96th Edition - 2/9/07

• NFL: The weekend

Here comes the weekend, and that can only mean one thing ... FOOTBALL! Oh wait, it's only the Pro Bowl ... that really doesn't count. Hmmm, not much else to talk about, so let's look back on the Super Bowl one last time.

Now we can look back foundly, and not get irate that the Bears blew a chance to beat a Colts team that will probably get better, and an NFC that will probably get better ... dear god this better not have been our one chance ... anywho, my friend Mark went to Miami to attend Super Bowl XLI. Here's an insanely quick sum up from him about the entire experience...

In case you did not know, the Bears did not win the Superbowl last Sunday. I was there, it was painful. But, overall the weekend was fantastic.
If you are an avid NFL fan, I highly recommend going to the Super Bowl city, even if you are not going to the game. South Beach was a huge party, and was dominated by Bears fans as well. The game was disappointing, but it was incredible to watch live.
The stadium was great, the seats were solid and we had a perfect view of the action even though they were in the upper-deck.
It rained, but it was not cold, so it wasn't that bad (other than my camera getting ruined and my phone malfunctioning for about 24 hours). I hope we can make it next year so I can repeat the trip, I hear it does not rain as much in the desert, and they have a retractable roof in Glendale anyway.

But that's not all, he included pictures ...

Mark and his friend A.J. blending in - I'm not a fan of jersey's but how can you go wrong with Fencik and Payton (the answer is you can't).

The view from their seats. I am amazed at how far jumbo-trons have come at stadiums.

Prince was my third favortie part of the game.
1. Devin Hester returning the opening kickoff.
2. Grossman squeezing in a pass to Muhammad to make it 14-6.

• Stuff

*Anna Nicole Smith is dead. The 8th grader who remembers her as a Guess Jeans model isn't ready to talk about the loss yet.

*I get to watch "The Office," "Scrubs," and "Grey's Anatomy" tonight and am WAY to excited about it.

*If you are going to bet on the Pro Bowl, take the NFC (+4) and the under (64.5)

*I never game Mike D or Billy Z their proper due for beating me with the NFL and NCAA picks this year. Just saying.

*Peter Krause ("Six Feet Under") has signed on as the lead in ABC's drama pilot "Dirty Sexy Money."

95th Edition - 2/8/07

• The Weekly Bull (28-21)

The Bulls continue their seven-game road trip this week with stops at Sacramento, Golden State and Phoenix. The realistic goal is to finish 4-3 (they are currently 2-2). The Bulls and Cavs are two games behind the Pistons for first place in the Central Division.

More important (it seems) is the recent comment by Bulls rookie forward Tyrus Thomas.

Thomas was quoted as saying he was ''just into the free money'' when questioned about the Feb. 17 contest, which guarantees the four participants a minimum $16,125 and up to $35,000 for the winner.

So, John Paxon (the Bulls) fined him $10,000. Thomas didn't throw a punch, take drugs or say anything to harm any particular group. He admitted that he liked money, and would participate in an activity he somewhat enjoys because it pays. Paxon fined him for liking money. Just like you starve a fat kid for liking Twinkies.

Hopefully, there was a meaningful dialogue that happened along with this. Though, based on his comments to the press after, I doubt it.

"I truly feel honored to be invited to participate in this year's slam dunk contest during next week's NBA All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas," Thomas said. "The opportunity to represent the Bulls and the city of Chicago on a global stage is a privilege that I do not take lightly. I regret the extent to which my comments indicate otherwise."

Wow, I think he borrowed most of that speech from "Bull Durham."

Why can't NBA organizations let rookies make a mistake in the media and then help them try to understand a better way to represent themselves and the league? I do love that a millionaire wants $16,125 and that's his motivation.

For another view, read Sam Smith of the Tribune (much more educated on the NBA than I am)

Some numbers...
Team Leaders
Points - Ben Gordon 21.3
Rebounds - Ben Wallace 10.0
Assists - Kirk Hinrich 6.3
Steals - Ben Wallace 1.5
Blocks - Ben Wallace 2.1

• Bears: staying

Ron Rivera might be staying a Chicago Bear after all, Wade Phillips, the defensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers will become the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. It's his third head coaching position, so you know he's really good at it.

• NBA: sweet sixteen

The Mavs have won 16 games in a row at home. The Celtics have lost 16 in a row, and Bill Simmons (a die-hard Boston fan) thinks it's great (click here to read).

• Coming Tomorrow

Pictures and a quick story from my friend Mark and his Super Bowl trip

• Stuff

Remember how some guy was supposed to propose to his girlfriend during a live commercial on Super Bowl Sunday? Well, this is what happened. click here

94th Edition - 2/06/07

• Blatant Self-Promotion

The new issue of Chicago Clubline is out and you can read my article right here. It's a wrap-up of the films from 2006, the good, the guilty pleasures and the most disappointing. click to read

• Super Bowl: Is there anything else?

USA Today has a Super Bowl Ad meter, and somehow, the ignorant thing decided the Budweiser Crabs was the best commercial. Though I don't agree with that, I do agree with most of the worst rated commercials. Flomax, Godaddy.com, Revlon Colorist and Salesgenie.com were all awful.

I did like the Garmin (GPS navigation) commercial, but it's probably me and 20 comic book nerds that appreciated that one, so it's no woner why grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, aunts and uncles collectively thought, "huh?"

As for the ratings of the game itself, they held steady with a 42 rating and a 63 share, if you don't know what that means by now, you really don't care about TV ratings. Last year, the Steelers vs. Seahawks had a 42.3 rating and 62 share ... But, because there are more TVs in the world, this was the third-most watched show in TV history, behind MASH and the '96 Super Bowl with the Cowboys and Steelers.

And if you have a die-hard Bears fan in your life ... you probably don't want to buy them this ... It's never pretty seeing a grown man or woman cry. click here

• NFL: Something else ... almost

Defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears, Ron Rivera is set to interview with the Dallas Cowboys for the heading coaching job. The system wouldn't change if Rivera left, Lovie Smith enforcing the Cover 2 system for the Bears.

• NBA: Kind of ... but really, it's still about the Super Bowl

Charles Barkley said he won about $700,000 in Las Vegas betting on the Super Bowl and playing blackjack. He's also said that at one time, he lost $2.5 million in a "six-hour period" last year. I am actually getting nauseous.

• Stuff

*Andy Dick gets dragged off the set of the "Jimmy Kimmel Live" show for touching Ivanka Trump too much. click here

*If you are a fan of Nintendo's Wii, you can make Mii's that look just like the characters from "The Office." Don't believe me? This guy already did -- click here

93rd Edition - 2/5/07

• Bears: Da Day After

Colts 29, Bears 17

Two years is a row, the Bears defense has let down the team in the playoffs. But at least this year, Rex Grossman joined them.

What started off a dream (Devin Hester's 92-yard opening kickoff return) became ... one of those dreams from a long night of drinking where you are still at the party, but things are slowly spinning out of control and you are trying to shout but have no voice and things just keep getting worse and worse ... one of those dreams.

The Colts played perfectly in the rain, mixing up short passes and runs resulting in long drives with some points. The Bears barely ever drove with confidence and whenever they got something going, Grossman fell, tripped, tossed an interception, fumbled the snap or threw for five yards instead of the required eight for a first down.

I love the team going into next year. But I don't want Grossman as the quarterback. The thing that kills me about the season is the Bears never found out how Griese could deal with a pressure situation. No matter how Grossman performs during the regular season, I will be nervous for the playoffs next year.

Another thing -- I now hate when "my" team returns an opening kickoffs. The Hawkeyes did that to me in 2003 in the Orange Bowl against USC. The rest of the game was not pretty.

• Super Bowl: the other stuff

The commercials ... in one word ... awful. Perhaps my judgement in cloudy since I was in a funk for the whole second half, but almost everything was flat.

Watch them here if you need a refresher - click here

The Good
Bud Light - Wedding
Budweiser - Hitchhiker, Rock/Paper/Scissors, Slap Happy
Sierra Mist - Beard Comb-over
Snickers - Guy Kiss

The Bad
Everything else, though most are disqualified (such as all the Coke ads, because they are old ones). I can't believe an advertiser is going to pay top dollar and then show us a refund. If I had control over my love for Diet Coke, I would choose not to drink it for a while.

The Best
Doritos, Strong and Smooth

And a special shout out to the fiancee for watching the game with me. She has now seen two Bears games (her first being the Bears/Saints). She has decided she liked watching that one more.

Prince was fantastic, best of my life, though the choice of covers was a little odd, I liked that he played them. Great visuals with the marching band. And Prince didn't lip-sync, which is reason no. 142 on why he is Prince.

I did, in fact, break even with my bets. The big one I missed was a small bet on the Bears losing the first half, winning the second (paying 12-1).

I found myself wishing "Criminal Minds" would be cancelled within the week. Why on Earth would you show a downer like that after I watched my Bears get beat? Even if you are a Colts fan, why would you want to see that? Just a terrible decision, plus, from what I understand, I think you might have a sit-com starring David Spade starting soon ... if the 35 promos where telling the truth.

• WSOPC

Not good. We didn't qualify for an interview or the mock-game show. We don't know what the passing level is on the test or exactly how we did, and aren't allowed to talk about anything test related. The test was 15 minutes. Our total time spent attempting to be on the game show - 43 minutes.

Happy Fun Ball is dead.

Special thanks to John for making the flight from Atlanta, in hindsight just a ridiculous thing to do. And to Kenzie for some good-looking shirts.

• Stuff

Funny. I didn't feel like writing today. Oh well.

*Drew Barrymore on SNL ... good. The second half of the show was surprisingly strong. I'm giving this one a thumbs up, especially considering I was having trouble with my TV and had to watch in really bad reception. The good ones: The Dakota Show, Jo-Jo, Body Fusion, Wknd Update and Firestarter Smoked Sausages.

Here's the season to date: 7-5

Funny: John C. Reily, Hugh Laurie, Alec Baldwin, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore

Not Funny: Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Matthew Fox, Annette Bening, Jeremy Piven

*Oldie but goodie: Here's a spoof on Alias Season One - click here

*Daivd Lee Roth is back with Van Halen this summer on tour.

*Camera Obscrua was not good on Saturday night. WAY too many slow songs played in a row.