it had been held a day later - well, football games are played despite the weather, but people getting out to see it would not have been too happy.) The game was terrible, and since a number of my readers are from other countries, I won't bore you (or me) with the details.  Let's just all agree that the game was terrible.  Several people I knew switched to Downton Abbey and, since I have never watched it, maybe it would have been a good time for me to change the channel.

2.  The food.  That's up to each individual viewer, but many Americans use the Super Bowl as an excuse to gorge themselves on the most fattening and heartburn inducing foods known to mankind.  Enough said.

3.  And finally, the half time music show.  Past artists have included The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, The Who and U2. The last few years though, the performers have been some whose performances neither me nor my spouse were impressed with, including Madonna and Beyoncé.

When we heard the performer this year would be one "Bruno Mars", we decided we wouldn't even watch the half time show. Without knowing a thing about him other than he was a young performer. Visions of Justin Bieber and Miley Cyus fresh in our minds, we almost passed. Speaking of pre-judging...

 But we watched anyway (full disclosure, the Red Hot Chili Peppers participating got us in).

If we hadn't, we would have missed one of the best live performances we have every seen.

This is a sample of what we saw.  The show started with a high energy drum solo by Mars, and never let up.  He touched on the music styles of four decades. There was more showmanship there in 12 some minutes than I have seen in several recent Super Bowl halftimes put together. (Just my personal opinion - each to our own.)  And that entire show, choreographed, would make one heck of an exercise class. (Did my water zumba teacher watch?)

The musicians, in their dancing and their dress, reminded me of the dancing deliveries of groups such as The Temptations.  I'm so surprised I didn't jump up and join them at home.

Yesterday, everyone at work was talking about how fantastic Bruno Mars (his real name is Peter Gene Hernandez) was, and I totally agree.  My spouse, who rarely listens to modern music except for certain hard rock artists, was also impressed.  And over 110 million people tuned in to watch this half time.

Hundreds of millions of views on You Tube add to his fame.

This young man is incredibly, and I mean incredibility, talented.

You know that saying about what assumptions are? Next time, I won't decide not to watch someone until I investigate further.

And, Super Bowl people, maybe you should just build on success, and bring Mars and his band back next year.  If you do, I will be watching.