The end was known before the beginning. Of course, we wanted the underdog to win. Of course, we all felt for Dan Reeves, and were amazed by his recovery from recent bypass surgery. But the juggernaut that is the Denver Broncos steamrolled the Dirty Bird without hesitation.

The Super Bowl is not necessarily about the teams playing. Rather, it is about the game of football. Possibly the single most anticipated event in American sports, the Super Bowl is watched throughout the country by people of all ages, sometimes for no other reason than tradition. We always look forward to the commercials, often the most memorable of all year. The combination of these make the Big Game the most exciting four hours of television all year.

This year unfortunately, exciting was hardly the word to describe any part of the experience of Super Bowl Sunday. Very quickly both the Atlanta offense and defense gave way to Denver's might, and the game's outcome was almost certain. Much like the World Series, where the Yankees' relentless attack inevitably led to victory, Denver was the superior team, and the favorite to win well before the Coin Toss. Of course, there were several moments when the Falcons seemed to have a decent chance of providing the Broncos with a challenge. But except for Falcons fans, who, like any fan of a losing team, believed that there was a chance to win up until the last seconds of the game, everyone knew that the Broncos would again be the dominant team of the NFL.

Well then there's always the ads, right?

Wrong.

Unoriginal, uninspired, and just plain boring. I can think of perhaps one advertisement that I laughed or cheered at. Something was clearly wrong.

Perhaps companies realized, as most people did, that the Game wouldn't be much of a game at all, and that they wouldn't want to be associated with a boring game, especially when paying $1.6 million for thirty seconds of air time. But there have been several Super Bowls that have been less than exciting, and the commercials were the highlight of the entire experience. That has to be a good thing.

Disappointing, yes, it was. But perhaps this past Super Bowl Sunday has taught us that there are better things to do than spend four hours in front of a TV with friends, food and beer.

Nah.