Burrow elite in nickname game; sneak peek at SB ads
Super Bowl With a Smirk is back with the second of five daily notes columns needling the self-important NFL and the gravitas of its big game. Flying under the banner, “Make Fun, Not War,” Smirk is an annual Super Bowl Week feature in the Miami Herald in the years we remember to do it.
We figured Super Bowl Week would be a national superstar coronation for Cincy quarterback Joe Burrow, and early fawning by Your Friend the Media has not disappointed.
Kid reached the Super Bowl in only his second season, and Burrow’s swaggy, drippy persona has proved an intriguing contrast to the Bengals being Sunday’s underdog and leading a franchise that has never won a Super Bowl.
The array of nicknames alone have minted Burrow’s fast rise to elite, with media references to Joe Brrr, Joey B., Joe Shiesty, Joey Franchise, Joe Cool, Joe Chill, Jackpot Joey, The Tiger King and Smokin’ Joe. (Um, those last two may have already been taken).
What moniker does Joseph Lee Burrow prefer?
“Just call me Joe,” he answered, the humbleperfect reply lacking only an “aw, shucks” preface.
One more nickname, then:
Regular Joe.
By the way, to nobody’s surprise, Joe and the Bengals have the rooting interest of America by almost a 2-to-1 margin. It’s 33 states for the Bengals (including Florida) and 17 for the Rams, according to Betonline.ag research based on Geotagged Twitter data and fan hashtags.
Teaser: Sneak peek at Super Bowl ads you will be seeing: Super Bowl commercials have become as anticipated as the game itself, according to advertising executives, and companies are paying $6.5 million for a 30second spot this year.
Sunday’s ads will include Seth Rogan and
Paul Rudd for Lay’s chips, Guy Fieri for Bud Light Hard Seltzer, and Kenny G for Busch beer. Two other spots will feature Snoop Dogg and the Manning Brothers. Or, did that go without saying?
You want a little familiar and heartwarming with your funny? There’s a Budweiser ad called ‘A Clydesdale’s Journey,’ which follows one of the Scottish breed of draught horses from birth through a wayward youth, a failed tryout with AnheuserBusch, and ultimately a lonely downward spiral into adult obesity.
(Note: An unnamed source revealed that ‘Clydesdale’s Journey’ script to us. Waiting to hear back from Bud with confirmation).
Mr. Super Bowl, Brady, opens door to return, sort of: One week after retiring to spend more time with his family, Tom Brady on his miserably named Let’s Go! podcast seemed to leave the door to playing again slightly ajar, saying “Never say never.” Elaborating, Brady explained, “I’m really getting tired of my kids.” OK, Smirk made up that last quote.
OBJ casts movie about Rams: Rams receiver Odell Beckham Jr. said a movie about this Rams season should have him portrayed by Will Smith and QB Matthew Stafford played by Ben Affleck. OBJ’s former Browns teammate (and ex-Dolphin) Jarvis Landry surprised him at the Opening Night media session,with Beckham telling him, “Besides
Pops, there’s no other person who made me a better man. “I love you so much. This moment is for us.” (Whoa. Much too sentimental for Smirk).
Bengals first to arrive. No, wait...: Bengals arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday. Of course the Rams, being from L.A., were already there. So who arrived first? Can you really “arrive” if you’re already there? If that isn’t confusing enough, Cincinnati is the home team.
Poll winner? Ladies and gentleman, it’s ... Cincirella!: We asked in a one-hour Twitter RapidPoll which was the slightly less awful of two horrible nicknames for Cinderella Cincinnati.
And with 440 votes cast it was “Cincirella” trouncing “Cindernati” by 59.3 percent to 40.7.
Spoiler alert! Madden ’22 video game predicts winner: In the 19th year of EA Madden video game SB picks — and the first since the death of namesake John Madden — the Bengals upset the Rams in the simulated game, 24-21. “Great, now nobody’ll watch Sunday,” groused NBC executives. (The game is 11-7 picking the winner, which, frankly, is about a mile and a half from brag-worthy).
Super Bowl Party
Tip du Jour: Tired of serving the same old party snacks? Delight your guests this year with an array of Cambodian fried tarantula, lamb and mint chips from New Zealand and (a fave at our house last year) Indonesian barbecued bat.