Bob Bowl

To clear the air, apparently I’m not allowed to use the actual title of the – you know – championship game for professional football. I’m not sure I can even say the official name of the league. You often hear advertisers use “The Big Game” as an analogous phrase, in an attempt to say it without really saying it. I’m tired of that.

So I’ll call it Bob.

I thought the Bob Bowl was a great game. The two teams deserving to be there were there: the Indianapolis “Rhymes-with-Golts” and the New Orleans “Rhymes-with-Zaints.” There were two compelling story lines. On one hand, the game featured two great quarterbacks chasing immortality; on the other, a team represented a city emerging from the devastation of a hurricane.

In the bright lights and grand spectacle that only come with the Bob Bowl, the stories played themselves out.

And as the game went on – as the clock continued its inexorable march to the final gun – a new story line began to emerge. Fading into our consciousness like an old, familiar tune, the question finally came to the fore as the countdown ticked to zero. Then, with no game to compete with our attention, we became fully aware of the issue at hand.

Who had the best commercial?

Team loyalty runs deep, but nothing is more contentious than deciding who had the best Bob Bowl commercial. Maybe it’s because there are too many choices. In a football game there are only two teams from which to choose. With commercials, there are scores of them.

But all is well, because this is America. In America we vote, and the people have spoken. Even better, someone has actually counted the votes so we don’t have to. Here are the five advertisements that got the highest number of votes, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

And something that I enjoy almost as much is a list of the worst five advertisements.

If you need to review them to make up your own mind, the professional football league (of which we shall not speak) actually has a site were you can see them all.

And, if after conducting your research you don’t agree with your fellow Americans’ choices for the best five ads, well don’t blame me.

Blame Bob.