MLB 2K10 Challenge

Pitchers and catchers are reporting to training in less than 18 hours; football fans are strung out across the country in serious withdrawal, waiting for the baseball season to start.

Meanwhile, gamers across the country are training for the inevitable pulled muscles, carpal tunnel development and getting ready to stay glued to their TVs come March 2nd...but for good reason. On March 2nd, MLB 2K10 is released for Xbox 360 and PS3. Many gamers have either reserved a copy or will certainly try to get their hands on a copy and start playing right away, striving to pitch a perfect game.

So what's the good reason you ask? 2K Sports, the creator of the game, is offering 1 million bones to the first person to pitch a perfect game in the game before May 2nd. Yes...$1,000,000. Gamers posted videos on YouTube last year of their perfect game performances with MLB 2K9, but this year's edition has upped the ante on pitching control and feel.

So you've gotta think...considering how many hours serious gamers dedicate to playing video games even without extreme incentives such as this, the perfect game must be virtually impossible to achieve if this company is offering such a bold contest. Well apparently that's not the case...2K Sports has essentially put aside a million dollars in anticipation of the winner. Chris Snyder, director of marketing even said "I would be shocked if someone doesn't get it."

Game on people. More info here.

2010 Winter Olympics

The opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver is tomorrow night. Personally, I'm more of a fan of the Summer Olympics but I should also mention that if there were such a thing as "ESPN Ocho," I'd definitely watch it. What I mean to say is I'd even watch rock-paper-scissors competitions if they were on TV, so I'm pretty lenient on the types of competitive sports that I'll watch. I've caught myself watching juggling, cheerleading, table tennis and even darts.

The last time the Winter Olympics were on, in 2006, I was studying abroad in Ireland. The TV stations seemed to show nothing BUT curling, easily the most boring of all events (did that stop me from watching hours of it? of course not)

Now that I'll have exposure to more than curling, here are the events that I'll look forward to:

-Biathalon [Day 7 (Thur, 2/18)]: The Women's 15 km and Men's 20 km individual medal competitions are on this day. I don't think I've ever actually watched the biathalon - it's the one where you ski with a gun on your back, stopping at intervals to shoot targets.

-Bobsled [Women's Team (Day 12-13); Men's Team (Day 15-16)]: Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, get on up, it's bobsled time! Unfortunately, Jamaica is not competing this year, but I suppose I'll watch it anyway.

-Freestyle Skiing - Aerials [Medal Rounds: Women's - Day 13 (Wed., 2/24); Men's - Day 14 (Thur., 2/25)]: I've more or less competed in a similar event to this. It takes a lot of guts to fly off a huge ramp about 5 stories into the air. I've only sustained minor injuries competing in the Wii Fit version (more of a Ski Jump actually), but I suppose this is a little more realistic.

-Freestyle Skiing - Ski Cross [Men's - Day 10 (Sun., 2/21); Women's - Day 12 (Tues., 2/23)]: This is the first year of this event, which is similar to the snowboard cross - four riders at once racing down turns and jumps to the finish. I watched some of the Snowboard and Ski Cross from the recent X-Games; should be the most intense event.

-Hockey - USA plays Switzerland on Day 5 (Tues., 2/16), Norway on Day 7 (Thurs., 2/18) and Canada on Day 10 (Sun., 2/21). I'm kind of scared to see any of the Women's Hockey.

-Snowboarding - Half Pipe/Snow Cross (Days 4-7) - Check out all the stoners catch some wicked air and hopefully Shaun White won't land on his face like he did at the X-Games.

Other events to check out:

-Luge (Days 2-6)
-Skeleton (Days 7-8)
-Speed Skating (Pretty much every day)

Enjoy the Olympic Games...GO USA!

"Tough Guy" Contest

Forget marathons. Forget triathalons. Forget Iron Man competitions. Dare I say it...even forget Ninja Warrior competitions. They should all bow and pay homage to...Tough Guy.

This year's main event was held a couple weeks ago, in South Staffordshire, UK. Though it's only about 8 miles, this event is far from a level race...it's far from a race full of hills...Tough Guy has underwater tunnels, barbed wire fences and fire walks. There is even an electric fence called "The Tiger," which comes after a long, steep-hill filled run including a slalom portion which forces competitors to run up and down an extremely steep hill. But after the Tiger comes the worst.

There are a series of walls to climb over, after which is "The Behomoth," a series of 4 towers which you have to climb up and walk a rope across, under which is a patch of nettles, a plant that would cause discomfort to say the least if you were to fall. After this comes the fire...then a tire crawl...then a swamp...then the "Vietcong tunnels"...then a rope climb...(are you getting the picture yet?)...then a rubber slide with firemen spraying hoses at you...then underwater tunnels...and so on and so on...until you climb another hill to run to the finish.

But my description doesn't come close to doing it justice. Check out their website (you can sign up for the next one if you want!) and take a look at this video:

Superbowl XLIV Commercials

New Orleans won the Superbowl last night, upsetting the Colts but making most of the country happy for a city that could use an ego boost like a football championship. I'm glad it was a good game, but I certainly was not dazzled by the millions of dollars spent on advertising. First of all, it's tough to think about any company spending millions on a 15, 30 or 60 second spot when our economy is in the toilet. You would think that if one did though, they'd come out with some big guns.

Bud Light is known for being one of the more humorous collections of advertisements and they more or less continued that reputation, though most of them fell flat: the voice box one, the house made of bud light, and the asteroid coming at Earth. However, one of my favorites all night was this one:



Monster.com had a very bizarre spot (the one with the beaver playing violin) which wasn't very memorable. Alternatively, their competition, Careerbuilder, had the other favorite of mine:



Most of the other spots were either very bizarre, subpar or just not good. One or two of the Doritos ads were pretty good, but overall I thought the collection was just OK and found myself questioning why Doritos is pushing advertising so much. The Snickers ad was good but personally I liked their "play on celebrity names" campaign better (Kick your hunger with Adam Nougateri, Get dunked on by Patrick Chewing, etc.) The Google ad was heart-warming of course. The E-Trade ads were good, but not as good as in the past.

So overall, I'm glad the game was good, I'm happy that the Saints won but I definitely was not as impressed with the commercials as I've been in the past.

Philadelphia Union

My feelings about the MLS, Major League Soccer, the league formed here in the USA, are mixed. I believe that the competition in European leagues, particularly the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League, is far superior. Everyone knows that "football" will always be much more popular in practically every country outside of the US. However, I am definitely pleased to see that the MLS has gained some popularity over the past few years, a defining moment of which was of course the enormous contract signed by David Beckham.

I think that another moment will increase the popularity of the MLS: the addition of a new team based in Philadelphia. Obviously I'm biased because I'm a Philly sports fan, but I don't think anyone can argue that Philly sports fans are some of the most passionate fans in the country. Yes, they may be known more for their aggressive nature which will always be exemplified by the time snowballs were thrown at Santa at an Eagles game. But far worse things happen at soccer stadiums across Europe.

The news that a team will be formed in Philly is old news, but I bring it up because the team name and logo will officially be announced on Monday. Like practically anything that's trying to be kept under wraps, the information has already been leaked onto the web. The team will be known as "Philadelphia Union" with a blue and gold logo containing a snake (don't tread on me).

I look forward to finally having a team that I can get behind in the MLS next year and seeing the new stadium that they'll play in. Chances are they'll cause heartbreak, but that's inevitable; they're a Philly team.

NCAA Bracket

Ok first of all...yes, it's Tuesday morning (Happy St. Pat's). This post was supposed to be yesterday's and would have been, keeping my Lent goal of posting every day, had our Internet access not been out from about 9 PM on. So I'm still counting this as yesterday's post, and I'll be posting again later today...

March Madness. Tonight is the opening round of one of the most exciting championship tournaments in the world of sports: NCAA basketball. Now, when I say tonight is the opening round, I mean...tonight is the game to figure out who will lose against Louisville.

Atleast that's what I think...I'm picking Louisville to take the title this year. 2 #1 seeds and 2 #2 seeds in my Final 4: Louisville, Memphis, Duke and NC. I have Louisville over Duke in the championship game a couple weeks from now.

My upsets? In the first round, I have Dayton over West Virginia, Siena over Ohio St., Texas A&M over BYU, Utah St. over Marquette, Maryland over California, Temple over Arizona St., and Tennessee over Oklahoma St, which is probably WAY more than one should pick, but I'm committed. I have #1 seed Pitt losing to NC in the elite 8, as well as #1 seed UConn losing to Memphis in the Elite 8.

Here's my bracket (click to enlarge)...good luck to those putting money down this year.

Fired for Facebook

Everyone is well aware of the popularity of social media outlets such as Facebook. What you post on Facebook has sparked quite a debate. Career guidance services suggest that you tone your profile down, particularly with pictures, so that potential employers won't see you in a bad light.

First of all, when you create a Facebook profile, atleast back when I did, by default your profile is restricted only to those who you are friends with or are in a network with. So the whole get-rid-of-your-pictures debate has always confused me...just restrict your profile to people you know if it isn't already! You should be doing that anyways. On the other side of it, I had pictures of me drinking and/or obviously drunk in college on facebook; if an employer somehow saw them and decided not to hire me based on college drinking pictures, that's not somewhere I'd want to work. If there were a picture of me taking a bong hit, that'd be another story.

I bring this up because, it shames me to say, my Philadelphia Eagles made an executive decision based on what a seasonal employee said on Facebook. We're talking about a seasonal, game-day employee who worked as a gate chief, his name being Dan Leone. Now let's get to the juice of this story...Dan was fired because of what he posted as his status on Facebook: "Dan is (expletive) devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver...Dam Eagles R Retarted!!"

I admit it's not exactly Disney-esque but hey...this guy is just saying what every other Eagles fan was thinking once they heard the Dawkins news. I'm not sure how it was discovered; if Dan was friends with other employees through Facebook, then yes, it was kind of a dumb thing to do. Even if he wasn't, you probably shouldn't badmouth your employer online. But to get fired automatically? And over the phone? I should also mention that this poor guy has transverse myelitis, a neurological disorder that causes muscle fatigue, and he apologized for what he posted multiple times. This reminds me of the post I made way back regarding a CNN employee that was fired for blogging. I'm sure this Eagles employee did not have any Facebook-clause in his contract.

If these issues are becoming more prominent, and you're going to get fired without question, employers need to put it out there at the time of hire and let you know that there is a zero tolerance policy for using Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc. to talk about the company. Since social media is a part of most of our lives these days, how free are we to use it?

The Michael Phelps Situation

You probably live under a rock if you haven't heard about the Michael Phelps situation by now. I don't think I'm alone when I say...Leave the poor guy alone! I admit that the situation has probably made things tough for a lot of parents of child-swimmers, but let's look around the sports world folks...it ain't exactly rated G. I think the lesson to learn for parents is don't let your children become so obsessed with any celebrity or athlete to the point that they'll mock every single little thing that they do.

Now Michael Phelps might be more of an all-American role model for younger athletes than other celebrity-athletes, but it's not like he shot himself in the leg...and it's not like he's going to trial for his recent 8 GOLD MEDALS because he was taking performance-enhancing drugs...and he's not pulling a Ricky Williams either and taking a year off swimming to smoke weed full-time. Personally, I think he's deserved to let loose after DOMINATING the Olympics.

Now comes the issue of his endorsements. Don't be fooled by Kellogg's stating that the reason they dropped him was because he does not fit their image...they probably wished this happened sooner in his contract. They just got some great publicity, "regaining the trust" of the parents who buy sugar-loaded cereal for their Speedo-wearing children. And it looked like Subway was going to as well, but they may have changed their mind...not sure how I feel about that.

Anyway, I'm backing Phelps on this one and holding a grudge. No Frosted Flakes for me...not that I'm an enormous contributor to Kellogg's in the first place, but call it a protest.

Enough of me ranting though...Seth Meyers on SNL pretty much summed it all up:

New NFL Rules

The summer heat has died down...children and college kids have returned to school...beer and chips are flying off the shelves...that's right folks...it's time for some football. With a new season comes a few new rules, a few of which I think will make for some great games:

• Defensive Helmet Radios: QBs have had radios in their helmets so that coaches can easily communicate with them between plays, which has worked out very well. Now, coaches can communicate with the other half of their team: the defense. One defensive player will be allowed to have a radio in their helmet now, which I think is a great idea. Defense needs to communicate with the coaches just as much as the offense.
• Reviewable Plays: These obviously are nothing new but there have always been restrictions on the types of plays that can be reviewed. A few types of plays have been added to the roster now: field goals, extra points, and illegal forward handoffs. These types of plays are usually easy to call and therefore are rarely questionable (especially extra points), but we've all seen a FG kick that called for atleast a few replays. It's good to know they can be reviewed now.
• Second Half Coin Toss: This is an interesting new option that teams will now have for the coin toss: they can defer to kick or receive in the second half now. Another addition in favor of the defense.
• Facemasks: The 5-yard penalty for incidental facemasks has been eliminated; all penalties will be 15-yards now. Also, officials will be on the lookout for offensive players grabbing defending facemasks.
• Forceout Rule: This is by far my favorite addition/revision to the NFL rules. Previously, the rule for sideline/endzone passes was that a receiver must get 2 feet inbounds before stepping out...unless the officials call a "forceout," meaning they believed the receiver could have had 2 feet inbounds but a defender "forced" them out. This rule is now eliminated. Regardless of any forcing, a receiver must get 2 feet inbounds. I love this because when this rule existed, it forced defenders to sometimes make snap decisions to often pull back from touching a receiver, hoping that they would not get 2 feet down. Now defenders will not have to restrain themselves - it eliminates a touch of ambiguity that is often decided in reviewed plays.

So let the games begin. Living in CT again, I'm going to have to deal with occasional conflicts when the Eagles are playing at the same time as one of those damn NY teams...thank God for satellite-providing sports bars.

Olympics Highlights

First of all, let me apologize for the longest span between posts in the history of this blog. I'll try not to let it happen again.

And no, I'm not going to dedicate an entire post to Michael Phelps. He's getting enough attention, not to say he doesn't deserve it. He was incredible to watch and he deserves his commendable records...I'm especially happy that he took it from Mark Spitz and hope that Phelps never talks like he did down the line if some new hotshot takes the spotlight. His response to the obvious posed hypothetical, if Spitz back in '72 could race Phelps now, what would happen?: he said that they would tie. C'mon man...pass the torch...it's been 36 years.

I will admit that one of the biggest highlights that I've seen so far involves Phelps, but not one of the races in which he blew out his opponents. I'm talking about the 100m Fly. This was the one race in which he individually looked like he was going to lose and pulled it out by 1/100th of a second, because he took half a stroke at the very end and the leader, Cavic, didn't.

I think it's probably because of the Hamm injuries, but for some reason, I've seen a lot more focus on women's gymnastics than men's. But it's been pretty intense. The all-around final is definitely one of the most exciting and challenging events in the Olympics because there is so much pressure and the gymnasts have to have nerves of steel to endure it. It's tough to watch two top U.S. athletes competing against each other but Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson definitely put on a good show.

Easily one of the most exciting events I've seen so far was the final of the Men's 100-meter dash. Usain Bolt is one of the only Olympians to make everyone's jaw drop...in under 10 seconds. If you didn't see the race, I strongly suggest going to NBC's website to check it out. First of all, before the race began, he was as loose as can be, dancing around, psyching out the other athletes. Then once he got off to a good start, realized he was way ahead, with about 15 meters left, he pumped his chest and started celebrating. And he broke the world record!

Honestly though, I haven't seen any event that hasn't been very entertaining. In fact, the only thing that I'm upset about is that I have not seen any Badminton coverage. I'm going to be kind of upset when the Olympics are over in about a week - once again, it's been great. I'll have to give some thought to attending the 2012 Olympics in London.

Nike Football Ads

I love the last couple of Nike Football advertisements that I've seen. And football in this sense is the "football" that most associate with outside of the United States. [Not American Football] Who was behind the naming of all of these sports anyways?

One of these commercials came out a while ago and I first saw it online, but also saw it during some of the UEFA Euro Cup games on TV. It's a cool first-person view of being a player and it can definitely extend the boundaries internationally considering soccer/football is watched all over the world. It just might annoy the haters of Club Arsenal considering that team is the focus:



The other one that I just saw, I'm guessing, is being televised in Italy considering it's an Italian player (both nationally and as a club player for AC Milan): Andrea Pirlo. It's another one of those "is this real or what" kinds of sports ads (I'm leaning toward the "what") but either way, it's amusing:

2008 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest

You may remember how I outed myself as a fan of competitive eating back in February, following the Wingbowl. Well while all of you were grilling and drinking beer, the Superbowl of competitive eating was held on Friday, the 4th of July: Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

This event had been dominated by Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi for a while, winning 6 years in a row from 2001-2006. The contest became exciting once America became well represented with Joey "Jaws" Chestnut entering the scene, coming in a very close 2nd in 2006 (52 hot dogs to Kobayashi's 53 3/4). In 2007, despite Kobayashi's weakened jaw following surgery, the hype was at an all-time high to see whether Japan or the U.S. could take the Mustard Belt. Well, in an amazing finish, Joey Chestnut took the title with 66 hot dogs in 12 minutes to Kobayashi's 63, setting the world record.

You can imagine that this year, Kobayashi was coming back with vengeance to retake the title that he had held for so long. Chestnut had to represent the red, white & blue with determination and strength. Although a change back to what's thought to be the original rules reduced the eating time from 12 minutes to 10 minutes, Kobayashi and Chestnut did not disappoint. A photo finish declared that after 10 minutes...they were TIED!! (both at 59 hot dogs) Surprisingly, this was not the first tie in the history of the event, but let's put into perspective how ridiculous the event has become:

The last tie was in 1980. In 10 minutes, two contestants ate merely 9 hot dogs plus part of a 10th. In an eat-off, they both ate 3 1/2 hot dogs and were declared co-winners. How weak is that? Even the guy who came in dead last this year, in 17th place, ate 14 hot dogs.

So...since Kobayashi and Chestnut were tied, there was a 5 dog eatoff. First to finish all 5 would win. And Chestnut was that man, regaining the mustard belt for a second year. God Bless America.

And speaking of competitive eating, for those looking for a break from working out on the Wii Fit, WiiWare apparently offers a game called "Major League Eating: The Game," in which you can perform the eating techniques and motions with your Wii remote just like your favorite eating athlete! I think I may have to get this one - stay tuned.

UEFA Euro 2008

Yesterday was the final of the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Euro Cup 2008, between Germany and Spain, essentially the World Cup if Europe were its own world. The game was tense, physical and very exciting. I'd post a video from YouTube with highlights, but UEFA is strictly against posting on YouTube and it would probably be removed within a day. Highlights can be seen here at ESPN:

ESPN UEFA Euro 2008 Final Highlights

Spain overcame the powerhouse that is Germany, becoming European champions, a claim to fame that they have not had in 44 years. The sole goal belonged to Fernando Torres, a 24 year old who I really respect despite the fact that his club team is Liverpool. It's hard not to respect a soccer player who has earned the nickname El Nino, which I believe is Spanish for...the nino. To say that his goal was well-earned is an understatement...the goal was pure hussle by Torres and noone can dispute that.

I feel for Michael Ballack from Germany, the Chelsea midfielder who recently experienced coming in 2nd from the Champions League Final decided by shootout. I can't imagine coming so close to ultimate victory twice, just to come up short twice. I'm sure he'll come out flying in the World Cup in 2010 though. That said, I'm very glad that this final was settled by goals and did not have to be settled by shootout. Congratulations to Spain!

Volleyball Season is Over

It was a challenging volleyball season to say the least. Our final record: 2 and about 40.

I remember the first week, thinking about how we would improve over the course of the season. I'm not sure if our team exactly achieved that "most improved" award, however, I think it speaks to our character that we stuck it out until the end.

Cliff came to the realization that we would probably do a lot better in dodgeball. Case in point: in one of our final matches last night, Caroline literally pulled a move worthy of The Matrix and fell on her ass when the ball was coming toward her. Unfortunately, Leanne could not have the same reaction when a 100 mph spike was slammed toward her face (but she shook it off and kept playing of course...that's team dedication).

Needless to say, we will not be appearing in the playoffs next week.

Ronaldinho is the Man

Ok, for those of you who have been surfing the net lately, forget about that dumb fake video with Kobe Bryant jumping over a moving Aston Martin. Kobes a joke.

Instead, turn your attention to a better fake viral sports video. If you have never heard of Ronaldinho, chances are you're American. He's a Brazilian-born legend of soccer (football), and some of the moves he makes are unbelievable. This video is better at being debatably real, mostly because Ronaldinho is so awesome that he could probably give a good shot at actually doing this...




There was also a Lebron James video that was even a TV commercial, showing him sinking 3's from fullcourt. That one was entertaining. And again...Lebron James is sick so people were wondering whether it was real. People that are debating whether the Kobe Bryant video is real should stop huffing household chemicals...honestly...jumping over a car that is moving straight toward you for fun, when you're getting paid a boatload for your physical abilities? Get real.

Either way though...these kinds of videos are viral marketing at its best.

Brett Favre Retires

Of 257 games, Favre started in 253 of them. 5,377 completions made in 8,758 attempts for 61,655 yards. And 442 touchdowns. He's the all-time leader in wins, passing yards, TDs, and consecutive games started by a QB. He's been one of the most likable guys to play, and I think it was a good move to retire after a great season, assuming he'll stick to the decision.

Here's to you...Brett Fav-ruh.

Philly Sports News

Free agency is the hot topic in the NFL right now, as teams consider who to cut and who to look at. The Eagles made a pretty bold move yesterday, and I think it was the right thing to do. They cut Jevon Kearse a.k.a. The Freak. When he came to Philly 4 years ago, it was exciting. He was a huge addition and everyone expected big things from him. Unfortunately, four years later, he doesn't have a whole lot to show for it, and it's a shame because he's such a likable guy. The Eagles need to make some big moves to have a successful season next year though, and I think this was one step in the right direction.

As far as free agents go, one of the (only?) big ones is CB Asante Samuel, who is visiting the Eagles today. He played for the Pats for the last 5 seasons, and he's a major contributer to my bitter animosity toward the Pats (in other words, he's an asshole). I think he would contribute to our defense, but I'm just not so sure I could get past his persona in an Eagles jersey. The Eagles need to be looking at receivers.

Moving to another sport that everyone in the world except us call football, it looks like Philly will finally get their own MLS team. Speculations are that this could do big things for the weak image that the MLS has right now despite their "big move" ("big paycheck offer") in getting Beckham to come to LA. It'll be a couple years before the team starts, pending the building of the stadium, but I know I'll definitely be interested in going to some games.

Phillies Prank

Well...it's the time of year when there's sort of a lull in the sports world for me. English/European League Soccer is going on, but a large majority of the games are not shown (but Go Chelsea!) I've never been real into the NBA...and I enjoy watching hockey but I don't watch it too often (but Go Flyers!) I guess what I'm trying to say is neither baseball nor football is being played. But baseball will be back before you know it, and it seems like some players are getting anxious. Case in point: an awesome prank that Brett Myers from the Phillies played on fellow pitcher Kyle Kendrick...

Westminster Dog Show

I'm very happy to see the winner of the Westminster Dog Show is NOT a poodle...

Congratulations Uno!

Superbowl - The Commercials

This year, I didn't think there were any real stand-out commercials...but there were definitely a lot.

Though not always the case, a hurdle that the Superbowl commercials have is linking to their websites if necessary. Internet also comes into play as it offers viewers to see all of the commercials again, a perk that myspace took advantage of as it sponsored a page that was advertised during the game, which showed all of the commercials. Personally, I'm not convinced to do that, so I'm reviewing these commercials from the standpoint of one view during the game...

• Pepsi Max - They played on the nod-off of people without caffeine running through their blood, using the SNL sketch-turned-movie theme. What made the commercial was the ticked-off Chris Kattan at the end of the clip.




• Audi - Ok, if you're going to use The Godfather as inspiration for your commercial, make it good! This one was dumb...the car looked cool but the lameness of the ad ruined that.




• Bridgestone - The screaming animals...let's face it, screaming animals are funny. The other one, as we discussed at lunch today...should have made the car steer into Richard Simmons...that would be funny.




• Godaddy.com - The extreme example of linking to your website...the company name is a dot-com (like Amazon, Expedia, etc.) so it's easier off the bat. They were smart though...they offered something exclusively on their website (again, didn't make me get up and check it out, but still smart). And what better to make some beer-drinking male football fans get up and go to your site? A hot chick. Probably wouldn't appeal to any Giants fans, but still...




• FedEx - The carrier pigeons. Pretty funny...good message.




• Tide-to-go - Loved this one...speaking jibberish against someone else talking is funny stuff...a stain doing it? even funnier...they did a good job of making the message clear too..."Silence the stain"




• Budweiser - Good because they've established repetition with the clydesdales so that people associate them with their brand...they seem to be working in the dalmation now too




• Toyota Corolla - Demonstrated the sound-proof ability of the car by locking the guy in the car with badgers and firing cannons, etc. outside the car...I know it's an exaggeration but how soundproof do you want to be? You want to atleast be able to hear sirens.




• Garmin - Napoleon...short and sweet...not bad.




• Careerbuilder - These ones were weird...especially the heart one...except it was memorable and had a solid message..."Follow your heart"




• Sobe Life Water - Another very, very weird one (lizards dancing to MJ)...but again, weirdness is memorable...it's just a question of whether the weirdness peaks interest and curiosity (not the case with me)




• Anti-Drug Ad - I usually think anti-drug ads are dumb because they focus too much on marijuana (instead of cocaine, heroin, etc.)...for once, they had a good message...that kids are using things like household products and OTC meds to get high, which seems to be a real problem.




• Planters - The one with the unfortunate-looking woman who for some reason peaked every guy's attention (and you find out she's rubbing peanuts on herself)...it was good...it definitely sucked you in to watch the entire commercial.




• Fave 5 - Now, I think this is T-mobile...but that's the problem...they focus too much on "Fave 5" rather than their brand name.




• Pepsi - The one of J-Timb getting sucked away to the girl with the winning soda cap...another example of "sucking" you in to find out what the commercial is about...plus J-Timb is dreamy.




• Doritos - Odd humor...I loved it. The guy set up the mousetrap and waited with a bag of Doritos...and then a huge guy in a mouse costume busted through and tackled him. Good use of "the unexpected."




• Kia Sportage - This one annoyed me (the car drives away from the running gas attendants). Yes, 25 mpg is decent for an SUV...but we live in a world where hybrids, electrics, etc. are way more fuel-efficient...if it were advertising one of those, I'd love it. Besides, who wants to buy a Kia?




• Cars.com - The beginning of both of these commercials did not capture your attention enough...I was grasped when he said "oh because I was going to do..." and the ring-fighter came out (the voodoo guy in the other one). I thought the voodoo one was weak...but the ring fighter in the other one was awesome - made me think of the movie Bloodsport. But...a brand name with the "dot-com" in it...so a good link to their online business.




• Vitamin Water - I like these ads...this one was not as good as their previous ones though...I mean, if Shaq drinks Vitamin Water, he'll be able to ride a horse faster? C'monnnnn...they should have showed Shaq drink vitamin water and sink a series of foul shots. Ayooo!!




• E-trade - This one was funny...made me think of the Geico slogan though...so easy a caveman can do it...this one was pretty much, so easy a baby can do it.




• Coke - How come the Coke ads ran so close to each other? There was the float one where Charlie Brown outsmarts Stewie and Underdog? I don't know about that match-up. Then the other one played to the older crowd, who used the "jinx...you owe me a Coke" back in the old days, using political figures (Carville and Frist)...I admit I had to look up the spelling of the former (but I know him from Old School of course)




• Taco Bell - Apparently the mariachi guy was from Allentown, a fact pointed out to me during the commercial, so I couldn't really judge this one.




• Gatorade - Am I dumb? I didn't get this one...the dog is drinking water, then Gatorade appears with "Man's Best Friend." Can anyone enlighten me?




• Victoria's Secret - Of course this grabbed my attention (although Adriana is not my favorite V.S. model...call me crazy)...good message though..."guys, you might be making your significant other watch the game right now...buy her something for Valentine's Day...from Victoria's Secret of course."




• Mountain Dew Amp - Another one of my favorites...odd humor but hilarious...the guy clamped his nipples with the cables to jumpstart the car (only after drinking the Dew of course)...I wish I had sat in on that brainstorming session. Ok, After posting this, I go to collegehumor.com and the first thing I see is "Amp's Donkey Lips"...I think Dave suggested it was him (Donkey Lips from Salute Your Shorts) this morning but after watching it again, it definitely is...which makes this one my absolute favorite.
  

You may be thinking...Kev, you forgot the Bud Light ads...well I left them for last since I was looking forward to them the most, since they're usually the funniest...well, I thought they were decent collectively...

• Fire-Breathing capabilities - They started this campaign before with the "ability to talk to animals" which was a good concept...the dog kept barking and every single word was "sausage"...but it was kind of a weird voice and then whatever the squirrel said ("mind yo' business" or something like that) ruined it. The fire-breathing one was better but I'd say only mildly funny.




• Cheese Run - Bud Light uses the "guys finding ways to sneak beer into lame events that they're dragged to by girlfriends, wives, whomever" theme a lot (like the guy who brought bottles to the opera which crack once the high note is hit...best part of which is the end...the guy in front of them turning around tapping a can saying "first time to the opera boys?")...this one was good too...beer hidden in the huge cheese, in the baguette, tv hidden in the box of wine...and of course the best part at the end, when the guy says to his girlfriend, "gotta go on a cheese run" as he walks out the door.




• Foreign Accents - This one was doomed from the start with me...I hate Carlos Mencia. He has no talent...he steals jokes and he's not even funny when he delivers them. That aside, the concept was good but was poorly delivered.




• Cavemen with Wheel - The cavemen "discover" the wheel but it was funny because they don't know how to use it...this was one of the better ones.




• Ability to Fly - Started off good...again I just thought they could have done a better job with the concept...I like this campaign though because it gives a little description of the beer (which they never really did before...they just dove right into the humor) and there are a number of things you can do with the format of this commercial.




• Will Ferrell - This was probably the best because Will Ferrell is pretty damn funny...especially when he's wearing an old-school basketball uniform (which he plays in a new movie coming out, although they didn't shamelessly plug it in the ad)...I liked the line that went something like "Bud Light is refreshing because a lot of sweat goes into it...not literally, that'd be gross"

So that's my (long) commentary on the Superbowl Ads...I think I'm entitled to a percentage of the millions spent on all of these since I'm giving them more exposure (to the 5 people that read this blog), don't you think?