In the aftermath of what must have been the most boring Super Bowl ever, the highlights were,
- Renee Fleming's stellar performance of the National Anthem.
- Bruno Mars' halftime show.
- Bob Dylan giving props to American workers. Â Yeah, I know he got paid...but have you ever seen Dylan advertise anything?
Much of the post-Super Bowl buzz has been about Renee Fleming. Â However, the NFL gave zero public credit to either the arranger/orchestrator/producer, Rob Mathes, or the orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony. As Rob Mathes put it in an interview with artsjournal.com.
Who cares about the arranger/orchestrator? Iâll be fine...but New Jerseyâs own??? The Super Bowlâs home this year and that homeâs orchestra?? Who would it have hurt to mention them?? Come on!!!
Mathes went on to say: It is (the NFL's) policy to not allow anyone to use the trademark. The NFL would not credit The New Jersey Symphony anywhere in the program nor myself as arranger and orchestrator. You see the extent of the NFL's trademark protection in advertising leading up to the Super Bowl.  Advertisers are not allowed to use those words in their ad...spoken or in print.  You see and hear a lot of advertising talking about "The Big Game," but no mention of the S**** B***.  Stephen Colbert we so far as to dub it the Superb Owl, which was followed by at least one person I know baking a Superb Owl cake for the accompanying festivities. I can understand the need for trademark protection, but with the effort made by the New Jersey Symphony to provide the stellar performance necessary to accompany one of the finest voices on our planet, the least that could have happened was to include them in his introduction. You can read more comments by Rob Mathes below, as well as learn a bit more about the New Jersey Symphony. Read How the NFL blocked out the music at Super Bowl here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSBJylz6RTQ