Blogging Super Bowl XLIV: Halftime

5:53 - In the interests of completeness, I'm going to endure what is sure to be a horrible halftime show. The Who, proving once again that you can go 24 years without releasing an album and still be considered culturally relevant by the NFL!

5:55 - Halftime snacks - Triscuts and home-made garlic dip courtesy of my wife.

5:56 - I still hate Bill Cowher. Is that so wrong? His hairline continually frustrates and vexes me. Get some plugs, get a piece or start shaving your head. Unreal.

5:58 - The halftime show that they are setting up in the background looks craptastic. Glowing lights? Wow, I'm impressed. But I never get tired of the CBS guys yelling their points in a hurried manner. I'd love to know how their analysis would be different if they were in the studio.

6:00 - "You can't find synergy Lemon, it's bigger than all of us." Nice work by CBS with the Big Brother-Amazing Race tie-in.

6:02 - God, if I was The Who I'd be thoroughly embarrassed right now. Do you think they passed out a lyrics sheet to everyone in the crowd before halftime?

6:08 - My wife's list of non-offensive people who would be better right now - Taylor Swift, Jonas Brothers, Jay-Z, Miley Cyrus..."there's just so many choices."

6:10 - Sorry, I don't even know this song. But the lights are purty!

6:11 - My wife wants to know who is on the committee to pick the halftime show performer and how far down the list was The Who. My response, I would hope very far. But obviously not far enough.

6:13 - Is there an applause sign?

6:14 - My dad summed up halftime the best in our traditional halftime phone call - "Well we didn't get to see Janet Jackson's nipple, but at least we got to see that guy's fat belly!"

Blogging Super Bowl XLIV: Second Quarter

5:11 - Let's start the quarter with a wifey comment - "It bothers me that so many people like 'How I Met Your Mother' now. It's such predictable humor. Agreed.

5:11 - Welcome to the game Marques Colston! Better late than never.

5:12 - Classic Reggie Bush bailed out by the late hit. Hey, take 'em where you can get them. Saints need points on this drive or this one could be over quickly. Bush barely got hit, but the intent, way out of bounds, was there.

5:13 - Nice toughness by Pierre Thomas on those two plays. The Saints need more of that.

5:14 - The Saints running backs seem to not understand that you can't run around the Colts D. They're too fast.

5:17 - I guess we can stop wondering whether or not Dwight Freeney is 100%. Horrible end to an otherwise good-looking drive. But at least they got some points. Need a stop on D.

5:18 - My wife is thoroughly amused by the name "Bushrod."

5:18 - Is there a situation where the Stripes music isn't hilarious? The ads tonight have been terrific.

5:20 - "Why the f*** is Mark Sanchez talking to me?" God I love my wife.

5:22 - Two straight commercials without pants? I love it. But I bet some people will think they're the same ad? Also, memo to Hyundai, Sears already ran the Favre joke into the ground. It's not funny anymore.

5:24 - First big play from the Saints D comes courtesy of Jonathan Vilma. First time Addai has looked like Addai of last year or so.

5:25 - HUGE drop by Garcon. Also, there's never been a punt return TD in the Super Bowl? Would not have guessed that.

5:28 - I was totally going to ask my barber for Tracy Porter's haircut this weekend, but I changed my mind at the last minute. Glad I did, I wouldn't want to look like a copycat!

5:29 - Nice pickup on the throw in the flat to Thomas. Still got something out of the play even though the coverage was good.

5:29 - Colston is really coming alive in the second quarter. That's a very encouraging sign for the Saints.

5:31 - Nice catch by Shockey.

5:32 - Just when I'm questioning why the Saints ran shotgun on third-and-short again, Lance Moore got so wife open you'd have thought he was in Idaho. Wow.

5:32 - And then they threw it all away with that end-around. You. can't. run. around. the. Colts. D.

5:33 - Two passes, two bad miscommunications by the Colts secondary.

5:34 - I hate it when d-linemen jump out of their stance and point at o-linemen. Nobody likes a tattle-tale.

5:36 - Nicely done by Dodge Charger. That ad had my complete attention.

5:38 - Why don't more people hate Papa John? I bet they would if his pizza wasn't delicious. Oh hey, a football game!

5:39 - My wife just started singing "cleats on the ground, cleats on the ground." That was the first time (I think) that the Saints didn't go shotgun on third and short.

5:41 - Punksatawney Polamulu! That was hilarious.

5:41 - This game's over. That was a mirror image of the Willie McGinest tackle in Indy many moons ago, right down to Gary Brackett's run off the field.

5:44 - I'd love to know why New Orleans didn't call a time out after first down.

5:45 - I thought I was going to get through the Harry Potter commercial without any comment from my wife, and then right as it ended, she turned to me and said "I want to go," ever so softly. Damnit. Oh well, I knew it was coming. I'd put the odds at 20% that our son's first trip is to Univeral Orlando.

5:46 - I have so many questions about FLO TV. It sounds expensive.

5:47 - Wow, Reggie Bush just hurt me on two levels. On one level, his return sucked. On a second level, he just caused my wife to start singing, "he was dancin' dancin'" ala the Jackson 5's "Dancin' Machine."

5:49 - "Jeffrey...come back."

5:50 - A good and bad play at the same time from Brees. Good - he got the ball out of bounds. Bad - it gained less than a yard.

5:51 - Hartley is keeping New Orleans in the game. But my wife isn't impressed. Of Hartley, she says, "he looks like a gay punk rocker." Well, alright.

Blogging Super Bowl XLIV: First Quarter

4:32 - Brees looks calm on first drop back despite a lot of pressure. Good omen?

4:33 - Nothing like a deep ball on 3rd and 2. Really overthrew him. What was the point of that? To beat Indy, you have to have some long drives. Not a good start. In other news, my wife is still trying to figure out why Simms and Nantz wore purple and orange, respectively. Her latest comment, "well, there's orange in the logo. But that doesn't explain Simms..."

4:34 - Such a typical demoralizing first play from the Indy offense. Cover Dallas Clark with a LB and you will pay.

4:35 - Wow, that's one hell of a neck beard.

4:37 - This is a clinic so far by Peyton Manning. Don't get greedy, just take what the defense gives you.

4:37 - Nice recovery by Harper on first down there. Also, isn't Tracy Porter the female NBA ref?

4:38 - Manning is hot. He's even hitting guys while back-pedaling? This could be a long night for the Saints D.

4:39 - First mistake of the night coincides with a third down. Lucky for Saints.

4:42 - "Oh, they're not empty." Nice.

4:43 - Snickers & Betty White - even better. You have to get creative to make "that's not what your girlfriend says," still be funny.

4:44 - Asked my wife what she thought of the Tebow ad - "What was it for?" Can't believe there was that much controversy over that ad.

4:45 - He was down. His elbow was down and there had been contact.

4:45 - What is the point of Hyundai? That ad sucked.

4:46 - BOOST MOBILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!!

4:46 - That Doritos ad was strange. Maybe I'm too old to laugh at that? It's entirely possible.

4:48 - Head to the mountains. Lazy coverage by Hayden right there.

4:50 - Sorry, Marques, he'll hit you in the hands next time.

4:51 - I said to anyone who asked me all week that the Saints have to play a perfect game to win. So far, despite that downed punt, they are not doing that. Manning and Garcon messed up that third down throw. It wasn't anything the Saints did.

4:52 - Much better second effort from Doritos, and Dr. Marvin Candle/Dr. Edgar Halliwax for Bud Light? Good times. Liking the efforts so far from Madison Ave.

4:55 - Wow, I don't think the Colts running backs have combined for that much consecutive yardage in a long time.

4:57 - Two consecutive throws where Manning had to throw off his back foot, with two incompletions. But then Manning makes a great audible and they get another 10+ yard run out of Addai. When's the last time that happened?

4:58 - Who is this guy wearing #29 and what did he do with Joseph Addai?

5:00 - My wife is getting really upset with the choppiness of the camera.

5:01 - Comment just deleted by me - "Ok, Manning is no longer on fire." Just when you let up for a second, he burns you. Perfect balance by the Colts on that drive.

5:02 - Nice job, Coca-Cola. And once again, Go Daddy's ad makes incredibly little sense. Also, Go Daddy, they have this thing called porn now. I don't need to go to your website to see racy material online. Thanks though.

5:06 - Doritos casket? Genius. Bud Light auto-tune? Not so much. It would have been funny two years ago though.

Blogging Super Bowl XLIV: Pre-game

I'm going to give blogging a live event a shot for the first time. I figured since I'm not really emotionally invested in the outcome of this game - for the record I'm rooting for the Saints because one of my good friends is a Saints fan - this seemed like a good way to stay invested in the game, and also to try out my chops at the quick reaction world of live blogging. Although the sentiment will be muted since I don't have any sort of cool software to make that happen in real-time, so you'll just have to trust me. I will post updates quarterly, and my time stamps will be Mountain Standard Time, since that's the time zone in which I live.

4:17 - Pretty cool to do the Walter Payton Award right before the Super Bowl. The NFL does so many things better than the other pro sports, and that is certainly one.

4:18 - Queen Latifah singing America The Beautiful is another. I have chills. But what are the rules with players putting their hands over their heart for ATB? Some players are, some players aren't. I like the Reggie Bush approach, hands clasped behind his back. Save hand on heart for the Anthem. Also, Queen Latifah's coat is pretty shiny. Finally, was she rocking a behind-the-ear neck tattoo?

4:21 - Ugh, I can't stand Carrie Underwood. Love the 6-inch jumbo heels with the white zipper jacket zipped low enough that we can see your silver bra. You stay classy Carrie Underwood. Her voice also came dangerously close to cracking at the end, she was really forcing it. Definitely not the effortless range you should have to really knock the Anthem out of the park.

4:23 - Wait, was that the Last Airbender ad? It was only like 15 seconds...I purposely waited on watching it online so I could see it on the TV.

4:25 - I like the new take on the McDonald's ad. Go Larry!!!!

4:26 - I wonder how many of those Nurse Jackie promos I'm going to have to watch tonight? Let's put the over/under at 6. I'll take the over.

4:27 - Before we get going, my official prediction is Colts 27-Saints 20.

4:27 - Yet another great move by the NFL - having the new HOF inductees at the game. Congrats to Floyd Little - Mark Kiszla really did write a good piece on him a couple of weeks ago. That's the difference between Kiszla and Woody Paige - Kiszla is actually a good writer.

4:28 - Wow, I can't believe that call of heads worked.

4:29 - My wife's comment on Hyundai pre-game: If I was them, I would be pimping myself big-time right now because Toyota is f****d. Such language for a pregnant lady. Then she asked me what Tom Brady is doing today? Because I know...

Tweeting The Numbers Recap

Finally, the finish line. Here are all the posts in case you missed them: #'s 00-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, 61-82 and 83-99.

Looking back on this project, one thing I can tell for sure is that football teams have an inherent advantage since they use the majority of the numbers from 1-99, whereas other sports mostly stop in the high 50's. To wit:

#'s 00-99, Favorite Players, By Team:
Patriots: 34
Red Sox: 18
Celtics: 13
BU Hockey: 7
Bruins: 5
General: 4
Rockies: 3

But when you knock out #'s 61-99, it's a far different story:

#'s 00-60, Favorite Players, By Team:
Red Sox: 17
Patriots: 15
Celtics: 13
BU Hockey: 6
Bruins: 4
General: 4
Rockies: 3

That Patriots number is more than halved. However, I am surprised to see that even in this scenario, the Pats sneak in ahead of the Celtics, whom I consider my second favorite team after the Red Sox (with the Pats being third). Although I suppose it shouldn't be that big of a surprise since there are only 12 players on a basketball team and 53 on a football team...

The Runner-Up, or "Apologies To" players were also in line with the second graph:

Runner-Up Players, By Team:
Red Sox: 45
Patriots: 31
Celtics: 29
BU Hockey: 21
Bruins: 15
Rockies: 13
General: 2

This seems to fit a lot better. The Sox are my first love, and I had a winner or runner-up for them for every number from 1-53, with the exception of #33 (I just couldn't bring myself to include Jason Varitek. I truly can't stand him, and he is going to further tarnish any legacy he once had with another season of back-breakingly bad performance in 2010, which will be his third straight such season and fourth in the last five years. One of the biggest mistakes of the Theo Epstein regime was his four year, $40 million contract after the '04 season. It would be THE biggest if not for the words "Edgar Renteria." But I digress.). The Patriots once again rank high due to the combination of sheer numbers as well as a decade-long dynasty, and the C's and Terriers finish strong. Though to be truthful, the Terriers would have probably done better had I not finished so many nights after a BU game at T's Pub or The Dugout. Looking through my old Images of Sports: Boston University Hockey book, there were several players who I knew I liked, but couldn't remember how much I liked them. And as many of my friends will tell you, I have a poor memory to begin with, and that's before you add $2 Bud Lights to the mix.

The most difficult numbers were definitely #24, #4, #8, #14, #15, #17 and #38. Comparing those players, and remembering others like Willie McGinest, Jason Allison, Troy O'Leary and Sherman Douglas were definitely a fun trip down memory lane. I would recommend it highly if you have a few hours to kill. And let's face it, after the Super Bowl this Sunday and the Beanpot final next Monday, with the Bruins and Celtics fading, the Patriots never talking about their draft/free agency plans and the Sox still a month or so from Spring Training games, every New England sports fan is going to have some time to kill this month.

Tweeting The Numbers, #'s 83-99

This is my seventh and final post on my favorite players of all-time by jersey number. It's been quite a journey. After this, I'll write a quick recap post as well.

#83, Wes Welker. Only player I found in q&d search w/ more recs than Welker's 346 in 3 yr span was M. Harrison w/354. J. Rice's best: 342.

#84, Shawn Jefferson. The deep threat. He led Pats in Y/C in all 4 seasons (min. 30 recs), including league leading 22.7 in '98.

#85, Nick Buoniconti. Apologies to: Jermaine Wiggins. The HOF linebacker was way before my time, but Pats only have so many HOF'ers.

#86, Stanley Morgan. The ultimate deep threat, he avg'd 20+ Y/C his first 6 yrs. When he ruined body on turf, Pats finally switched to grass.

#87, Ben Coates. Was so sad when "Winter" Coates was released. His 96 receptions stood as record for TE's for decade be4 Gonzalez broke it.

#88, Hart Lee Dykes. Apologies to: Terry Glenn. Only played 2 yrs due to knee & eye injuries, but avg'd 16.2 Y/C & could have been great.

#'s 89-92 - Nobody.

#93, Richard Seymour. 1 of key cogs in the Pats dynasty, his trade this yr signaled end of era, tho it took us til Jan. to admit it.

#94, Ty Warren. Seymour's book-end on the d-line, Warren needs to prove next year he can be healthy and effective at the same time.

#95, Roman Phifer. 1 of the key, if not THE key, veteran free agent addition in the heralded free agent group of the '01 season.

#96 - Nobody.

#97, Matt Gilroy. Apologies to: Jarvis Green. BU's 2nd Hobey Baker winner is a great story & it was fun to watch him mature into champion.

#98 - Nobody.

#99, Mike Wright. He's been only a role player, but a damn entertaining one. W/ 5 sacks this yr, maybe he can be more in '10 & beyond.

Tweeting The Numbers, #'s 61-82

Five down, two to go. Find the first five posts here, here, here, here and here.

#61, Clay Buchholz. Finally started to show the potential dominance last yr, & even w/ Lackey now in the fold, Sox need Buchholz in '10.

#62 - Nobody

#63, Joe Andruzzi. Apologies to: Paxton Crawford. Few moments in Patriots history will top when he was intro'd w/ his brothers after 9/11.

#'s 64-68 - Nobody.

#69, Eugene Chung. He actually was terrible, but we got a BIG kick out of making fun of him back in the day, & for that I love him.

#70, Logan Mankins. Hopefully we'll watch him for a long time, but I held my breath when I saw he was out of position in Pro Bowl last nite.

#'s 71-72 - Nobody

#73, John Hannah. The dean emeritus of Patriots offensive lineman, I always heard about him but he retired just before my conscious life.

#74 - Nobody.

#75, Vince Wilfork. Big Vince Wilfork had a spectacular debut, helping the Pats win the Super Bowl his rookie year. I hope he stays.

#76 - Nobody.

#77, Raymond Bourque. Apologies to: Mike Compton. 1 of last B's gms I went to was Ray Bourque night. Avs had no right to retire his # tho.

#78, Bruce Armstrong. Best Pats o-lineman of my conscious viewing life, I'm still jealous that my wife went to Bruce Armstrong Day w/out me.

#79 - Nobody.

#80, Troy Brown. My favorite Patriot of all-time. Troy Brown Makes First Downs. He did whatever was needed. Hire him as O-coordinator!

#81, Randy Moss. Say whatever you want about him, but he's always been entertaining. I'm overjoyed he was able to recharge his career in NE.

#82, Vincent Brisby. 1 of key Pats from early '90's wasteland years, Brisby was an afterthought by the time the Pats reached Super Bowl.

Next Up: #'s 83-99