Music Box

It can be fun trying to explain the concept of cricket to anybody who doesn’t understand it, and whilst I openly admit I don’t understand the finer points of baseball (where guys in pyjamas play rounders) I do understand American football.
 
Although some of the rules have changed, the basic idea of four attempts to move the ball ten yards can become addictive, and then watching another guy in pyjamas (the referee) doing a Leslie Nielson dance as he explains why a penalty flag has been thrown.
 
The reason for this rambling is because of the return of one of the greatest sporting events in the world – no, not the Cambridge/Oxford Varsity Boat Race but Super Bowl XLVI.
 
In the wee early hours of February 5, live from Indianapolis, two teams will go head to head for victory.

All of this, though, seems to have paled into insignificance after that famed Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake ‘costume failure’ which caused indignation across the US. But let’s not forget that the half-time entertainment at the Super Bowl is seemingly hyped up more than the actual game itself. Let me remind you of some of the previous shows:

2007 – PRINCE performed a pitch perfect show raising the standards for forthcoming acts to try and follow.
2006 – The year that featured The Rolling Stones rocking the stadium with some classics.
2004 – This was the infamous Jackson/Timberlake year.
2002 – U2 had the difficult task of lifting a nation after the 9/11 tragedy and did so with aplomb with a stirring rendition of Where The Streets Have No Name.
1993 – This is the year Michael Jackson stood as still as a statue for more than a minute as the crowd’s roar grew deafening – pure, vintage showmanship at its best.

And so onto 2012, where the very youthful looking Madonna (with the aid of some special guest stars) will be entertaining the 100+ million people tuned in around the world.

Stay safe boys and girls, and let me leave you with this snippet: It’s scary when, in the morning, you start making the same noises as your coffee maker.