POST SUPER BOWL GRIPE

By Dan Miller
February 2, 2009 

I'm not sure which is more annoying.... 

The Gatorade bath at the end of the Super Bowl.... or me, always grumbling about it. 

I have noticed friends and family tend to leave the room whenever I start my verbal manifesto about Gatorade being dumped on the coach. 

What troubles me is that it is so obviously contrived and sponsor- supported. 

Did you notice that at the end of Pittsburg's dramatic win over Arizona this year, the live cameras somehow missed the actual moment when the Gatorade was dumped on coach Mike Tomlin? 

No worry.... before 30 seconds or so had passed, the TV crew had managed to show the video recording of the incident.... and the hosts talked about it.... not once, but twice. 

I strongly suspect that's the guarantee in a signed contract between the Gatorade folks and the network. 

I always enjoy seeing athletes and fans engaged in spontaneous celebrations for their teams.... but when it becomes a sponsor supported requirement, I'm annoyed. 

The ritual is no longer impromptu.... it's no longer funny or entertaining.... it's clearly something that the players are either encouraged or instructed to do. 

Yet, if players execute a truly spontaneous celebration after a dramatic touchdown, they're penalized. 

Most of these players are intelligent, fun-loving young men who could certainly come up with their own inventive ways of "honoring" their coach. 

Let's let them do it.... let's set them free from this commercial expectation. 

Wouldn't it be refreshing to again see the players simply carry their coach onto the field on their shoulders?

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