PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

Based on what I have read in several major newspapers and what I have heard from friends, I think I am part of a national consensus that:

Believes the Super Bowl was a major yawner and that the Super Bowl ads weren’t much better.

As I watched the game Sunday, my first thought was that it was not up to the excitement of the PGA Tour golf tournament where one of my favorite golfers, Rickie Fowler, surmounted various demons to emerge on top.

Then, the Super Bowl started.

I could hardly stay awake. It’s not much fun to watch a defensive football game, no matter how good those defenses were in the eyes of a football expert. Not me. I was waiting for just a bit of offense.

So, if the game left something to be desired, perhaps the ads – the cost was $5 million per minute – would provide a bit of solace, as is often the case as companies make the investment to reach a huge audiene.

No.

From Pepsi, to Bud Light, to Audi, I thought all of the ads were yawners.

The best, I thought, came from Microsoft. The ad was called “We All Win,” and chronicled the company’s commitment to make its Xbox product available to persons with physical disabilities, especially children. It achieved that through something called an “Adaptive Controller.”

In the ad, Microsoft focuses on kids talking about their gaming experiences.

Kathleen Hall, corporate vice president of brand, advertising and research, said “the Xbox Adaptive Controller helps the children enhance their gaming experience and compete in new ways. What better message for a premiere sporting event?”

The Adaptive Controller was announced in July and came out in September. It costs $100, and, thanks to ports on the back, can be customized for specific uses. In the ad, for example, you see one kid using it with foot pedals to operate the buttons or triggers he might need to use.

“No matter how your body is or how fast you are, you can play,” another kid says.

Kudos to Microsoft for investing in the ad and for providing at least highlight in an otherwise “snooze Super Bowl.”