1 Happy St

One final Super Bowl-related thought and then I'll put this topic to bed - afterwards we always find out what the ratings for the game were and how they stack up against past Super Bowls and other top-rated programs. According to USA Today, the game drew 97.5 million viewers nationwide - the most ever for a Super Bowl. It was also the 2nd most national viewers for any television program ever, behind the series finale of "M-A-S-H" in 1983 that drew 106 million.

Question though - how can anybody know if this is accurate? I was only 4 in 1983, so I don't remember how big of an event the series finale of M-A-S-H was. Based on the numbers, I can see it was a big deal. But were people packing sports bars around the country to watch it? I can see how they can make a pretty accurate guess that 106 million people watched M-A-S-H, but how in the world can you account for packed sports bars watching the Super Bowl? I watched the game at a dive bar last year that can fit 85 people or so, and this place had to have been at 85 and then some. I can only imagine that just about every sports bar across the country would have been operating under similar circumstances. So how do all of those people get counted? Is it just a guess? And if so, what's the point?

My guess is that sports programs must be getting the shaft when it comes to television ratings.

- That girl from American Idol looked nervous. I don’t know what she had to be scared of; it’s not like anybody was watching.

- I’m glad she pulled it off flawlessly though. I think I’ve said this before, but there are few things as uncomfortable as when the singer of our National Anthem starts to screw it up. Once she was finished, I think I was just as relieved as she was. Or maybe not.

- I’d give my right arm to stop all this hyperbole.

- I’m sure there’s a better way to construct that joke, but I couldn’t think of it. And this site is free so leave me alone.

- Do the production folks of the Super Bowl realize that there has been music released since the late 80’s? Tom Petty? It looked like he was 100 years old.

- The weird thing about Tom Petty though is that when he was 30, he looked 100. Then when he was 40, he looked 100. And now that he’s 57 he still looks 100. I guess what I’m saying is that in 43 years, he should be fine.

- Last month Greg and I set the record for most posts in 1 month with 55. Congratulations to us.

- That was Donkey Lips, wasn’t it? Upon further review, yes it was.

- I’ve taken my fair share of rain checks, but I don’t think I’ve ever given one. I think I might be interested in something like that.

- You can't tell me that the 0:16 thru 0:26 mark of the halftime show didn't have some sexual innuendo going on. Well you can, but I won't believe you.

- Before the game, people were making Eli Manning and Rex Grossman comparisons. After the game, the only comparison that still rings true is that they both still suck. Except for Eli.

- Watching football with my mom is like watching football with my mom. There is no simile quite like it. Only she can tell you who she was rooting for; I think it was the blue guys.

- Until next time…..

- Wait, we're a sports blog?

- Pointed out by hotfootblog, Eddie Murphy may have been a prophet in 'Coming to America'. Oh sir, the Giants of New York took on the Packers of Green Bay. And in the end, the Giants triumphed by kicking an oblong ball made of pigskin through a big "H". It was a most ripping victory. Weird.

- Quote from me after that Lawrence Tynes guy kicked the winning field goal after missing his previous two: "Great, now we're gonna have to put up with all those newspaper headlines tomorrow that say 'third Tynes a charm'".

- Tom Coughlin looked like his face was about to fall off.

- The Dodgers have reached a 1-year deal with relief pitcher Proctor. Hightower had no comment.

- Hey that was baseball.

- There's something great about being able to watch a football player's runny nose in HD. Wait did I say great? I mean completely horrible.

- I cannot make sense of that Subway commercial where the guy gets called into his boss's office to explain his travel expenses. I don't have any receipts, but let me turn around and show you my big ass. Yeah I don't get it. Worst. Commercial. Ever.

- Remember last year when I changed my mind and said that I'd rather have my team not make the Super Bowl than lose in the Super Bowl? I've changed my mind again. Having no rooting interest in the Super Bowl whatsoever is kind of like being a date to a wedding where you don't know anybody. Oh well. Go Giants I guess.

I haven't really read any of the stories but I've seen all the headlines like "Prince to join forces in Iraq." I can't help but think, isn't Prince a little too old to be involved in combat missions in Iraq? I mean he looked in decent shape at the Super Bowl but the guy is almost 50 years old!

As much as it pains me to write post-game final thoughts of that busted game on Sunday, I’d be somewhat of a hypocrite if I ignored it after all the pre-game nonsense that I put up on this site. So here goes:

- Watching the Super Bowl at a bar is good for atmosphere, but you definitely miss part of the broadcast. I can’t tell you one thing about the commercials or the broadcasters because I couldn’t hear them. Maybe that’s a good thing.

- I couldn’t hear what was going on during that pre-game show, but it looked like the choreographer was trying to recreate something from Mardi Gras. Didn’t they realize the Bears won that game 2 weeks ago?

- The basic premise of the Cover-2 defense is to bend but don’t break. You give up small, but prevent big. Pretty simple. But if your best player on defense is your middle linebacker and the opposing offense is avoiding him by continuing to go small, shouldn’t you adjust? Why continue to give up 5 or 6 yards per play the whole game? If you’re gonna lose, at least lose because your best players didn’t play well. Don’t make it because your best players weren’t involved.

- Dominick Rhodes is going to get paid for that performance. But I have no doubt that the worst back in the league could have done the same thing under the same circumstances.

- I wish Peyton Manning was the quarterback for MY favorite team. It’s almost unfair being able to root for a team whose quarterback is so much better than everyone else’s.

- Every game, the Bears will run a pass play 2 or 3 times where Rex drops back one step, then lofts the ball straight up for grabs to one of his receivers. On the year, it had a zero percent success rate with the occasional INT. Let’s hope they remove that play going into next season.

- What is that play even called in the playbook? "The Rex interception flag, on one, ready BREAK"

- Nothing is worse for a good buzz than watching your team trying to come back late in the game, but Rex Grossman is your quarterback. I think my hiccups started as soon as the ball left his hands for that final INT.

- I think that’s enough about Rex. After all is said and done, could we really have expected more than that? I don’t think so. He’s an easy target, but they didn’t lose because of him.

- The worst feeling in the world: coming home and remembering that you Tivo'd all the pre-game and post-game festivities. It's great to have if your team wins, but it's a horrible reminder if your team doesn't.

- A look on the bright side: we were spared countless "Grin and Bear it" newspaper headlines.

- A look on the not-so-bright side: you have to put up with crappy headlines like the one I used for this post.

- I asked a co-worker of mine on Friday what he would rather have; his favorite team not make it to the Super Bowl, or his favorite team lose in the Super Bowl. We both chose the latter. I have officially changed my mind. Monday sucked.

- I just noticed that both of the head coaches of the two Super Bowl teams are black. I wonder if that’s ever happened before.

- Peyton Manning looks like the Super Jock field goal kicker. It’s possible that you have no idea what I mean by that, but if you do, you’ll find that very funny.

- The Colts are favored I guess because they are one of the highest scoring teams in the league. Then again so are the Bears, so that can’t really be the reason. Maybe they’re favored because they think Super Jock can win the game all by himself.

- I think it would be funny to be in Miami right now, just so I could see the looks on the faces of all the skinny tan locals as their city becomes over-run by the fat and pale football fans from Indianapolis and Chicago.

- Reporter: "Brian, you just won the SB. What are you gonna do now?"
- Urlacher: "I’m going to Disney Land!"
- Reporter: "What about you Tank?"
- Tank: "I’m going back to Gurnee, IL where I’ll be on continued house arrest!"

- I’m a Bears fan, but potential for that quote is the real reason I hope they win.

- Back on January 2nd, I put in a request for the day off on Monday, February 5th. I have a feeling there’s going to be countless people in the office on Monday morning wishing they had done the same thing.

- I just looked it up; Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy are still black.

- I read that some Bears fans are buying tickets to Soldier Field to watch the game on their Jumbotron. Anybody that pays money to sit outside in 6 degree weather to watch an empty field has to be some kind of moron.

- This will be my final posting until next week. Until then, Go Bears!

- I have never seen a commercial for Microsoft.

- Ever notice how MAC users hate Windows? The funny thing is PC users couldn’t care less about MAC. Is it because fans of Microsoft don’t know any better, or is it because fans of MAC have a complex? Maybe a little of both.

- What’s a shufflin’ crew?

- I’d like to shake the hand of the person who decided that the grill of a toaster needs to be wide enough to fit a bagel.

- The bottom button-hole on some of my shirts goes sideways instead of up and down. What’s that about?

- I think being a player, owner, or coach of an upcoming Super Bowl team is more dangerous to the skeletons in your closet than being a Presidential candidate.

- Underrated thing about single life that I miss: being able to eat Chef Boyardee ravioli for dinner.

- The best part about a home remodeling project is the moment you finish it. The worst part about a home remodeling project is the realization that you’re never finished.

- Rex Grossman is the most underrated quarterback in the NFL. Look at his stats compared to someone like Troy Aikman, then tell me I’m wrong.

- I was so busy at work yesterday that I went from the moment I got up until the moment before bed without using the bathroom. I think I may be Batman.

- Never offer someone a Dove ice cream bar if you really want to eat it yourself. There’s no way they’re turning it down.

- That American Idol guy is pretty good.

- I bet if I repeatedly punch the grill on the front of a Dodge truck, I could dent it.

- Watching Reggie Bush dance in the endzone after his touchdown, I couldn’t help but wish that some drunken fan would throw something at him from the stands. Then someone did and I was happy again.

- I have a fun drinking game for you to try if Joe Buck is announcing the game. You have to drink every time he says the word "clearly" as in "clearly his knee was down before the ball came out" or "he clearly got both feet down before falling out of bounds". Guaranteed to get you drunk by the 2nd quarter.

- I make fun of Joe Buck and clearly he annoys me, but in all honesty, I recognize it’s a bigger game whenever he’s involved, and I would have felt cheated yesterday if he wasn’t there. Sometimes I just wish Fox would remember that they’re broadcasting a sporting event and not filming a dramatic movie. Clearly.

- I can't see a "D-Fense" sign in the stands anymore without laughing hysterically. Then I have to explain why I'm laughing to people who don't know. So Alex's wife, I'm sorry.

- I’d hate to be one of those photographers whose job it is to take pictures of the winning coach as he runs to mid-field to shake hands with the losing coach. It seems like that guy is always a few seconds away from being trampled, especially since he has to hold his camera above his head while running backwards.

- I can't believe it took the Coors Light people until now to use the Jim Mora "playoffs" press conference. That's the one I would have started with. Also, they could have done a lot better with the Mike Ditka version. I can think of 2 or 3 press conference clips of Mike Ditka off the top of my head that are better than the one's they're using.

- Knowing what I know about the end of Sunday’s game, I’m now setting the over/under at 5 for the number of text messages I get in 2 weeks if the Bears win again, and I feel extremely confident taking the over.

- Don’t you hate the guy who scribbles his name in his square so badly that you can’t read it? I hate not knowing who won.

- Speaking of squares, I was told to "root for the Bears, not for the squares". While I’m glad the Bears won, it would have been even better if I was collecting money today.

- We got our Rexy back, yeah! Those motha-Colts won’t know how to act, yeah!

- Sorry ‘bout that. Go Bears!