If it hadn't been for the commercials, I'd have turned away from the Super Bowl early in the first quarter. I actually spent most of the time while the game itself was on doing other things. Working. Finishing the W2s and the 1099s. Not watching, just listening to Al Michaels and John Madden's voices. I didn't want to miss the commercials, though.

Football in the end is just a series of spurts of activity. The players, with a few exceptions, have as much identity as their video game counterparts. Helmets and pads, mostly. Not faces.

All the commotion this one game creates nearly overwhelms any value in the sport itself. It's almost always a letdown once it starts, but I can't miss it because everyone will be talking about it around the water cooler tomorrow. Besides, there's always the chance this year will be the exception and the game will live up to the hype.

Having TiVo helps get me through a game that I feel obliged to watch. It allows me to ignore the dead spots. If I should happen to miss something exciting, I can always rewind and watch it. I didn't have to do that much today, especially in the first half.

Even the commercials were disappointing, but they probably shouldn't have been. Recent history warns us to lower our expectations. Or maybe it's just that the passage of time creates a rosy glow that confounds the memory. I seem to remember more innovation in Super Bowl ads back in earlier times. The last really stirring moment I can recall was the introduction of the Mac in 1984.

This year the entertainment value of the ads was pretty thin. It was fun to see Willie Nelson getting some good out of his tax problems by lampooning himself in an H&R Block commercial. Other than that, the comedy was mostly lame and the drama was nonexistent. One thing, though: Two sequels to The Matrix are coming out this year?

Anyway, I lost interest when the game was 34-3. It wasn't much of a game, and I wouldn't want to be one of the advertisers who paid for air time during the second half. I hope I didn't miss anything, because I drifted away to other pursuits.

I really had no choice but to work during the game, and all the rest of the day as well. It hit me early today, just how much I still have to do. I know it'll get done; I decided that yesterday. But it won't get done unless I do it, and every time I think about what that involves, I get a chill. What I have to do doesn't even include what I should do, like clean the bathroom. And the only time I've been able to do any reading for pleasure in about two weeks was the time I spent in the Saturn dealer's waiting room Friday. This is no fun at all.