Here are the nominations for February’s Woman We Love.
– Poppy Montgomery from Without a Trace
– Carrie Underwood
– Sienna Miller
– Kate Hudson
– Cheryl Tweedy
– Jenn Sterger
– Minka Kelly from Friday Night Lights
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Author: Vin
Vin is a Philly boy who shouldn't be invited into your house because he'll judge you on your book and music collection. He owns Dawkins, Utley, Iverson, and Lindros jerseys, which is all you really need to know about him. He can be reached at [email protected].
1. Dunking Royalty
Finally, the league has brought together the best of the best for the slam dunk competition. Too bad they’re only there to repeatedly hold up placards with the number 10 on them. Michael Jordan, Jul ius Erving, Dominique Wilkins, Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter make up the list of superstar judges who will grade an all new group of mediocre dunkers. But this year, the league has decided to spice things up by throwing in a couple of big fellas into the competition as Dwight Howard and Tyrus Thomas join Nate Robinson and Gerald Green. And thanks to Robinson’s time consuming performance last year that lulled the audience to sleep after 14 attempts, there is a two minute time limit placed on each player.
2. Money Hungry
Most players will tell you they simply love playing the game, it’s their childhood passion and it’s a privilege to make a career out of a game. Then there are the players that will tell you the truth, like Chicago’s Tyrus Thomas. When asked how it felt to be a part of the All-Star experience, Thomas replied, “I’m just going to go out there, get my check and call it a day.” He was then asked if it’s beneficial for a rookie to take part in such an event. “I’m just into the free money,” said Thomas. At least he’s honest.
3. All-Star Performance?
Carmelo Anthony did something last night that most people would assume he had done numerous times before. While everyone is aware of Melo’s scoring abilities, last night was the first time he ever displayed his complete array of talents by racking up his first triple-double. Could this performance help convince David Stern to put Melo on the All-Star team?
Melo’s triple dip marks the 17th time someone has gotten a triple-double this season. Only Jason Kidd with eight and Andre Igoudala (two) have pulled off the feat more than once. The other players on this season’s list include LeBron James, Boris Diaw, Ryan Gomes, Andre Miller, Chris Paul and John Salmons.
Monday’s Player of the Day: Carmelo Anthony vs. Phoenix 40 min, 31 pts (FG: 12-27, 3FG: 0-2, FT: 7-8), 10 reb, 10 ast
Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Phoenix (38-10) @ Portland (20-29) Phoenix is always just one win away from ripping off another massive win streak, and chances are tonight will be one of those wins. The Suns won their last game against Denver, so a win tonight would officially begin another streak. Amare Stoudemire has an interesting matchup with Zach Randolph who is looking to sneak onto the Western Conference All-Star team. A big performance against one of the league’s best teams could go a long way in helping David Stern come to a conclusion.
Buzzer Beater: Caron Butler did a lot to quiet his critics last night when he dropped a career-high 38 points on the Sonics. The young journeyman is en route to his first All-Star Game, where he will join up with the Wizard’s main man, Gilbert Arenas. And while he is having a solid season, if you want to get picky about it, he’s the most questionable Eastern Conference All-Star. But when the coaches are forced to choose between Joe Johnson on a pathetic Atlanta squad or Butler who plays for one of the conference’s best squads; unfortunately, they’re gonna automatically take the winner every time.
Overtime Buzzer Beater: Read yesterday’s Buzzer Beater and simply replace the words “three” with “four,” “Sunday’s” with “Monday’s” and “Hawks” with “76ers” in the next to last sentence.
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About that "anti-gay" Snickers ad
An immediate outcry yesterday about the “homophobic ad” above has promoted Snickers to pull the whole campaign. You can’t find any trace of it on the website that was promoted at the end of the spot – it just redirects you to the Snickers site. A website called Americablog.com breaks down the whole campaign and explains why it “promotes violence against gays and lesbians.” A pretty compelling argument from those guys — but not so fast — a column from Outsports.com asserts that everyone is just overreacting.
All of the endings point to a rather sophisticated message. The two men in the “Love Boat” ending don’t protest or even react to the third man’s solicitation. And in the other three endings, the two men try to do something “manly” to make up for their kiss. Instead, they end up doing things – drinking motor oil and hitting each other with metal objects – that are just harmful and stupid, or they do something – ripping off chest hair – that could be considered “gay.”The sophisticated message seemed to be that the overreaction of “straight” men to homosexual contact is completely irrational, and, in the case of the proposed threesome, maybe that contact is not entirely shunned.
…
This ad is not remotely gay-bashing. The point of the reaction of the men was so ridiculous that it made the reaction of straight men to homosexual contact the butt of the joke, not the kiss itself.
Plausible. But the problem with this argument is that it assumes any of the gay-bashing morons out there would be sophisticated enough to understand the satire of the commercial — if that was indeed the way Snickers/Mars intended it. The author is right though, Snickers got more advertising out of the controversy than they did from the $2.6M spot itself and their bottom line won’t be hurt one bit: “And if I were Mars Inc., which produces Snickers, I wouldn’t worry too much about the boycott that Aravosis is threatening: Containing a high fat content and more calories than you could burn running a 5k, Snickers bars don’t get eaten by gay men anyway.”
Hey, it’s only a problem if you lose! Barkley said he won about $700,000 in Las Vegas this weekend from blackjack and betting on the Super Bowl. But he also said he lost $2.5M in a six hour period last year. But Barkley still denies he has a problem.
It’s a stupid, bad habit. I have a problem. But the problem is when you can’t afford it. I can afford to gamble. I didn’t kill myself when I lost two and half million dollars… I like to gamble and I’m not going to quit.
Barkley is one of our favorite athletes. He always gives great quotes and isn’t afraid to make fun of himself. So let’s hope that someone he actually respects sits him down and tells him to cut it out. Just because you can afford to lose $2.5M doesn’t mean you should. Perhaps Ron Jaworski should tell him the sad tale of Leonard Tose.
Links:
[SI]: Charles Barkley says he won about $700,000 gambling in Las Vegas
[SC]: Charles Barkley is a big black whale
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Best and Worst of the Super Bowl Ads
We don’t know what was more boring, the end of Super Bowl XLI or the Super Bowl ads that companies paid $2.6M for. Very few ads stood out last night but we still have our picks for best and worst ad. (All the Super Bowl ads can be found at ifilm.com.
The best ad was the careerbuilder.com jungle warfare spot. Granted, this would only make sense to anyone who has ever had a corporate job but that’s probably most of you.
The absolute worst ad in the history of Super Bowl advertising goes to Salegenie.com. Most people agree that this spot was a complete waste of money… and they showed it twice! Will the Salesgenie people convince themselves that the fact that everyone is talking about how bad the commercial was makes it a successful commercial? Someone over there should be shot for wasting $5M.
And finally, a tip of the hat to the NFL Network, not for that putrid fan generated commercial but for the Chad Johnson Super Bowl Party spot. Patriots fan to David Beckham: “So you’re a professional football player. For Los Angeles. I dunno if it’s gonna fly at this party but I like it. Good angle.”
However, ads aren’t necessarily targeted to everyone so we took a sampling of Super Bowl ad critiques out there on the internet today. Here are some of them:
[Yahoo]: Dan Wetzel’s Super Bowl ads review: “Later, GMC gave us a robot contemplating suicide after getting laid off (it turned out to be a dream). This was particularly hilarious, we’re sure, to all of the recently laid off General Motors factory workers.”
[SuperAdFreak.com]: BLOGGING THE 2007 SUPER BOWL AD: “Doritos user-generated spot: I hope this commercial finally dispels the myth of user- generated content, and most importantly as a submission-based campaign. It doesn’t work. These spots aren’t good, or funny, and there is a reason people get paid to make ads for a living.”
[Salon.com]: King Kaufman’s Sports Daily: “This year’s commercials were the usual warmed-over stew, a few mildly amusing spots, a few semicreative ones and a whole bunch of obvious big budgets used to no great effect.”
[Ad Age] Bob Garfield’s Super Bowl Ad Review Text Column: “Two auto mechanics are so famished they eat one Snickers bar from opposite ends, culminating in something suspiciously “Brokeback Mountain.” This freaks them out. Viewers can go to Snickers.com to choose their favorite ending. The vote should have come at the beginning, and it should have been ‘No.'”
And if that wasn’t enough, here are some more opinions on the Super Bowl ads:
[Neurosciencemarketing.com]: Super Bowl Ads: Brain Dead
[The Opionated Marketer]: Super Bowl Ads – Play by Play
[USA Today]: How all the ads ranked in USA TODAY’s Super Bowl Ad Meter
[Know More Media]: Top 10 2007 Super Bowl Ads
Soccer in Italy has gotten completly out of control. Just two weeks ago, a team official from a 4th division (think AAA ball) was killed during a brawl when someone kicked him in the head. Now in Serie A, a policeman was killed when rioting broke out between fans after a game between Catania and Palermo. 40-year-old Fillipo Raciti was killed either by a blow to the stomach or being hit in the face with a small explosive. The autopsy is pending.
First of all, a small explosive? Who the hell brings a small explosive to a soccer match? (Yes, a fan once shot a flare gun at Veterans Stadium but into some empty seats.) Second, what the hell is going on with Italian soccer fans? It’s like they’re determined to take hooliganism to the next level. Italian officials have suspended soccer matches indefinitely until they can figure out what to do about the insanity. You know it’s bad when the Pope has to come out and remind Catholics that violence in soccer is… bad.
One possible reason for the tremendous amounts of violence in Italian soccer are the traveling fans according to EU justice commissioner Franco Frattini.
In Italy the clubs guarantee great bonuses to fans who travel to follow their teams in away games: free travel, discounted tickets. Abroad fans have to pay for their own tickets, while here [in Italy] they are offered by the clubs
We actually like soccer around here at Sportscolumn but the next time someone puts down American football and talks about how great of a game soccer is, we’ll remind them that at least we don’t riot to kill people (a new plasma TV will do) and blatant racism isn’t tolerated in NFL stadiums.
Links:
[Toronto Star]: Thousands mourn officer killed in Italy soccer riot
[Catholic Online]: Pope condemns violence ‘disfiguring’ soccer world
1. O.K. Okur
While Carlos Boozer has received most of the praise for Utah’s fast start this year, it will be Mehmet Okur who must keep the Jazz in tune over the next month. Okur has been far more important to the Jazz than his stats show, and his last two games are far more indicative of how Jerry Sloan will utilize the Turkish big man. Against the Spurs, Okur had 31 points (10-14), hitting three 3-pointers, and 11 boards. He followed that with a 29 point, 12 rebound effort against the Suns. The Jazz won both games. Okur is a poor man’s Dirk Nowitzki who must now play at a consistently high level for Utah to maintain in the West. That’s something he hasn’t done over any significant span of his career.
2. Road Trip Detour
The Lakers thought they were heading to a routine morning shootaround before meeting the Wizards on Saturday. Instead they received a 45 minute long tour of the historical landmarks surrounding the D.C. area by a bus driver who doubled as an untrained tour guide. Call it one of the Zen Master’s many means of motivation because it worked as Los Angeles beat the Wizards with all five starters scoring in double figures. Kobe Bryant was so inspired that he dropped 39 on Washington. This might sound like odd pregame behavior, but Phil Jackson is known to have some very eccentric conduct. Jackson won’t touch fans before a game because it disrupts his aura; which is probably a medically sound decision when in L.A.
3. Gambling Man
Gilbert Arenas combined two of his favorite things in life, gambling and filling the hoop, to make a little extra cash off teammate DeShawn Stevenson. Arenas bet that he could make more college treys with one hand than Stevenson could with both. And Agent 0 came through again, hitting 73 of 100 one-handers while Stevenson started hot but couldn’t keep his cool and came up short as Arenas constantly taunted and distracted him. How much does a simple wager of this sort cost friends in the NBA? Just a meager $20,000; that should be enough to pay off the ice sculptures Gilbert had at his birthday party.
Sunday’s Player of the Day: Joe Johnson @ New Jersey 49 min, 37 pts (FG: 12-23, 3FG: 4-6, FT: 9-10), 5 reb, 8 ast, 1 blk
Monday’s Game to Watch: Chicago (28-20) @ Utah (31-17) Ben Gordon is smoking hot and the Bulls are rolling because of it as they have now won eight of their last 11 games. Chicago received a scare when Ben Wallace went down last week, but he seems to be back to his normal intimidating self again. The Jazz are undermanned without All-Star Carlos Boozer in the lineup but they still hold an impressive 17-6 record at home. The Mehmet Okur/Ben Wallace match-up should be interesting, considering Okur use to ride the pine behind Wallace in Detroit. While Gordon and Deron Williams will provide plenty of backcourt highlights.
Buzzer Beater: New Jersey just cannot get over the hump as they lost yet another game by two points or less. Two weeks ago, the Nets lost three games in a row by a single point each. Then it looked like they might have finally gotten on track when they beat Denver and Utah in back to back games. New Jersey even got a little break of their own when Vince Carter buried a buzzer beating 3-pointer to beat the Jazz by a point. But now, the Nets have lost three in a row that includes Sunday’s home loss by two points to the lowly Hawks. The only thing worse for New Jersey than all of the close losses are all of the blowout losses.
We see you working, Brady. While the rest of us schmoes flip through the Victoria’s Secret catalog looking at the scenery, Tom Brady looks at it like a menu. According to the NY Post, Brady is gonna get through em by the time Rex Grossman throws his first interception with the second stringers in next year’s camp.
Tom Brady was spotted without his honey, Gisele Bundchen. However, he did have eyes for Bundchen’s fellow Victoria Secret model Selita Ebanks. A spy said, “He spent the whole night with Selita and left with her – he didn’t pay attention to any other girl.
We’ve asked it before… when does Tom Brady’s deal with the devil end?
And finally, this little quote from a female Patriots fan following last night’s Super Bowl: “To Peyton Manning: Our QB has 3 Super Bowls, and you’re ugly. So even when you win, we win.” Of course that makes no sense… unless you are a chick or Tom Brady, in which case it makes perfect sense.
Links:
[Ben Maller]: Odd Notes & Stuff
Our pick for MVP
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Postgame Don Shula is still the man in Miami as he gets to bring the Vince Lombardi trophy to Roger Goodell to present to Jim Irsay and Tony Dungy. Jim Irsay looks kinda slimy and he just had the worst transition in the history of SB acceptance speeches.
Who had Tony Dungy being the first guy to mention The Lord? What’s the payout on that? And…um… have we ever had two non-Christian coaches in the Super bowl?
More importantly… the MVP goes to… Peyton Manning. Somehow the presenting of the MVP trophy has turned into The Price is Right as Peyton gets to take home a Caddy. Sad. Manning doesn’t really deserve this award but he’s the biggest media guy on the Colts and they couldn’t give it to Tony Dungy. Rhodes truly was the MVP though.
Allright, that does it for us over here at SC blog. We leave you with one final thought: How much weed is Edgerring James blazing up right now?
0:00 And it’s over. Colts win 29-17. Gamblers taking the Colts covered. Also, the over/under was 47 points. Hmmm… the holder for the Colts should watch his back. Congratulations to the Colts and Tony Dungy and their fans. What a great ride for those guys.
What are the odds that someone asks Lovie Smith what it feels like to be the first black coach to lose a Super Bowl?
Sorry Sarah Spain about your Bears but nothing good can come out of being associated with something as shitty as Axe Body Spray.
1:42 Bears eschew the FG and take a couple more seconds off the clock. The Bears are trying to mount a desperate comeback that is destined to end with another Rex Grossman INT.
I’m breathlessly awaiting the winner of the NFL Super Bowl ad contest. (Meanwhile Honda is wasting money.)
Wait… was that it? It’s so hard to say goodbye? With a final shot of Favre? Fucking hell. That was a disgrace.
5:32 Desmond Clark’s inability to hold onto the ball means this game is pretty much over unless there is some miracle. Now is the time to play conservative, Dungy. Chicago will be ripping at the ball on every play. The aforementioned Bears-Cards MNF must be haunting Colts fans right now. Rhodes is making his bid for MVP as he picks up a huge first down.
5:55 Already in 4 down territory, the Bears have a uge 4th and 9 here. If they don’t convert this, the fat lady will head towards the stage.
7:31 Is Tony Dungy/Tom Moore trying to Schottenheimer this game?
9:55 The fat lady is getting warmed up. Rex just threw another INT and the Colts are set up to put this thing away if they can put together a little drive. Expect plenty of Addai and Rhodes for the rest of this game. Harrison played decently and Wayne had that big TD but the MVP of this game are the running backs and the Colts defense.
Can anyone tell me what that celebration the Colts do means? It’s like a golf clap/ tipped pass indication.
11:44 Uhhh nevermind. Hayden just returned an INT for a TD. Will Grossman be the first QB to get replaced since Tony Eason? The Bears challenge but the play stands. Tony Corrente is determined not to be mentioned in the same breath as Bill Leavy. Colts up 29-17. Everyone is IMing me that the game is over but does anyone remember the Bears-Cardinals MNF game. Granted that was the Cards but crazier things have happened this year.
Al Davis is ready to overpay for Hayden and then have him rot on the bench.
13:54 Marvin Harrison hurts his leg on an incomplete. This could prove big in Colts next drive. Just answered my last question. It could be Muhsin Muhammad.
14:30 I know it’s still early but who would get the MVP at this point if the Colts were to win? Joseph Addai? Who would get it if the Bears win? The entire special teams? Whoever scores the TD?
M.I.A.
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0:37 Tony Dungy makes a good challenge on the Marvin Harrison catch but we’ll see if the ref agrees with him. The 3rd quarter is winding down and it’s been pretty good so far. Yep folks, it is a catch. Indy wins the challenge. The ref who overruled the initial call looks pretty silly now. The Colts convert the 3rd and 2 and that takes us to the end of the 3rd Quarter.
1:30 Robbie Gould comes up pretty big and knocks in a 44 yard FG after Grossman almost throws an INT.
3:16 The Colts kicking team will be shot if they lose this game. They just set up the Bears on their 40 yard line.
And there it is, the airing of the Kevin Federline commercial that was leaked onto the internet early this week. Great commercial. Bud Light & Axe one is pretty funny too. The Nationwide Kevin Federline commercial and the careerbuilder.com spots are in the running for best commercial.
4:01 The Colts march down the field but they can’t knock it into the endzone. Adam Vinatieri gets the FG and the Colts are up by 8. The Bears offense has to run at least 6 plays this possession or the Bears defense will be cursing them out at they come off the field.
Careerbuilder.com wins.
6:17 Rex Grossman almost turned it over twice and the Colts will get it back and the Bears defense comes back onto the field.
It’s always disappointing when companies recycle old commercials for the Super Bowl. We expect a new commercial if you’re going to spend this much money on a slot. Listen Coke, this comemrcial showing “coke-machineland” isn’t so great that you need to show it here.
7:45 A very stupid challenge by Tony Dungy. Why would you challenge that unless you had video/photo proof already? Adam Vinatieri (not going to prematurely type this one cause I jinxed him on the last one) makes it and the Colts are up 19-14. As dominating as the Colts have been, they are a kick return or fumble return away from losing the game.
15:00 Total of 6 turnovers in that first half only lead to 7 points. Either the defenses are great at recovering or the offenses are piss poor. Colts are dominating on the stat board but only lead by 2 points. Here we go with the second half…