Super Bowl Sunday Thoughts

I was snowed in yesterday so I had lots of time to watch television. Here are my thoughts on the Super Bowl and more:

- Enough of the Danica Patrick commercials! Does anyone really ever go up to her and ask if she’s the Go Daddy girl? Even if someone actually does this, no one rips their shirt open wearing a Go Daddy tank top in front of Patrick. If this really happens on a regular basis, Danica Patrick should have her own TV channel.

- The Super Bowl commercials were not very memorable. However, Doritos and Budweiser had some decent ads and seeing Betty White run a crossing pattern better than Limas Sweed* was fun.

- Congratulations to Dick LeBeau on his election to the football Hall of Fame! Well deserved even if it was 30 years late.

- Jerry Rice received the biggest ovation during the pre-game ceremony introducing the new Hall of Fame class. I guess people recognized him from Dancing With the Stars.

- While I still like the Puppy Bowl, it just wasn’t the same without Harry Kalas.

- As a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, I’m never going to like the Washington Capitals. However, this has nothing to do with the team itself. While I think Alexander Ovechkin takes cheap shots on occasion, he is amazing to watch on the ice. It’s easy to recognize that he is one of the best players in the world. My issue comes down to Capitals fans. There is no respect at all among Caps fans for Sidney Crosby. Caps fans must have noticed all of his goals during last season’s playoff series where he went straight to the net and took abuse and hits from the Caps defenders to score. Crosby had another two goals against the Caps yesterday. Keep bringing those pacifiers while showing your admiration towards Alexander Semin, Caps fans.



- Only two days until the 2nd Annual Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament!


* I feel bad making fun of Limas Sweed. I really hope he has a breakout season next year. Of course, breakout would be 10 catches.

Super Bowl Game Day Links for Steelers Fans

Are you spending the day waiting for Super Bowl XLIII to begin? Here are some links, especially if you’re a Steelers fan, to help you pass the time until kick-off:

There is an incredible list of Steelers fight songs on the Steelers in Hoboken website. I’m still a huge fan of the Polamalu Song.

You can’t have a Steelers’ Super Bowl without hearing Myron Cope. This site has dozens of Cope quotes.

The New York Times and ESPN both have wonderful articles about the history and legacy of the Terrible Towel.

Michael Wilbon wrote a nice article about Dan Rooney. I love Ryan Clark’s quote comparing Rooney to Washington owner Dan Snyder:

"I'm not saying one way is better than another," Clark said, "But you're standing in line to get lunch, and you have to force him to go ahead of you. He sat at my bedside when I was sick [in the hospital]. He's a fascinating guy. He drives a Grand Prix. I can't help but compare it to Dan Snyder's driver and limousine, and the helicopter he'd land at practice. My first reaction to being around Mr. Rooney was, 'He must not know he's rich.'"

Don’t forget that the Puppy Bowl airs today at 3:00 on Animal Planet with a kitten half-time show. Jessie Dinh, Discovery Studios producer, took questions and comments about Puppy Bowl V in a Washington Post discussion on Friday. Plus, check out PSAMP's live-blog of this event.

Cotter of One For the Other Thumb asked Steeler fans where they are watching game. Here is my response:

When the playoffs began three years ago, we agreed to host a Super Bowl party for a group of friends. The Steelers were the #6 seed and seemed to have little chance of reaching the Super Bowl especially since the Indianapolis Colts dominated the league during the regular season. About a month later, the Steelers defeated the Broncos and were headed to Detroit. Since we had already agreed to host a party, we didn't want to break our plans. We had 3 or 4 other couples at our home, and I was the only person who truly followed the Steelers. There were a couple people with Pittsburgh ties who rooted for the Steelers to win and a few others that wanted the Steelers to win because they wanted me to be in a good mood. However, there was one person at the party who was a Redskins fan. He openly supported the Seahawks because he felt that Seattle winning would look better for the Redskins, who lost to the Seahawks earlier in the playoffs. I still don't understand the logic behind this. I should note that although I did not kick him out of my home during the game, we are not friends anymore. I'm not sure if I've even talked to him since that night.

So now that the Steelers are back in the Super Bowl, I've had a bit of a dilemma about where to watch the game this year. I thought about going back to Pittsburgh but I really can't take off time from work since I have a big conference coming up and just took the hockey road trip vacation. We could host again but I don't want to deal with making sure everyone has enough food and drink while trying to watch the game. So instead, we are going over to our friends' house. There will be about 10 people there, and although no else is really a Steelers fan, they are all football fans. They understand the importance the Steelers have in my life, and the hosts have already assured me that no one will be rooting for the Cardinals. While ideally I'd like to watch the game with only Steelers fans, I'm going to watch the game with close friends which is all anyone can ask for.

Plus, I'm sure I'll be on the phone with my dad and brother throughout the game.


Mondesi’s House has had amazing pictures of Steelers fans and Terrible Towels around the world throughout the week.

The Post-Gazette’s Brian O’Neill compares Pittsburgh fans and Arizona fans.

The Baltimore Sun writes about Steeler Nation.

I participated in a Super Bowl preview round table on MVN.

I generally like the Cardinals because Steve Breaston went to my high school (go Woodland Hills) and I watched Larry Fitzgerald at Pitt. However, here is a reason to hate the team (h/t Courtney via The Terrible Blog)



Finally, the local NBC station interviewed the President of DC Steeler Nation. If they want a true taste of Steelers fans in the area, the station should have a camera at the Pour House tonight.



GO STEELERS!

Super Bowl Weekend Links

Are you just sitting around your home waiting for the game to start? Here are some things you can do to pass the time:

Take the Traveler IQ Challenge. The objective is to click locations on the map as quickly as possible. I made it through level 6 where I scored 29255 points on World Capitals – Medium (30000 points are needed to advance to the next level). My overall score was 195,932 points. Warning: this is very addictive.

Great recaps of Thursday night’s Lost episode by Kassy K and Liz Kelly/Jen Chaney at The Washington Post.

Speaking of the Post, Kevin Mohs, vice president for production at Animal Planet, was online on Friday answering questions about the Puppy Bowl.

Reebok is making Kool-Aid shoes! (via Deadspin).

Finally, Happy Groundhog Day! Unfortunately, this is another year that I am not in Punxsutawney for the celebration. Hopefully, I’ll be there next year. (I seem to say this every year!) Yes, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so that means six more weeks of winter. For all of your Groundhog Day coverage, visit the official website of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.

Really Random Thoughts

This is going to be all over the place so bear with me and enjoy:

* The starting line-up for Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl IV has been announced. I hope Harry Kalas does not get Jack, Jack and Jackson confused. The always entertaining Puppy Bowl airs at 3 on Super Bowl Sunday and then replays at 6, 9 and midnight.

* I am getting very excited about the season debut of Lost tonight. Unfortunately, there’s a decent chance I may miss the episode since I’m flying to Dallas.

* Speaking of Dallas, I’m going to be there for five days and neither the Mavericks nor Stars have a home game. Since they share an arena, how is this possible?

* I hate admitting this but I have started watching Rock of Love 2 on VH1 (see the note below before clicking on the link). My favorite two “contestants” are Ambre and Kristy Jo. They seem the most real and the least “slutty” if either of these is possible on this ridiculous show. By the way, if you click on the show’s link above, which is PG-13 and may not be suitable for work, Bret Michaels looks almost as feminine as some of the cast members at least in the hair and face.

* Is it just me or does it seem that all of the current and former Republican presidential candidates have a strong dislike of Mitt Romney.

* After the New Hampshire primary, I wrote, “I am really intrigued by Rudy Giuliani’s strategy. He punted Iowa and New Hampshire and is hoping to win in the bigger states like Florida. It doesn’t seem like a very good strategy, but what do I know?” Apparently, I did know something! You can’t essentially sit out six states (well five if you don’t include Wyoming) and then show up part-way through. I’m guessing that no candidate will attempt Giuliani’s strategy in the near future. There may be candidates that enter the race late, but not those who enter but do minimal campaigning in the first few states.

* Interesting post and comments in The Washington Post about Bill Richardson and whether he’ll endorse Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. I really like Richardson and if a Democrat wins the White House, he should be the Vice President or a member of the Cabinet.

Puppy Bowl III

Puppy Bowl III is now airing on Animal Planet. New this year is the Tailgate Party where they have several dogs cooking up a BBQ and sitting on lawn chairs. I love the fact that Harry Kalas did the introduction and announced the pre-game line-up, which included Jackson pictured left.

In case you are wondering, yes, I am procrastinating from doing some cleaning around the house. Plus, this is more entertaining than watching the Super Bowl pre-game show where Dan Marino is currently practicing flipping a coin for the coin toss.

Harry Potter and the Puppy Bowl

No, this is not the title of J.K. Rowling’s seventh book, just two of the items I want to write about. First, Harry Potter 7 (aka “Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows”) will be released on July 21. There is a good chance that I will be one of those people at a Barnes & Noble or Borders at midnight since I don’t want to wait like I did for Harry Potter 6. I was rather impatient and was practically begging for the book to arrive.

Happy (belated) Groundhog Day to everyone! Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, so we can expect an early spring. You heard it here first: I AM GOING TO PUNXSUTAWNEY FOR GROUNDHOG DAY 2008. I know that I have said this for years, but it really is going to happen next year. Groundhog Day is on a Saturday, so I won’t have to miss work. My brother already said that he will go with me (of course, he could be humoring me), so we just have to iron out the details.

So there’s this football game tomorrow, and I’m not that excited about it. It probably has something to do with the fact that the Steelers aren’t in it this year. Anyway, is it possible to root for the Colts to win so that Tony Dungy gets a Super Bowl victory as a coach but that Peyton Manning somehow doesn't win? Does this make sense? Maybe Manning will go 2-20 with 3 interceptions, but the Colts manage to win thanks to Erie’s own Bob Sanders. I just don’t want to see even more Peyton Manning commercials.

Finally, if you do not want to watch 6 hours of pre-game coverage, turn to Animal Planet for Puppy Bowl III, starting at 3:00pm Eastern on Sunday. The Washington Post had a Q&A with the Puppy Bowl producer. My favorite question is “Should we be expecting any wardrobe malfunctions in this year's Puppy Bowl?” (In case you’re wondering, the answer is “Thankfully no puppy wardrobe, so no fear of wardrobe malfunctions! We do call "fouls" when we have to clean up puppy messes though - and our referee has by far the dirtiest job in professional sports.” Yes, I'll probably watch a few some of it.