2021 NFL Season

[ClemmonsDevil]

She's not square on with "gangsta rap," but she certainly isn't out of place in that line up.

Eminem/Biggie has been addressed by a few folks already. I'm not looking to pile on you here.

But yeah, for fans of G-Funk era, Gangsta Rap, West Coast California style, 1990s hip-hop...

It was pretty dang good.

Yes. Loved it. It was always going to be packaged for the mass audience (read: watered down), but this is as good as it could possibly be for me unless they trotted out The Oakridge Boys.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

So he is still dead? As an aside a college buddy brought up Dean Smith last week and I said he was still dead. Not sure we are on speaking terms after that.

To tie the two together, Biggie was murdered March 9, 1997, the day Dean won his last ACC tournament and 3 weeks before his last game (March 29, 1997). March 1997 was a big month. So there you go - DBR - where Biggie and Dean Smith find common ground.

[ClemmonsDevil]

To tie the two together, Biggie was murdered March 9, 1997, the day Dean won his last ACC tournament and 3 weeks before his last game (March 29, 1997). March 1997 was a big month. So there you go - DBR - where Biggie and Dean Smith find common ground.

Wrap it up kids. Threads over!

[wavedukefan70s]

Yes. Loved it. It was always going to be packaged for the mass audience (read: watered down), but this is as good as it could possibly be for me unless they trotted out The Oakridge Boys.

O actually saw them .my parents drug me to the concert .them and the mandrells or mandrals .not sure of how it was spelled.
Made me go to the statler brothers also.

[brevity]

I didn't watch the telecast, but I caught the halftime show on YouTube.


(Sorry, the No Fun League is not letting me embed the video.)

It was all right. I am morally opposed to the medley concept -- play the whole song, or at least more than one verse of it. It's even weirder when you have multiple artists singing for about a minute at a time.

There were too many artists. Normally -- and I apologize if this offends anyone, but it shouldn't -- the NFL finds a way to second-guess/dilute the halftime product so as to appease the diverse factions of its audience. Katy Perry too pop? Let's add Lenny Kravitz so the rock station dudes will watch. Bruno Mars? Let's add the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Coldplay skew too old? Bring back Beyonce and Bruno Mars.

This time I felt that the lineup had no demographic concessions -- maybe Kendrick Lamar, generationally -- so it was really self-diluted. It needed editing. I didn't get much out of Mary J. Blige's "No More Drama" or either Kendrick Lamar track, and interestingly, Dr. Dre produced none of those three. Why were they included? Surrounding Lamar with "Dre Day" dancers made it looked he was shoehorned in to the festivities.

With a skilled censor, Eminem could've done a halftime show by himself, so he seemed pointless here. Was he representing Detroit like Matthew Stafford? "Lose Yourself" (also not produced by Dr. Dre) just didn't fit. Maybe it works in a stadium at nighttime, but not in daylight in a curiously unpainted set.

Dr. Dre was a surprisingly good showman, and the show lagged in the middle without him. While I liked Blige's "Family Affair" and 50 Cent's "In da Club" (both Dre-produced tracks), I could sacrifice them for a more streamlined show. I don't know, pair Dr. Dre with Ice Cube and keep Snoop Dogg and I think it would have worked even better. Dual tributes to Tupac and Eazy-E in Los Angeles. A real lost opportunity.

[rsvman]

I like Chris Collinsworth AND I loved the halftime show.

Guess that makes me a unicorn?

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I like Chris Collinsworth AND I loved the halftime show.

Guess that makes me a unicorn?

You and I both.

[wilson]

She's not square on with "gangsta rap," but she certainly isn't out of place in that line up...

This.
Hip hop is so much more than rap, and Mary J. Blige is a prime example of that. She’s (to reiterate) widely considered the “queen” of non-rap hip hop, and moreover is widely credited with bringing rap to the mainstream by featuring a session rapper on every track of the ‘What’s the 411’ remix album in 1993.
If you don’t consider Mary J. Blige hip hop, it only indicates that you don’t know much about hip hop.

[SouthernDukie]

You and I both.

Nah. You guys are cool. I'm clearly the opposite of a unicorn (since I believe the term is used in a unique, but also positive, light). I disliked the color guy calling the game. I disliked the way the game ended (the team that won, I mean). I thoroughly disliked the half-time show (never been into rap or modern hip-hop music at all). I didn't even care for most of the commercials (a few were funny).

I was the Gollum of that Superbowl for sure. Brady's retirement probably didn't help me get into the proper mood heading into it. I've never felt like more a curmudgeon watching a game than I did a couple of nights ago. Even when the Bengals were ahead, I couldn't enjoy it because of the gnawing feeling that the Rams would win at the end. Ugh... Absolute torture. Good riddance to that season for me.

My Precious. Where is my precious?!!!

[SouthernDukie]

One last thing: I was happy for Stafford. That poor guy labored for years in Detroit and had nothing to show for it. So I really am glad for him.

My bigger issue is that I almost never root for teams from LA. Having been to the city many times I just find that fans to have that "we are owed because we are the mighty LA/Hollywood" attitude that bugs me to no end. And then to add on to it, the thing about trying to buy championships. I know there's a salary cap and they can't do what happens in baseball in the NFL, but it still felt that way to me.

Congrats to the Rams. See you all in the next season thread.

[Bluedog]

One last thing: I was happy for Stafford. That poor guy labored for years in Detroit and had nothing to show for it. So I really am glad for him.

My bigger issue is that I almost never root for teams from LA. Having been to the city many times I just find that fans to have that "we are owed because we are the mighty LA/Hollywood" attitude that bugs me to no end. And then to add on to it, the thing about trying to buy championships. I know there's a salary cap and they can't do what happens in baseball in the NFL, but it still felt that way to me.

Congrats to the Rams. See you all in the next season thread.

I share this thought completely...

And about Stafford too.

[rasputin]

That’s not old school. Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra would have been old school.

Nah. Old school is, say, Bach or Vivaldi.

[ClemmonsDevil]

O actually saw them .my parents drug me to the concert .them and the mandrells or mandrals .not sure of how it was spelled.
Made me go to the statler brothers also.

Allowed you. They allowed you to go. They blessed you with the gift of attendance.

[SouthernDukie]

Yes. Loved it. It was always going to be packaged for the mass audience (read: watered down), but this is as good as it could possibly be for me unless they trotted out The Oakridge Boys.

I'd have been all-in on the halftime show had it been the Oak Ridge Boys and/or Barbara Mandrell. Love them folk.

[budwom]

we are now free to "enjoy" the next 11.5 months of Mel Kiper telling us about this years draft, next year's draft, and the one after that.

[mkirsh]

we are now free to "enjoy" the next 11.5 months of Mel Kiper telling us about this years draft, next year's draft, and the one after that.

Don’t forget that Aaron Rodgers is unhappy in Green Bay and may end up playing elsewhere. We need daily if not hourly updates there.

[ClemmonsDevil]

I'd have been all-in on the halftime show had it been the Oak Ridge Boys and/or Barbara Mandrell. Love them folk.

Or Dolly Parton who had the greatest single day in the history of art. She Wrote "I will always love you" and "Jolene" in the same damn day. That would literally be like Michelangelo climbing down from the Sistine Chapel and sitting his I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this. down to write Jolene.

[ClemmonsDevil]

Or Dolly Parton who had the greatest single day in the history of art. She Wrote "I will always love you" and "Jolene" in the same damn day. That would literally be like Michelangelo climbing down from the Sistine Chapel and sitting his I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this. down to write Jolene.

Worth it.