Congrats to the New Orleans Saints, Robalini's pre-season pick to be the Super Bowl champ... *** http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/527623/who_dat_dat_s_the_super_bowl_champs Who Dat? Dat's the Super Bowl Champs! by Dave Zirin The New Orleans Saints won Super Bowl 44. I can’t believe I’m even typing the words. Five years ago this was the team considered most likely to be moved to Los Angeles. Four and a half years ago, after the levies broke, the concern was not whether there would be a Saints, but whether there would even be a New Orleans. Remember that after Hurricane Katrina, the Speaker of the House, Republican Rep. Dennis Hastert said, "It looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed.” But now Hastert is on the political scrap heap and New Orleans is the home of the Super Bowl champs. I’m not sure whether it feels like a dream or positively preordained. If nothing else, it’s an emotional release from all the idiocy that surrounded the big game. From the military cheerleading, to Tim and Pam Tebow’s vapid Focus on the Family ad, to the Who’s halftime act which clearly violated the Geneva accords: none of it matters now. We’ll go back to building resistance to Obama’s wars. Tim Tebow will go back to being the next Eric Crouch. And the Who will go back to Madame Tussaud’s. For right now, it just doesn’t matter because the New Orleans Saints won the damn Super Bowl. Quarterback Drew Brees will get a lot of love after a 32-for-39 MVP performance. But this was no one-man-band. This was about a head coach in Sean Payton who, with his team down 10-6, exercised a wicked sense of daring and ordered the first non-fourth quarter onside kick in Super Bowl history. This was about a Saints defense that bent but didn’t break, freezing Peyton Manning's Colts at 17 points. This was about an offense that was crisper than potatoes at the bottom of a deep fryer. This was also about a stadium in Miami that sounded nearly as loud as the Louisiana Superdome. But most of all this was about a Crescent City that refuses to die. As Leigh, a friend and blogger from New Orleans, said to me, “The energy in this entire town is incredible. People here have been ready for this for decades...but the way the media is treating the Saints as underdogs isn't a surprise to any of us. The people of New Orleans have been subjected to those attitudes for a long time ourselves, and we still are in too, too many ways, but we're still here. And those who are still unable to return here due to the displacement caused by the storm, or the recession, or other circumstances - they'll return in one way or another, because this is a town that can teach the rest of this country how to live. It always has, and it always will, despite it all.” Leigh’s pride runs across NOLA tonight. The same week that Education Secretary Arne Duncan outrageously called Hurricane Katrina "the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans", the city has delivered a counterpunch to Duncan as well as any and all doubters. Their ascendancy means that the arduous post Hurricane recovery work has gotten more publicity in the last two weeks than it’s received in the last two years. This is maddening but many New Orleans residents wouldn’t have it any other way. As Saints linebacker Scott Fujita’s wife Jaclyn said, “The people of New Orleans love the Saints not because they provide a distraction from their fall but because they are a reflection of their rise.” Whether you believe that or not, the proof is in the very vibe of the city. The French Quarter is hopping tonight. The Ninth Ward is hopping tonight. Algiers is hopping tonight. People in New Orleans are feeling damn good right now, and to scoff at that is to scoff at the very resiliency that makes us human. Community activist and former Black Panther Malik Rahim who has lived in the city for three decades and still works in Algiers, told me, “I haven’t seen people this happy since Katrina. No question about it.” That doesn’t mean all – or even some – questions about the future of New Orleans are solved by a Saints Super Bowl win. Jobs, housing, and the right of return for displaced residents still need to be at the forefront of everyone’s mind. But it does mean that folks of the Big Easy are feeling fearless tonight. Every last person – from Bush to Brownie - that wrote this city off has to now bend down and kiss the ring. President Barack Obama, who often seems allergic to saying the words “New Orleans” must now greet the team at the White House and acknowledge both the Saints and the city that bears their name. Even if tomorrow is unbearably hard, we have today. And today feels mighty fine. Dave Zirin is the author of the forthcoming “Bad Sports: How Owners are Ruining the Games we Love” (Scribner) Receive his column every week by emailing dave@edgeofsports.com. Contact him at edgeofsports@gmail.com. *** http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/07/AR2010020703677.html Once again, Letterman's 'Late Show' promo is spot on By Tom Shales Monday, February 8, 2010 CBS may have stolen its own show last night with the telecast of Super Bowl XLIV, thanks to a network promo that stole thunder from all the costly commercials sprinkled liberally through the game. It tended to upstage ads that boasted the usual snazzy pyrotechnics, lavish production, and even controversy -- as in the case of a spot for the group Focus on the Family that rather vaguely endorsed alternatives to abortion. Even the ads that tried to titillate viewers with sexual imagery and near-naked performers probably stirred less buzz than the 15-second promo for David Letterman's "Late Show." The spot, which aired in the second quarter, opened with Letterman sitting on a couch, eating chips and watching TV. The camera pulled back to reveal two companions watching with Dave: Oprah Winfrey, who appeared in a similar spot in 2007, and the totally unexpected Jay Leno, Letterman's rival since Leno snatched NBC's "Tonight Show" out from under him in 1992. "This is the worst Super Bowl party ever," Letterman says. "You're just saying that because I'm here," Leno counters. Viewers had to be wondering if their eyes deceived them -- why would Leno and Letterman be appearing together? -- and if the whole thing was some diabolical computer-generated trick. Letterman himself dreamed up the spot and wrote it, according to Rob Burnett, president of Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company. "Dave is ruled by one law," Burnett said from the Super Bowl. "Is it funny? And if it's funny, let's do it." The notion of having an NBC star on CBS air was cleared by CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves, executives at NBC, and Leno, who when contacted by Dave's people, agreed immediately, reportedly telling a Letterman staffer, "This is what show business should be." The spot was taped Tuesday night in the Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway, where Letterman's show is performed. Winfrey was smuggled in unnoticed and Leno arrived in a disguise that included dark glasses and a fake mustache. "We were desperate to keep this a secret," Burnett said. "All three of them were professional, friendly and cordial for the 28 minutes or so that it took to do the spot." "Everybody wins in this," Burnett said -- partly because all three performers, especially Leno and Letterman, who've been sniping at each other in recent monologues on their shows -- come off looking like good sports. Elsewhere during the Super Bowl, the splashy and extravagant commercials spilled out in punishing profusion, though some proved highly entertaining and clever. The anti-abortion spot, which CBS aired despite criticism for letting a controversial issue intrude on the fun and frolic of the game, got upstaged by -- of all things -- the Snickers commercial that immediately preceded it. That ad had Betty White, the veteran TV comedienne, supposedly being tackled during a backyard football game. Then in the Focus on the Family spot, the mother of University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was also tackled on-camera, and knocked clear out of the frame. Many sponsors attempted humor, of course. Bud Light showed scientists breaking into a wild orgy when it appeared an asteroid was about to smash into, and destroy, the earth; it turned out to be a mere fizzle that hit their telescope. Another ad for Bud Light, in which people's speaking voices were altered by the hip-hop staple Auto-Tune, was mostly annoying. Coca-Cola's biggest spot featured many of the characters from television's longtime classic cartoon comedy "The Simpsons." The spot starred evil Springfield billionaire Montgomery Burns, who went broke as the spot began. Beyoncé was seen in another spot late in the game, but only for a second; she was scooped up by a mechanical hand as part of an overly busy ad for Vizio. An oddly recurring theme had to do with men asserting their masculinity, or attempting to assert it, as well as the perpetual male fear of emasculation. In an ad for a very portable television called FloTV, a man was seen being dragged through a torturous shopping trip by his girlfriend while sportscaster Jim Nantz ridiculed him. (A later, more serious ad for FloTV, recapped the entire history of television in a minute or so, images both sublime and ridiculous flying by on the screen.) Men in their underwear kept popping up -- in a Coke ad, a man sleepwalks in the wilderness, clad in boxer shorts and a T-shirt. His odyssey ends only after he finds a cold bottle of Coke. An ad for Dockers was keyed to the mantra "I wear no pants!" and featured men in their underwear romping around aimlessly. A funny ad for Career Builder.com, depicting the notion of Casual Friday run amok, showed men and women, most of them anything but physically fit, spending a day at the office in their undies. Men and their traditional roles were also mocked, but somehow also celebrated, in ads introducing Dove for Men, a line of toiletries. A man raced through a recitation of the chores and good deeds he had obediently done to the tune of Rossini's "William Tell Overture," once the theme of "The Lone Ranger" on radio and TV. An ad for Dodge Charger called the muscle car "Man's Last Stand" after depicting a supposedly put-upon male who listed all the nice things he did for his female mate. Were these ads for a post-feminist age? They seemed to have a retro appeal -- for better and worse. Probably worse. Stars appearing included the aging rock group Kiss for Dr Pepper with "a kiss of cherry" (oh, goody), and Brett Favre as he might appear ten years from now -- still vacillating about retirement -- for Hyundai. For the record, Toyota ran a couple of simple ads, black type on a white background, implicitly apologizing for the company's current problems with defective cars and promising "to make things right" -- a hopeful theme, perhaps, for the whole mad parade. *** http://www.usmagazine.com/celebritynews/news/the-real-story-behind-letterman-and-lenos-super-bowl-reunion-201082 Letterman, Leno's Super Bowl Reunion: How It Happened Monday – February 08, 2010 How hard was it to get longtime rivals Jay Leno and David Letterman to agree to shoot that Super Bowl commercial together? Not hard at all, actually. USA Today reports that Letterman, 62, concocted the idea for the 15-second spot, which featured him and Leno, 59, watching the game and Oprah Winfrey serving as the referee. (In the commercial, Letterman bemoans that it's "the worst Super Bowl party ever," and Winfrey, 56, in the middle, tells him to "be nice." Leno then whispers, "Aw, he's just sayin' that because I'm here!") The spot was shot last Tuesday at Letterman's Ed Sullivan Theater in NYC. It was so hush-hush that Leno even flew to New York in disguise, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, dark sunglasses and a fake moustache. Leno was "very professional, very cordial, friendly," says Late Show executive producer Rob Burnett. "They both got that this was funny and a good thing for everybody." Adds Burnett, "There was a lot of conversation internally: 'Is it good for Jay, does it help him?' Dave had no interest in any of those conversations." To him, CBS' promo time was "this is 15 seconds in the Super Bowl; it has to be funny." *** http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/02/saints-super-bowl-win-is-.html Saints' Super Bowl win nips 'MASH' finale for most-watched show ever Joe Flint February 8, 2010 Move over Hawkeye Pierce, looks like Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints just took your ratings crown along with the Super Bowl title. A record 106.5 million people watched the Saints write a storybook ending to their dream season by beating the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV on CBS, according to Nielsen. That's not only the biggest audience to date for the Super Bowl, but the biggest audience for a televised event in the U.S. ever -- barely knocking off the finale of CBS' "MASH," which averaged almost 106 million viewers when it ran in 1983. Of course, the television landscape has changed dramatically here over the last 30 years. When the "MASH" finale ran in 1983, there were 83.3 million television homes; now there are almost 115 million television homes. One can spin that beating the record set by "MASH" was inevitable. Though there may be more eyeballs available now than there were 27 years ago, there are also a lot more options for viewers, making the Super Bowl number more impressive. "MASH" played in the glory days of three broadcast networks. Now, people also have hundreds of cable channels and the Internet as entertainment options. There was some concern that power outages caused by heavy snow in the mid-Atlantic region may have hampered viewing. Instead, it looks like the cold and snow helped, keeping people inside and in front of their televisions on Sunday night. It was a similar story in 1982 when a snowstorm and Arctic blast hit that region and CBS' coverage of the game between the San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals scored a then-record 85.2 million viewers. When it comes to big-event programming, it is becoming clear that the Internet is more friend than foe to television ratings. The growth of social media creates a national water cooler for viewers to share thoughts and trade quips about what they're watching. Someone watching the game alone can now feel like they are watching it at a party without having to worry about cleaning up dishes later. Twitter was overloaded a few times during the game, with people tweeting about advertisements -- particularly the spot featuring David Letterman, Jay Leno and Oprah Winfrey -- as well as about the game and The Who's halftime performance. The big number provided a strong lead-in for CBS' new reality show "Undercover Boss," which premiered after the game and drew 38.6 million viewers. That is also a record for a new show's premiere after the Super Bowl. CBS took a gamble by launching a brand new show after the Super Bowl. The network ran a very tight post-game show so that "Undercover Boss" started at 10:13 p.m. EST. Sometimes the game and post-game show run so long that it's not unusual for the entertainment programming scheduled after the game to start after 10:30 p.m. in the East, which usually means lower ratings as fatigued viewers drift away. In recent years, networks have tended to use the post-Super Bowl time slot for a special episode of an established show, as was the case last year with NBC and "The Office." The last time a network premiered a new show was in 1999, when Fox ran "Family Guy" after the match between the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons. For history buffs, last year's down-to-the-wire Super Bowl match between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals on NBC averaged 98.7 million viewers. This is the fifth year in a row that the Super Bowl has averaged more than 90 million viewers, making it the new norm for success. Prior to the February 2006 match between Pittsburgh and Seattle, the previous seven Super Bowls had fewer than 90 million viewers. Ad rates for Sunday's match were between the range of $2.5 million and $2.7 million although some advertisers may have paid as much as $3 million to get into the game. Look for News Corp.'s Fox, which has the game next year, to use this year's huge ratings to try to push the cost per 30-second spot well over the $3-million mark. If it seemed like you had more time to run to the kitchen or bathroom during the game, that's because you did. According to industry consulting firm Kantar Media, the telecast had 47 minutes and 50 seconds of commercials, a new record. If only a few had been as clever as the spot with Letterman, Leno and Winfrey. *** http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/article/2010-02-06/pro-football-hall-fame-vote-makes-it-wonderful-day-be-alive Pro Football Hall of Fame vote makes it 'a wonderful day to be alive' Tears mingle with pride and remembrance for Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice and five others in the 2010 enshrinement class. Dennis Dillon Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- It was a day for tears, cherished memories and a coincidental fixation on the number 44 as seven new members were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame here Saturday. Jerry Rice: "There's a sacrifice you have to make if you wanted to be great, and I respected this game."Wide receiver Jerry Rice and running back Emmitt Smith both were first-ballot selections. They will bring the most receiving yards and most rushing yards in NFL history to the shrine in Canton, Ohio, when they are inducted in August. Joining them in the Class of 2010 were guard Russ Grimm, defensive tackle John Randle, linebacker Rickey Jackson and two senior committee nominees -- Floyd Little and Dick LeBeau. "It's a wonderful day to be alive," LeBeau said by telephone. This Hall of Fame election was a made-for-TV event. In fact, the NFL Network televised it live from a third-floor ballroom at the Greater Fort Lauderdale-Broward County Convention Center, where the stage looked almost like a set on Letterman and nominees waited in a "green room." The first new inductee introduced was Rice, who played 20 seasons, 16 with the San Francisco 49ers, and set almost every notable receiving record, including receptions (1,549), receiving yards (22,895), total touchdowns (208) and most 1,000-yard receiving seasons (14). Behind those prolific numbers was a rock-solid work ethic. Former quarterback Steve Young recalled dropping by the team's facility to pick up items a few days after the 49ers had beaten the Chargers in Super Bowl 29. When he looked out on the practice field, Young saw Rice -- all alone, running wind sprints. Under the klieg lights of the Super Bowl, Rice had caught 10 passes for 149 yards and three touchdowns. Now, with no cameras watching him, Rice was working out by himself. Asked by NFL Network host Rich Eisen where his work ethic came from, Rice said, "I think it came from my parents and what they instilled in me." Rice then broke down in tears. After composing himself, he added, "There's a sacrifice you have to make if you wanted to be great, and I respected this game." Smith, who played 15 seasons (13 for the Dallas Cowboys), owns several NFL rushing records, including most rushing yards in a career (18,355). He also couldn't hold his emotions in check when he related a conversation with his father. "Son, I'm so proud of you," Smith said, recalling his dad's words. "I had the dream of doing what you're doing, but my mother got sick and I never went to college." Little, who waited 30 years for his chance to join pro football's special fraternity, said he became discouraged two years ago and had doubts that his day would ever come. A bowlegged running back for the Denver Broncos, Little used to go to bed at night with belts wrapped around his waist, thighs and calves because he wanted to fix his condition. It didn't seem to bother him on the field. Over nine seasons, Little rushed for 6,323 yards and 43 touchdowns. Little and LeBeau, a cornerback for the Detroit Lions who intercepted 62 passes in 14 seasons, both wore No. 44. Little noted that there are 44 Hall of Fame voters "and there's a 44th president." LeBeau, 72, has spent more than half a century in the NFL -- the past 37 as a coach. Currently the Steelers' defensive coordinator, LeBeau is known for creating the zone blitz as well as reciting "Twas The Night Before Christmas" from memory. LeBeau called his election "a lifelong dream. I can't imagine anything else more rewarding for someone who made football his life's pursuit." Grimm, now the offensive line coach of the Arizona Cardinals, played in four Super Bowls during an 11-year career with the Washington Redskins. One of the original "Hogs," Grimm was famous for executing Washington's counter trey, a running play where he and left tackle Joe Jacoby would pull around to the right side and lead the blocking for John Riggins and other backs. Although he was an undersized defensive lineman, Randle was quick enough to have 137.5 sacks during a 14-year career with the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks. He was known for trying to intimidate opponents by wearing face paint and yelling at them. "I was terrified to death of John Randle," Rice said. "You looked across the line and saw this guy with makeup on his face, making faces. And he could put pressure on the quarterback." Jackson helped the Saints make a transition from perennial losers to respectable contenders during his 13 years in New Orleans (he played his final two seasons in San Francisco). One of the elite pass rushers of his era, Jackson had 128 career sacks. This story appears in Feb. 7's edition of Sporting News Today. If you are not receiving Sporting News Today, the only daily digital sports newspaper, sign up today. Senior writer Dennis Dillon covers the NFL for Sporting News. E-mail him at ddillon@sportingnews.com. *** http://www.sportingnews.com/college-basketball/article/2010-02-09/pac-10-take-serious-look-expansion Pac-10 to take 'serious' look at expansion Dave Curtis Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010 Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott said Tuesday that within the next year, conference leadership will engage in "serious analysis" of expanding its membership. Scott said the timetable will allow for conference officials to know its membership as it negotiates new TV contracts, likely to occur in 2011. The move also answers the Big Ten's internal discussions of possibly growing to 12 teams, which has sparked discussion among administrators at Pac-10 schools. Scott said he will not establish a committee to explore expansion, leaving the chore to the league's presidents. "With an issue as important to the future of the conference as its makeup," he saidin a teleconference, "it's going to be dealt with directly by them." Speculation has swirled about Pac-10 expansion since the 1990s, when the SEC started a football championship game and eventually a more lucrative TV contract as a 12-team league. Reported candidates for expansion range from Hawaii to Texas, Boise State to UNLV. In other Pac-10 news, new deputy commissioner Kevin Weiberg will help Scott manage expansion issues and determine whether the conference creates a network. Weiberg, a former commissioner of the Big 12 and deputy commissioner in the Big Ten, helped the Big Ten add Penn State and helped create the Big Ten Network, which launched in 2006. Also, Scott said Tuesday conference officials and school administrators will discuss taking men's basketball games away from the traditional Thursday-Saturday schedule if it makes a potential television package more valuable.