The Superbowl: Greatest Holiday of the Year?

Yes you heard me. There will be no sugarcoating, just flat out facts: The Superbowl is the greatest day of the year.



I really don't remember where this discussion came up, but a few mutual friends and I were talking about how awesome our Super Bowl Sunday's have been over the past few years and that, when you really think about it, have even come to rival the Mother of all Holidays--yes, I'm talking about Christmas!

But how could the Super Bowl dethrone the glorified machine that people of all paths have come to revere? Christmas is everything. It has humble reverence in celebration of Our Lord and Savior, yet it is also to worship some fat guy dressed in red who gives you cool electronics, money, and other gifts, who somewhere along the way was Sainted by the Church for taking the focus of Christmas off of Christ. I'm not crying blasphemy, but I am saying that with Christmas you literally do get the best of both worlds, at whatever cost from either side!

However, our recent argument put into jeopardy this notion that Christmas will simply not be dethroned.

1. Friendship and Camaraderie:

Superbowl Sunday doesn't place focus on family, but it does place focus on friendship and camaraderie. Nothing has come close to bringing together my friends than this fine holiday has.

2. Best. Snacking. Ever.

I mean.. when every attendee brings $15-20 of food, and the type of food brought is coordinated by a committee, you get top grade selection, quality, and quantity. And this formula equals the best snacking day of the year!

3. Football!

And not just any football. The game of the year in any and all sports! Sometimes you even get to see magic in these games. Last year's Patriots vs. Giants game had to have been the best Superbowl I have ever seen or even heard of. Period. Manning out of the pocket and escaping out of a cloud of defenders unscathed, lobbing it up, and the miracle David Tyree "helmet catch" to set up the eventual touchdown and biggest upset in my limited knowledge of NFL football. Can't wait to see what's riding this year!




4. Rivalry and banter

Everyone takes sides, and everyone gets into it. It's fun to see the emotion flying--the cheers for your team, the trash talking exchanged. When your team wins, you even occasionally get to see the losing team hang their head in shame and immediately run out the door to avoid any more of it (aka Adam & Nathan). That may not have made their holiday the best, but it made mine!

5. Commercials!

When a church-affiliated school specifically instructs their students to watch the Superbowl (namely the commercials) and labels this as "marketing homework," even though it is on a Sunday, that deserves a little note and praise of its own kind.



But let's face it. The Superbowl holds the best advertisting in the world! This is the only time in your life watching T.V. where you actually want to sit through commercials! Hell I've heard of people who only watch the Superbowl for the commercials! The biggest advertising agencies reserve their best and most secret weapons for this day. I've seen commercials last for years that were originally aired on Superbowl Sunday. And even after that much time, they still aren't old to me.

Well I don't want to put too much time into this, but I did post a little FAQ specifically intended to fight back some of the incredulousness of my remarks. Enjoy, and remember, the Greatest Day of the Year is still 2 months away!!!

-The Blogsmith

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: But unlike other holidays, there isn't anything religious about football!

A: You're right! That is, unless you religiously follow football!

Q: But what about presents and gifts? Christmas has plenty of, but the Super Bowl has none of!

A: True, but every holiday holds a record for something. Christmas has it's shopping. Thanksgiving has its turkey. Superbowl Sunday has its snack food and advertising! And even then, our Super Bowl Party committee actually has been looking into Superbowl gifts, and will most likely be included in this up and coming Superbowl.

Q: But what about time with the family?

A: Let's just say that the Superbowl can supercede family events when you know your Superbowl party will far exceed your parent's Superbowl party. Besides. You may be comparing apples to oranges, since this holiday is built off of a different base and structure than Christmas. Family is simply a nonfactor.

Q: Doesn't your "holiday" sound a little cruel and elitist? I heard you once left your friend knocking at your door to which no response was given but "Well, everyone that's important is already here!" followed by a flurry of mocking laughter! Didn't you also force your friend to choose between his brother and his girlfriend when both showed up to the party, and only your friend and ONE guest was accounted for in food? How could promotion of these questionable values ever be personified in a true holiday?

A: Good point. It's true that we are known from time to time to be harsh to some of our less fortunate friends on this holiday. But it is all for the greater good. Rules are set in place to maximize the benefit and joy for those invited and inside the house, not those interlopers without. Besides, you couldn't name one holiday that is without it's blemish!





As you can see, in 1000 years, Santa is the only focus of Christmas, and he happens to be a bloodthirsty robot looking to punish and destroy those who would do good. Doesn't sound so perfect here!







Sometimes it is easy to remember the harsh reality between what we SAY and WANT Thanksgiving to be, and what Thanksgiving really turned out to be historically. Wednesday Adams set me straight. I'm sure you can remember too if you put your mind to it. :)

I lost the bet...

I never, and I mean NEVER do this stuff! In fact, I won't pass this on to anyone else for this reason! Sorry! But I do owe my cara amica Rachel Brown Deserca a wall post for her, so we'll see if this satisfies the deal. Probably not. But as good ole Vizzini always said before his passing, "You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!" I'll be sure to watch myself next time...

NOTE: As I said at the bottom of the post (which you won’t get to), I stated that most of my friends wouldn’t get past the first half of the first page before doing a quick skim of the rest and calling it good, to which I commend you. You are my friends. I hand picked you all and I expect and deserve nothing less than this behavior from each of you. You know the drill. I rant and every once in awhile you tune in and pick up a Kyle Kenny gem to cherish and rehearse to your friends.

5 TV Shows I Love to Watch
1-24! (especially Seasons 1, 2&4. Season 4 rocks so much because the villain is so badass. My friends and I thought he was Billy Zane for a bit and still call him that. He is actually Imhotep from "The Mummy." To continue on the Billy Zane tangent, read Arnold Vosloo's imdb message board. You won't be disappointed. Most notably this: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0903677/board/thread/59806900

Of course, Jack Bauer is so awesome that I am certain he will replace Chuck Norris for all of those Chuck Norris-isms that you see on Wal-mart posters and geek blogs. "Chuck Norris fought with a knife and the knife lost." Yeah those ones. Yes Season 6 was kind of a joke and I admittedly didn't watch the second half for time reasons, but I was told not to watch the rest of it, so I heeded friends' advice. But now that the writer's strike is over good things are abound for 24, season 7. GO 24! Jack Bauer is my hero, and yes he would find a way to kill James Bond AND Jason Bourne at the same time if necessary. Kiss it, Mark Mills! I could write a blogpost about this.

2-The Simpsons - Anything that can go on for 20 seasons is hall of fame material. Simpsons is like the M*A*S*H of my generation, but bearable to watch (jk, I never gave MASH a chance)! You even get these rip off shows that try to be like Simpsons, like Family Guy. I know alot of people like to think Family Guy is better, and I do love the randomness of Family Guy, but if you've ever watched the two, Family Guy rips off material from the Simpsons more frequently than you want to believe, which winds you down a sorry path of loser denial. Family Guy is like what Apple is to Microsoft, a dirty cousin who pretty much offers the same thing but tries to look a little flashier and holier-than-thou for the sake of making people falsely believe they actually purchased something unique. Anyway, my life is so integrated with the Simpsons. It is almost sickening to watch to Simpson's buffs in the same room. When you stick me in a room with my brother Nick Kenny, people hate being around us because all we do is crack Simpson's quotes and laugh at them, leaving everyone else feeling left out and confused.

3-Futurama- Futurama is a show of its own. In a nutshell, Matt Groening takes the Simpsons, Seinfeld, and any other type of '90s pop culture and tries to emulate it 1000 years into the future. Robots that steal from their friends and drink alcohol to fuel their system, Slurm, death by Snoo-snoo, the Hypnotoad, the big green alien newsbroadcaster, Dr. Zoidberg, the Robot Mafia, and of course Evil Robot Santa! It seriously doesn’t get too much better than that! HUZZAH!

4-Seinfeld. I know it's old but I never get tired of it. I remind myself of Jerry sometimes when I talk about people I've dated. Plus I dance kind of like Elaine. (haha I just copied this from Rachel J)

5-X-men Classic – The original x-men cartoon from the early ‘90s is about as awesome as it comes. Saturday mornings couldn’t be the same without it. I don’t know how kids these days can put up with all of the garbage anime that is on nowadays. Maybe its because anime cartoons sadly really are 1000 times better than the crap America can think up these days. I just saw Power Ranger costumes at Wal-mart the other day, which means America is so low on ideas they had to repeat a show that in my opinion was still sub par from other awesomeness back in the ‘80s and ‘90s. I remember in high school missing X-men so much that I found and downloaded EVERY episode of X-men on some pirated file sharing network. The quality is crappy, but I recently tested converting it onto an iPod. The quality is pretty good when it shrinks to the size of a thumbnail J And btw, still just as classic as the first time I watched it.

5 Things that Happened Yesterday

Ok I have to cheat and backdate to a better day than Saturday. Friday might work out better.

1- I was up very late Thursday night (aka 1:30 AM Friday morning!) because I got my new Blackberry Curve in the mail. Of course when you get a new toy you have to play around with it for awhile. I feel more professional with it now than ever, and it doesn’t hurt to know that it was FREE and that my company paid for it and is paying my cell phone bill from now on. HUZZAH!

2-I got up at 7:00 AM to get ready and give myself time to drive 45 minutes down to Springville to work. I know way to start off the list with something so exciting! I guess going to work I scream lyrics to songs I listen to with my ipod, yes my iPod because my car is so ghetto it doesn’t have a stereo. You can imagine looking into another car speeding by you in the interstate and seeing this kid screaming My Chemical Romance and Muse to the top of his lungs. What can I say? I’m keeping my voice fresh for a good night of Karaoke or Rockband that is lonnnnng overdue.

Anyway, work can be pretty burdensome at times—going out to eat every day on the company, chatting on facebook, etc. Honestly, going out to eat is a curse now I am so sick of eating out at places. I thought I would never say that. Plus, little breaks are needed here and there when at times I’m working 10 hour days (not including the commute). But it pays the bills, can’t complain… too much! :P I got everything caught up at work Friday and had extra time to chat away with a few friends.

3-One of those friends I chatted with on facebook was Alla. She was making these little hints that she had nothing to do on a Friday night and wanted to do something in the presence of my company, but I guess she wanted me to initiate the request as if it was I who really wanted to do something with her. Nice try Alla! Everybody wants to be wanted I guess lol :P. I suggested I could stop by for 30 minutes or so. Well she convinced me instead to ditch the Halloween party I promised to goto to hang out with her instead for the whole night… way past the time I originally planned to head home. Mission Accomplished (for her).

4-I saw Appaloosa, a new Western flick with Viggo Mortenson and Ed Harris. It was a little slow, but it was a true Western. By the end I decided that I liked it quite a bit. I would give it a 7 out of 10. Viggo and Ed get into this gunfight that lasted like 5 seconds. As they’re lying on the ground shot up, Viggo remarks, “That was quick.” And Ed Harris responds, “Yeah, everybody could shoot.” Classic!

5-Alla and I went to a bonfire to hang out with my buddies Elric, Jeremy, and a few others. We weren’t planning to stay long, but Elric left to get a friend so I figured we could stay til he got back. WRONG! After 45 minutes without him returning we just left, went back to Alla’s and chatted away about how we both whine about everything. I am the understanding type of guy who sympathizes. Alla likes to mock my whining about trivial things (it’s all I whine about… I’m kinda Seinfeld-ish, a product of what I watch) and tells me I need to grow some. Thanks Alla. You are a true friend. ;) As my friend “Old-man” Skyler Anderson puts it, “That’s what friends are for: they make sure you are okay first, then they proceed to make fun of you and ridicule you.” Of course, he made this comment after sharing a story about how he flew off his long board one time and cut his knee up really bad.

5 Favorite Places to Eat
I would steal the line from my friend Rachel and say I am all about eating out, but lately I’ve become a little jaded from eating out so much. I literally go out to eat at work every day, and not just to Wendy’s, we goto Red Robin, Chilis, Los Hermanos, and other middle-tier restaurants as well! I love these places, and I really do love eating out, but I wish I could cut back somewhat. I don’t want to get burned out! Speaking of Rachel. Rachel likes to think that I am a cheap-skate just because she caught my brother Nick Kenny and me arguing about the price of a can of tomato sauce at the grocery store. Touché, Rachel, touché! BUT, HOWEVER! Going out to eat has been something I always deemed as the finer things of life and is something that I have spent countless thousands of my student loan dollars on just to partake of such finer things. Eat your heart out Rachel!

1-Hole in the wall italian – this is a dedication to all the Italian holes that retain the authenticity of little town Italy, like Marino’s, the restaurant I worked at before my mission, run by Sicilians in a Sicilian style, or like Gloria’s Little Italy in Provo, run by a family of Toscani (I think) who may have lived in America for 12 years, but still probably can’t get the English language quite down. I remember one time at Marino’s, this redneck couple sat down at a table and when I came to take their order, they literally scoffed me because of the menu prices. Joe Marino overheard them, came over, and told them in these exact words, “Hey, you got a problem with my prices? Fazoli’s is down the road, go enjoy yourself down there. You want some real Italian food? Stay here, shut your mouth and order. You understand?” Haha, spoken like a true Sicilian. You rock Joe!

If you have to go to a big chain restaurant, I’ll point you over to Carabbas. My parent’s took me there right after I returned home from Italy, and I was still impressed. I have to add that I am an Italian snob and not too many things impress me Italian—I think the Olive Garden is garbage (sorry Rachel)—but I give Carabbas a nod of approval. It takes a few liberties to keep the American crowd happy, but it’s good stuff.

2-Carl’s Jr – Carl’s Jr rates so high on this list because as a burger joint, it’s a place I goto frequently. In fact, whenever I am craving a burger, I honestly don’t even consider any other fast food joint other than Carl’s! The Western Burger is unparalleled. Those commercials you see where they place fastfood in a restaurant and trick people into thinking that the expensive restaurant prepared it? The Pizza Hut Tuscani pastas is absolutely, ridiculously unrealistic and false; the Carl’s Jr. Six Dollar Burger is absolutely believable.

3-Chili’s – Chili’s is amazing, and not just for their food. When you watch those Olive Garden commercials where the guy is like, “when you’re here, you’re family!” that is exactly what Chili’s has done with my friends and me. I have never been to any place so many times with my friends than I have at Chili’s. In fact, we used to goto Chili’s so much that one time we placed a ban on Chili’s lasting several months just so we could try as a group to go to other places and give them a shot.

4-Jimmy Johns – I was first introduced to Jimmy Johns in Omaha by my step bro Matt “Richdawg” Richardson. He and one of my cousins from Minnesota were talking it up so much. My cousin talked it up so much that he was considering finding a market to open up a chain of JJ’s to own (yeah he is rich like that). With so much hype, I was afraid it would be an EPIC FAIL when I tried it. No way. I was still blown away. The sandwiches are so simple, but the quality is unparalleled. Make sure you get the white, French bread.

5-Mexican holes – Ya I had to give a shout out to Mexican holes-in-the-wall. I am a monster fan of holes of all sorts because they usually retain the authenticity of the culture they represent (see #1). You know you hit the right place when you look up at the menu and notice gross things like tongues, stomachs, livers, and other appalling items that proper Americans (including myself) would never eat. I never said to order those things, just make sure they’re on the menu, then order a damn taco.

5 Things I'm Looking Forward To:
1-Investing with Richdawg in property in Omaha worthy only of a slumlord.

2-Paying off my student debt
3-The day when I finally have the willpower to start working out with Tony Horton again. P90X owns me. “Ab Ripper X. I hate it! But I love it!” You rock Tony.
4-Superbowl Sunday, the greatest Holiday of the year. (And yes we had a discussion about Superbowl vs. Christmas. I’ll post it up later in the blog.)
5-My brother Nick Kenny’s wedding. This is just a further demonstration of how pathetic I am that my brother can get married twice before I could even get close to being married once!

5 Things on My Wish List
1-Self discipline – the one thing I lack to accomplish anything else noteworthy. Ambition, desire, etc. Cake.

2-Helicopter (and piloting lessons) – This is digging deep, but when I retire this is what I want to do. Maybe I can volunteer my time to search and rescue like Harrison Ford or hospital emergencies.

3-Unlimited cash flow so I could travel all the roads left in my shoes and SERVE in NGOs and orphanages for the rest of my life… wait this is Rachel’s dream. Haha! Actually I would wish for unlimited cash flow as well, but not to live in orphanages. Serving isn’t bad, but I would make sure I get my share of comfortable living and unlimited travel to the whole world. Scarface inspired me with his statue of Atlas which had the inscription, “The world is yours.” Unfortunately this was inscribed in crummy ‘80s pink neon lights that ruined the whole statue for me when I saw it.

4-Return to Italy. I’ve been planning this trip for years and I always back out for different reasons.

5-Wishing that Rachel Brown wouldn’t lie to me about being barren. That is just evil!

5 People I TAG:
Since these stupid Tag, forwarding things are all against the fiber and being of my soul, I won’t tag anyone in the sense that they have to do this, but I’ll tag them in on facebook so they can read it. They won’t get this far though. By the time they get past the first half-page, they’ll do a half-assed skim job and call it good, to which I love them all the same for it. You guys rock!

Throwing down the glove: A guide to challenging restaurants... to an honor du-el!

Ever since my dad started taking me to Famous Dave's, a rib joint, whenever I go back home, I have been an extremely strong supporter. I've been going to the one in Bellevue, NE for years it seems. To my surprise and joy, I recently discovered a Famous Dave's out here in Midvale (SLC), UT. To my disappointment, I had heard from several colleagues, most notably from one of my bosses at work, that Famous Dave's here in SLC was absolutely horrible. I got a little discouraged, but I had always had good experiences in Omaha, so when my roommate got his first golf hole-in-one ever, I suggested we go out to Famous Dave's to celebrate with some friends.

I arrived a little ahead of my friends and reserved a table. While being seated I mentioned to the hostess how much I enjoy Famous Dave's in other places, but had heard really bad things about the one here. Of course I delivered this news in a smooth way to indicate that I wanted to believe otherwise than what my friends had warned me about. The hostess brought over the manager to chat and I reiterated my hopes and worries about his restaurant. The manager acknowledged that the store had undergone some management changes a few months back and were doing their best to push forward and put that behind them. The manager took my remarks as a kind of "friendly challenge" and promised that I wouldn't be let down...

I actually felt a little bad at first because I felt they took it alot more personally than I had really wanted. They left me feeling like I set the bar to some unimaginable and unattainable level that they couldn't hope to surpass.

Funny enough, they put on their finest dog and pony show for us! The waitress was extremely nice and took real good care of us. Our food was excellent and when all was said and done, we got free desserts and two trays of free cornbread on top of our rather large meals. Utah football head coach Kyle Whittingham happened to be in the other room as a guest on some radio show hosting their event at Famous Dave's. I don't think he got HALF the royal treatment that we got that night. The level of service we got was pretty ludicrous.

I had an epiphany. I want to formally challenge restaurants on a regular basis! But that would require a legitimate, secret weapon to justify the challenge. I want to find some really cynical guy--the type that nobody wants to be around because they suck the joy out of life. His angst-filled opinions on life (specifically, about every good restaurant in the Salt Lake area) would be more than enough to justify the challenge to any restaurant, any restaurant, that I so desire.

For you commercial buffs: I BRIAN URLACHER, CHALLENGE THEE TO AN HONOR DU-EL!

Biker Gang Cops

I was walking the streets of downtown Denver with some work buddies when this group of five bikers came strolling down the road. As they passed by I realized they were all cops, and they were slow riding their way down the promenade street.

Ironically, they strolled by a closed shop whose alarm was sounding and by a car crash a block away, but they just kept rolling along without even flinching. That's one way to shrug off your duty just for the sake of looking badass. I would've figured at least one of them would deviate from their entourage to check out the scene. Shooting the TV show "Cops" with these guys could be pretty interesting. It could probably generate that kind of awkwardness found in shows like "The Office." :)

Fox's "Hole in the Wall"

LOL. I predict two episodes before it gets cut off the air. Japanese game shows are fun and all, but they belong on Spike TV, not Fox. SORRRRRRRRYYYYY :(

BYU vs. Washington

BYU managed to pull of a close, but earned win vs. Washington today. Unfortunately, the game will be mired in controversy due to a penalty call against Washington's late rally which ended up in a touchdown with :02 to go in the game. The penalty was for excessive celebration. The TD was not cancelled; however, the yardage penalty was pushed back 15 yards against the extra point, which BYU happened to block to keep Washington from tieing and thereby securing the win.

This game brings up two important points:

1) PAC-10 Refereeing is laughable at best. I am a BYU fan and I will still agree to this. In recent memory, the Huskies have been screwed over several times by PAC-10 Refereeing ineptitude. This penalty was a joke and it did make things tougher for the Huskies, but lets not forget that BYU still earned the block PAT. I'll also recall the USC vs Washington game a few years ago had some clock refereeing issues that cost Washington an upset victory. Every PAC-10 game I see I laugh at how poor the officiating is. It needs some serious help. Thank you ESPN for putting some spotlight finally on it.

2) Lou Holtz is also laughable at best. I can't believe they still let this guy drivel on the table with his nonsense. Lou just last week ripped a Bowling Green linebacker's celebration for a sack which was not excessive but called for as an excessive celebration penalty anyway. Lou strongly sided with the referee call. Now he reverses his support for tough, by-the-book penalties during the BYU game. Pick a side buddy and stick with it. The call was "by the book" so defend it. You're not a politician. Stop flip-flopping, get your stuff together, and generate some consistency for once.

Someone said last week that you get some breaks and you get some bad calls, whether by user error or by bad officiating, but in either case you take what is dealt and work with it.

I sure hope this quote wasn't from Lou Holtz, because he got all fired up over the "ifs and buts" of how things would've been different if the Huskies didn't get penalized for this call. All I can say to Huskies fans is tough luck. Controversy happens, but something like this will disappear for sure. I think the Seattle Seahawks were robbed of a 1st quarter TD vs the Steelers in their last Super Bowl run, made by a slight pushoff (which every receiver does) by Darell Jackson. Maybe that would've completely changed the chemistry of the game. Tough luck. It happens. And it's already forgotten.

Radiohead, WTF man?!

I saw that Radiohead keeps chugging out new songs and "hits." I followed a link on facebook to see Radioheads new "hit" video. It sucked. Wtf Radiohead? I think that was about 4 minutes wasted out of my life. What happened to Radiohead since their Amnesiac album? I searched around for a few other newer Radiohead songs and they're all horrible.

Radiohead used to be my favorite band and had something good going with The Bends and something even better with their experimental OK Computer album. I guess they had so much success from it that they decided to continue getting weirder and weirder until they just plain suck.

Their music is just lifeless and dull now, and it all sounds the same. I'm sure to get some heat from Radiohead diehards that are still in denial that their band has gone off the deep end. I've always been a "slow adopter" when it comes to new and modern music, but I found a few bands that definitely deserve more attention these days, like Muse.

My friend Adam Tate I think put it best, "Muse is just like Radiohead, but more talented." Yeah that pretty much sums it up. Matthew Bellamy sounds kinda like Thom Yorke, which is good; however, the music is out of this world--leagues better than Radiohead. The guitar and bass riffs are epic. Try playing "Hysteria" on Rock Band and you'll know what I mean.

That's not to say I don't like Radiohead for what they WERE, just what they are NOW. Screw you Radiohead! Cheerio, fetcher!