Thursday, February 01, 2007

Thursday 02/01 A.M. Quickie:
SB XLI Can't Arrive Fast Enough

Super Bowl XLI Ramp-Up: Cripes, is it here yet? I really don't have much to say. All the coverage has been recycled quotes from Media Day. Yawn. And having just come from two days in Chicago, I'm a little OD'ed on the SB.

The big post is tomorrow, when I/we make our picks. So start preparing now. My big dilemma: Do I stick with my well-publicized (uh, self-publicized) Colts over Bears pick from the PRESEASON? Or has my time in Chicago -- and perhaps my legacy of serious Bears fandom from age 0-18 -- affected my judgment? Come back tomorrow.

You know what we haven't talked about yet? The ads. There's the K-Fed ad (which doesn't deserve our attention), but which ads have you heard about or seen that you think will score big? Hell, most of them are already available on YouTube. A huge part of the SB XLI live-blog on this blog will be about the ads.

UPDATE: There IS a big story: Super Bowl Week, 15-minutes-of-fame, hot-for-Web-oddity Bears fan Sarah Spain rejected Matt Ufford (of WithLeather and KissingSuzyKolber) as the guy to give her extra Super Bowl ticket to. This was lame. And wrong. You can't bite the hand that feeds you freaking Super Bowl tickets. Check out WL for Matt's epic three-part tale of rejection.

NFL Coaching: Given that the Cowboys haven't picked a head coach yet, I'm going to predict that the next coach of the team will be... Ron Rivera.

(Why doesn't the NFL let assistant coaches whose teams are in the Super Bowl do job interviews? Is it really THAT disruptive?)

Kobe scores 43 in return from suspension. (Bitter much?) The Celtics continue to suck. (Oden much?)

College Hoops Parity Watch: Wisconsin as No. 2? Not for long: The Badgers (one of my preseason Final Four teams) lost at Indiana. The Gators and Heels rolled on – I think they're on a collision course for the NCAA title game.

Speaking of Oden, if the Celtics DO get the first overall pick in the NBA Draft, they might want to consider picking Kevin Durant over Greg Oden. Did you see Durant's game last night? 30-some points, 20-some rebounds. Yeesh. He's a monster.

Nick Saban is a complete jackass.

Barry Bonds' various contract snafus are even more boring than you think they are.

Today's Must-Read: The always-brilliant Henry Abbott over at TrueHoop has this amazing post that continues to enlighten we plebian NBA fans about the real inner workings of the system. Or is that "Wes-tem?" Here's the link.

Carmelo-vs-Shanoff MySpace Challenge: In the latest update (as of 11:38 a.m. on Thursday), I have reached 270 friends. Carmelo has 31,145. Based on my "1 Percent" goal, I need to reach 312 friends. Only 42 behind! The big question: When will Melo request to be my friend?

Not about sports, but perhaps of interest to you: Do you like politics? Do you run a politics blog or simply like to talk about politics? Do you appreciate the reference if I compliment you for being "clean?" Dan Lewis, one of the brains behind ArmchairGM.com, wants to talk with you about a potential opportunity. Email him at dan[dot]lewis[at]gmail[dot]com.

-- D.S.

41 comments:

CMFost said...

I like the feature on the WWL this morning about Super Bowl Rings, Some of them are pretty sweet.

CMFost said...

And Shanoff for your information it was 37 Points and 23 Boards for Durant.

Marcus T said...

Maybe I am fucking insane, but my opinion of K-Fed is changing. I actually like the ad, and kind of find him likable. Maybe seeing that footage of him receiving the breakup text from Britney softened my hatred. If you had the chance to bang Britney for a couple years then walk away a millionaire, wouldn't you?

And agreed, coaches should be allowed to interview even during the playoffs. It's only a problem because the media says so, not because it actually is one.

Not A Gunslinger said...

You're in my top 4, right behind barbaro

Not A Gunslinger said...

And is there something specific on Saban that I haven't seen, or just the usual?

ToddTheJackass said...

The C's definitely could use either the first or second pick (Oden or Durant).

Maybe they could also trick Isaiah into taking Telfair.

Patriots64 said...

Deadspin had the Saban story yesterday.

Natsfan74 said...

I will argue that the best run of our generation is Justin Timberlake. He was with Brittany at the absolute peak of her fame, then with Cameron Diaz. Some would argue even with Janet Jackson. Now he is "alledgedly" with Scarlet Johannson as she rises to prominence. His acting skills are actually pretty good (see SNL), and if you haven't seen D*ck in a Box yet, check it out soon.

Second to Justin is K-Fed. He was with Brittany through the fall (perhaps causing it), but at least he started at the top. He got millions of dollars and access to things he could never touch without her. Now he's on WWE, released an album (albeit a crappy one), and is in a Superbowl commercial. His ability to poke fun at himself makes him almost likeable. I think, overall, this guy went from no-name back-up dancer to one of the 10 most google'ed (is that a verb) guys in America. That qualifies him as successful in my book.

Brian in Oxford said...

Let's see....3 titles and then 20 years later the Celtics are the laughingstock of the league. I suppose I'm in trouble down the road with the Pats, except they were the laughingstock of the league 20 years ago, so it's more like a reversal, than it would be an omen.

Or an Oden....Gotta go BIG if they get the pick. How many power forwards led their teams to titles?

Who else remembers, and I think it was XX on NBC, where they ran the screen blank for a minute, save for a timer, to give everyone a chance to make a bathroom run during the pre-game show?

The worst ads are almost always Pepsi ads, year in and year out.

Andy said...

Jason: Saban said something that can be considered a slur towards people in the Bayou area. I believe the word was "coonass" and people freaked out. He was actually quoting another friend and it was off the record so I think we're making way to big of a deal about this. I didn't even know about it until Saban issued an apology for it.

Dan: barely a mention that MLB rejected the Bonds contract? I know eventually it probably will get approved, but that's kinda big news.

As for the SB Ads: who cares? We can talk about that after the game. The game is hyped enough. THere's NO reason to hype the damn commercials too.

The Badgers lost to a pretty good Indiana team. Not knock on them too much. Indiana's good and Sampson is doing some good things.

This was a pretty weak quickie Dan...

Not A Gunslinger said...

Listened to the Saban thing, didn't come off as a big deal to me. He used a Louisiana phrase which doesn't refer to ethnicity to refer to a Lousiana person of unkown ethnicity in front of Alabama people of unk....alright yeah they were probably all white good ol' boys.

BLUE said...

I intentionally stay away from the superbowl ads prior to the game. That way i can be pleasantly surprised. Although lately none of them are any good. But i do predict the godaddy.com girl to be back again.

Mikepcfl said...

Scott Baio has the greatest career run of all-time...Pam Anderson, Heather Locklear, Brooke Shields, Denise Richards, Nicole Eggert, Nicolette SHeridan, and Erika Eleniak. Not to mention numerous playmates while hanging out with Hef in the 80s. Definitely a legend that K-fed and Timberlake will have trouble catching.

ToddTheJackass said...

Wow, I now have so much more respect for Chachi than I ever have had in my life.

It's a slow news day, isn't it?

Mikepcfl said...

Joanie doesnt even make Chachi's top 10. (Yes, slow news day)

CorrND said...

"Why doesn't the NFL let assistant coaches whose teams are in the Super Bowl do job interviews? Is it really THAT disruptive?"

In reality, probably not. But what if an assistant did interview during Super Bowl Week(s) and then their team lost the Super Bowl? Think there wouldn't be a segment on PTI about whether that was a distraction?

Matt T said...

Not quite the same level but college coordinators interview and take jobs prior to bowl games.

Case in point. Mark Richt had accepted the UGA job prior to FSU's game against OU. That was his last game as the Ocoordinator and they put up 0.

People argued about it then.

CMFost said...

In past years I believe the NFL let Assistants Interview for Jobs during that First week between the Championship games and the Super Bowl. I guess they changed that but I know that is When Romeo Interviewed for the Cleveland job when he got it.

Luke Bell said...

Wisconsin was bound to lose eventually. They don't have the players to "out-talent" teams every night. I still think they are a threat in the tournament, though I probably just jinxed them to a 2nd round loss. :(

Chaddogg said...

Here's a better solution to the NFL ban on letting assistant coaches interview until after they are eliminated:

Ban all new hiring/interviewing of coaches until after the Super Bowl. What, like any of these new coaches are really benefiting tremendously from being on the job now?

Unknown said...

Heels and Gators in finals? Tsk. You should know better.
You really must have ankles of steel to survive jumping off so many bandwagons.

How many college guys with ridiculous numbers do squat in the NBA? Lots. That's why Oden will be #1 if he comes out.

ToddTheJackass said...

If you're saying that Durant can't cut it in the NBA, you're insane. That dude has so much game it's silly.

Now if you're saying Noah might not make a good pro, I think you could be onto something. Considering he has no range whatsoever, and isn't big enough to shove around most NBA centers in the low post, I just see him having some problems in the NBA.

solomonrex said...

I'm with you Chaddog. It should also help level the playing field if every Super Bowl team could lose their assistants because the interviews only started afterwards.

Unknown said...

I'm sure Noah and Durant will be ok. But neither one is so unique physically. Oden is. Say what you will about T-Mac or KG type players..as Durant is...but every team in the NBA would rather get the next Shaq/Russell dominant center.

Natsfan74 said...

Crennel stayed until after the SB. It was Weis who agreed to leave before the SB and even did ND recruiting during SB week.

I think it would be a huge distraction for a coach to interview while their team is still playing -- either regular season or playoffs. "Um, I'm sorry Peyton, I can't review film with you and make a game plan because I'll be in Dallas for 2 days trying to impress Jerry".

I think it would be ok for all teams to wait until after the SB to hire coaches, but no team wants to enter that critical "pre-draft strategy, watch the Senior Bowl hype" without a coach in place.

Joni loves Chachi. That should be to 10. But did you ever look at Scott Baio and think "alright, he's kinda cool."

Andy said...

Has anyone else heard this story about the NFL banning a church in Indianapolis from showing the game using a projector and having a party for it? This is absolutely infuriating to me. I don't know how to create those links that you guys use so here's the URL:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/specials/playoffs/2006/02/01/bc.fbn.superbowl.church.ap/index.html

The NFL just keeps doing more and more things to piss me off. First, it's the NFL Network and it's refusal to let cable companies broadcast it. Now it's this. If the NFL keeps this up, thye are going to start losing fans.

Unknown said...

Rafael-
Kevin Durant will put on 20 pounds of muscle once he reaches the NBA. He has handle (better than KG), he has range (better than KG), he can play D (better than T-Mac), he can pass (better than KG or T-Mac), and he can rebound (better than T-Mac).

I don't know about you, but sounds to me like he's gonna be one hell of an NBA player.

Nick Saban:
If you havn't actually heard the quote, you need to. He uses it in an offhand manner, in an off the record conversation, without saying he would never use such a term.
I've heard media people all day say the same thing. If you make 4 million dollars a year you can't talk like that. Don't make jokes that have racial slurs in them. If it had been acceptable it would've been on the record. He uses it off-hand like it's a word in his vocabulary.
It's offensive, it's wrong, and it's biggoted.

Andy said...

Ok, the URL isn't all there. Just go to SI.com. It's one of the top stories there.

Unknown said...

Guyinthecorner,

Kevin Durant will put on 20 pounds of muscle once he reaches the NBA He has handle (better than KG), he has range (better than KG), he can play D (better than T-Mac), he can pass (better than KG or T-Mac), and he can rebound (better than T-Mac).

20 pounds and he'd still be smaller than Oden.

And Durant has handle..range..defensive skill..passing skill..and rebounding skill..against college players.
Durant is still more 'potential' than actuality.

I think he'll be a great player..and the #2 pick in the draft.

Unknown said...

Rafael-
Who do you think is better:
Carmelo or Lebron?

ToddTheJackass said...

Darko

Patriots64 said...

CB4!!

IkeKrizzule said...

After seeing Gilbert Arenas in 2 games against the Raptors I have to say I am very unimpressed. He had a bad 1st game, although the stats don't show it, shooting a terrible percentage and playing terrible D in a loss. Then he said he was tired 'cuz he just had his birthday party.

He promised revenge, but last nights game was pretty much the same as the first. He took bad shots all game, and then at the end down 20 he started Dwayne-Wading (defined as jumping into defenders on your way to the basket to draw a foul) and wound out with decent stats.

He averaged 30 a game, but so did the Raptor PG's he was assigned to cover. Compared to the games I've seen with Dirk, Nash or Bryant, Arenas didn't even compare.

Hope he doesn't read this, though, he'd probably score 100 against my mens league team.

Unknown said...

Durant v Oden has nothing to do with Carmelo v LeBron as all are different types of players...

but I like LeBron...yes yes, despite the fact that he's also more potential than actuality right now (I firmly believe he has that extra gear Jordan had...but hasn't found it yet).

Except for San Antonio (Duncan) and Houston (Yao)...every other team in the league would take Oden over Durant.

Andy said...

Am I the only one who fines the NFL banning a church from having a Super Bowl party an atrocity? I just want to know if anyone else has heard this story and finds it to be bullshit. It's on SI.com and CNN.com. Let me know what you guys think.

ToddTheJackass said...

Or the most long-winded, since its about Bill Walton.

Remember when he used to do chats? He would answer like 3 questions because he would answer with a page long response. I felt so sorry for whoever had to transcribe his nonsense.

Andy said...

The problem is it's a churhc. And yes, if a synagogue or temple or mosque or anyone wants to do it, they should be able to. More than likely the commercials will still be seen, which means that the advertisers will still get their sales. I think the NFL is being unreasonable here. Heck, if an AA meeting wants to do it, go right ahead. DOn't charge admission fees, and you'll be fine.

Andy said...

All it is is some friends that want to get together and watch the game. What is the big deal? How does it infringe on the copyrights of the NFL? Everything will still be seen that says NFL.

Andy said...

Amen Yanksfan and Generik.

daddy rosee: Do you really think that the NFL is going to lose money on the Super Bowl anytime soon? We;re talking about the Super Bowl.

First of all, ticket prices--astronomical.

Secondly-ad prices I believe I heard $2.7 million for a 30 second spot this year. Those numbers won't go down.

It's the Super Bowl. Anyone that follows football is going to watch and many, many people that DON'T follow football are going to watch. They watch for the commercials. To think the the NFL is going to lose money in the Super Bowl because a church or temple or mosque or whatever has a party and those aren't considered on the Nielson ratings is just stupidity. Use your head dumbass.

Andy said...

And the NFL doesn't pay anything for the rights to show the game. They own the game. The networks by the rights and trust me, they know that people are watching regardless of Nielson rankings.

Eight at Eight Dinner Club said...

Hi Dan -- I love the blog, but never read your ESPN column. How's that for going against the trend? I just requested to be a friend using my business profile (Eight at Eight). Here's to helping you catch Melo!