Brief notes on the Super Bowl

1. A fine, well-played game featuring two superb quarterbacks with the surprises, to me at least, being that (1) Drew Brees outplayed Peyton Manning and (2) the lowly ranked Saints defense played superb pass defense. You really half to admire Saints coach Sean Payton's play calling. The Saints' victory seems lifted from the script of a Frank Capra film.

2. However, what happened to the commercials? That's usually half the enjoyment of the game, but I thought the ones this year were way below the Super Bowl average. I loved the Letterman-Winfrey-Leno bit and Budweiser came up with another winner featuring a young Clydesdale and a calf. But that was about it. It seemed like dry automobile ads and routine movie trailers dominated the proceedings, although Doritos came close.

3. I can see why Peter Townshend of the Who has decided he doesn't want the band to tour. If it wasn't for the neat lighting, this performance would have seemed more appropriate at the Haight-Ashbury branch of the AARP. Since the Super started with the mini rock concert concept for its halftime show, the two best have been Bruce Springsteen and Prince.