Superlatives

Maybe I'm crazy, but the language about sports has changed in front of our eyes.

Since when did every game feature ‘drama’, ‘intrigue’, ‘plotlines’ and ‘big stars’?

Or maybe as a kid, the superlatives thrown around in the media (and now comment threads) didn’t matter as much as the smack talking between friends during recess.

What makes sports the compelling events is not the script that the medium wants you to read, but the unscripted nature of the game itself. Yet, this comment from the NYT’s blog, The Fifth Down, made me wonder if we’re moving from sounding like wannabe analysts to wannabe Roger Eberts:

The end was thrilling but the game had no built-up, no plot, no significance, unlike last year’s, and first 3 hours were a waste of 95 million people’s time (even the commercials sucked).

Of course, being that this is the Internet, several commenters laid into him about his lack of enthusiasm (and being a jaded New York Giants fan unable to appreciate what was a very good Super Bowl XLIII). Yet, they seemed to miss the point. While some of us do believe that sports is more than strategies and marketing, that there is a phenomenal art within the movement of these athletes, to demand that spontaneous motion move to some sort of script is… well, professional wrestling (which is no knock at all).

He was looking for build-up. So the regular season and playoffs were just twenty-two guys playing catch for the last five months?

He was looking for a plot. Here’s one: Score (or prevent a score). Rinse. Repeat.

He was looking for significance. If the Super Bowl is insignificant, then 95 million people didn’t get the email.

He said the first three hours were a waste of everyone’s time compared to last year’s thriller in Glendale. Okay, so no arguments about the ads, but a waste of time?



So I pose this to you: have you noticed a shift in how we talk about sports?

Stripes

What is about to be said does not give credence to those arguments about fixes and favoritism in the league offices of professional sports. unless we’re talking about what happened in the tennis world two-plus years ago, 99% of those theories are ludicrous as they come from impartial fans who cannot separate their emotions from the fact that their teams found more ways to screw up to lose a game.

What is about to be said does not diminish the efforts, difficulty and accuracy of those who are charged with placing law and order in the games we love. Referees, line judges and other officials who have to enforce the rules and penalize the rule breakers typically make more than they miss and you couldn’t ask any of any of us to do their jobs and expect sterling results.

Most importantly, what is about to be said is neither a copout for the Arizona Cardinals or a “lucky shot” by the Pittsburgh Steelers. They gave us a very good battle that once again proved that you don’t need the big names and superfluous commercials to make for an exciting show.

However, Super Bowl XLIII, while thrilling and heart-attack inducing, featured the absolute worst officiating in the history of the championship game.

Sometimes, those games in sports that are considered some of the poorest in terms of officiating aren’t always about the amount of calls made or missed. In fact, many of those games just featured poor play and scrums between players who don’t like each other. This has nothing to do with the amount of yellow flags thrown as many of them were a result of ‘Zona shooting itself in the foot with holding penalties against the offensive line. Also, Pittsburgh, for how notoriously ugly they play in a game, played a mostly clean game.

Mostly.

First and foremost, despite being Defensive Player of the Year and ending the first half with a play for the ages, James Harrison should have been ejected and fined for essentially punching Aaron Francisco in the neck on a punt return (best clip available). I couldn’t care less what color the jerseys were or the popularity of the player. Harrison took a cheap shot as he pinned Francisco down to the ground to prevent him from blocking on the punt. He may be one of the nicest guys on the planet and is certainly a player you would want on your team. Yet, this was one of those plays that many Steelers-haters will unfortunately use to label him as a thug, if that’s not the case already. How can such a dirty tactic – which typically would lead to a game dismissal during the regular season – not be given the ultimate penalty is beyond understanding.

Even the White House should have put in a call to the officials at Raymond James Stadium on that one.

Moving on from that horrendous display, there were a handful of other plays in the second half that the Competition Committee and the officials will look into during the offseason:

• The tuck rule made (in)famous in the Divisional playoff game between the Oakland Raiders and New England Patriots became an issue in the third stanza when James Farrior appeared to have sacked Kurt Warner as the Cards’ QB was throwing the ball. It was ruled a fumble, but overturned thanks to Ken Whisenhunt’s challenge (one of two successful red flags). The letter of the law states that the ball must come past the passer’s belt buckle before leaving his hands in order for it to be a fumble. Uh… whoisiwhatsit? An obscure rule that no one still have a full understanding of has caused much havoc this decade, hasn’t it?
  
  
• The roughing the passer and placeholder (placeholder?!?!) penalties should be considered on a case-by-case basis and SB43 only added more fuel to the fire. Armchair offensive linemen as ourselves may have view those penalties as protecting the QB (or holder?!?!), however, we have this assumption that a defensive player in full motion can stop his motion on a dime 100% of the time. When you’re fighting through several individuals of 250 pounds or more of every single play, it’s rather hard to expect that someone will maintain their balance, no matter how phenomenal of an athlete he is. Not too long ago, those plays were what were considered a part of football.
  
  
• The safety that wasn’t that eventually became a safety: if an offensive player cannot be pulled completely to the ground after a few seconds and several defenders (and in this case, immovable offensive linemen trying to hold their blocks) are impeding progress, the play essentially ends as there is not much more forward progress. However, when Willie Parker was trying to move beyond the Steelers’ own endzone, the ball somehow crossed the line, which allowed Pittsburgh to avoid the safety, though his body was clearly still in the end zone. Huh? This is one of those scenarios where you ask yourself, “is it the body first or the ball”?

Again, let it be known that ‘Zona hurt itself with their excessive holding on the offensive line as they could not consistently handle the blitz packages from Pittsburgh. Let it be known that the Men of Steel proved that while the offense isn’t exactly a barnburner, they are the masters of The Big Play in this league. Let it be known that the remaining penalties are indisputable. Finally, let it be known that the best teams find a way to overcome mistakes and despite a record 18 penalties in the Super Bowl, neither team’s players resorted to pulling a Bart Scott in defiance of all the extra yellow on the field.

It may not be much of a surprise that there was some controversy in regards to the officiating as there were a few more ‘high-profile’ missteps in 2008 than in previous seasons. And this Scribe has and still believes that the NFL officials do far more right than wrong on a regular basis (for some really bad work, wait until March Madness in a few weeks).

However, the Super Bowl is supposed to be the showcase for not only the best teams in the postseason, but a showcase of the best the NFL has to offer from their players, coaches and team officials to the leaders of all aspects of league operations. The league essentially holds our minds and weekends hostage for five months because they bring us ‘drama’ so that we can all appreciate its final meaningful display before hibernating until the late summer. Unfortunately, in the signature event to the world, we did not get the best of the men in stripes last night.

And now... back to your regularly scheduled Scribe; less frustration, more celebration. Coming up, "just a lil' bit of hoop".

Shilling

Is there anything else to say about tomorrow's Super Bowl?

Actually, there is.

If you read the profile, you may be aware that sports media is one-half of my professional life. The other happens to be in a (at least to me) equally fascinating world of advertising. Now, because of where I work (hello, fellow colleagues), there's is supposed to be a move vested interest in the extravaganza because of the commercials produced and purchased for some clients. While I cannot reveal (nor would I) who they are, I will say that they will be some of the most talked-about and Googled offerings during and after the affair on Monday morning.

However, with no disrepect to my company nor the industry at-large, don't expect me to jump in.

I may seem like a football elitist to anyone who has read that statement and that really doesn't bother me. As discussed in the past, this NFL championship game is the culmination of five months of hard work from the players, coaches, executives (most of them) and the good football media along with the passion of fans. The Super Bowl is the most watched event in the American sports calendar because from early September until now, we spent six days a week from in anticipation for a few hours on Sundays. While the sway of advertisers is nothing new to football (as it has helped the league grow from nearly-outlawed status to pop culture phenomenon), it's a little frustrating to know that most of the onlookers are only going to turn to NBC tomorrow for a few poorly-written ads that in an absurd way, determines if they enjoyed the game itself or not.

Hey, I can't say that I won't watch the commercials (I'll pass on halftime for reasons stated in a link below), but on Monday, be prepared to discuss what happened on the field before discussing which company's ad came on the third pod during the second quarter.

However, I do ask that if you are part of the extras who haven't watched a game all year (and there are millions of you), read this before taking part in the unoffical national holiday festivities.

Meanwhile, here are a few articles for your perusal. Most are thoughts related to tomorrow's game, but a few are related to other happenings in the sports world that you should key in on throughout the week.

• Your Class of 2009 for the Pro Football Hall of Fame - Baseball has their great two-man class and this is certainly one of the best in the history of the game. There's another HOF that you will hear about in a few weeks, one that is relatively low-key compared to the others... until this year when one player will officially become eligible.
• An excellent piece from Yahoo! Sports' Charles Robinson about Arizona's Darnell Dockett.
• Sticking with Yahoo! Sports, MJD at Shutdown Corner tells the truth here: why no one will ever enjoy the halftime show.
• Your last minute pre-game rundown of your advertisers from Ad Age.
• WIRED Magazine gives you the online aspect of the game's biggest advertisers.
• BusinessWeek's Burt Helm says that the ad world hopes for the best in what will be a SB with a few less eyeballs.
• Straying from the pros for a bit, my blogging buddy over at Mixed Race America goes on a tangent from her usual subject matter: imagine your favorite Division I (or whatever it's called now) college football team having a bake sale to stay afloat... just imagine because it's highly unlikely, but read on.
• Finally, because you need a laugh.

Please, oh PLEASE: if you head out for a SB gathering and throw down a few drinks, just leave your keys at home or make nice with the designated driver. DUIs/DWIs are far too commonplace (one is too damn much) and because our wallets are a bit more strectched these days, no one can or should bail you out for being stupid.

Unlikely

Since the least likely Super Bowl in recent memory (if ever) is coming up and predictions have been requested, here's except from tomorrow's article in the New York Beacon (75 cents at select NYC newsstands):

The battle that should gain more attention is between the Cardinals’ defensive line and the Steelers’ offensive front. Though Arizona allowed just below 27 points per game in the regular season, they were in the middle of the pack in many defensive categories, including the popular sack (31) and interception (13) tallies. In all three playoff games, Arizona has allowed just above 20 per contest; mostly by slowing the running game as Philadelphia’s Brian Westbrook, Atlanta’s Michael Turner and Carolina’s DeAngelo Williams to a tune of 50 yards apiece. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh’s offensive line had been criticized for much of the year because of inconsistent protection for QB Ben Roethlisberger and their collection of running backs. However, as their defensive teammates, they take pride in knocking players to the dirt and creating holes for Willie Parker and Mewelde Moore.

Now, for an actual prediction: whichever team scores more points than the other has a fairly strong chance of winning the game.

Overload

You will be overloaded over the next seven days, including Super Sunday.

With all due respect to the league that has granted this Scribe access over the past four years, the journey that the NFL takes – better yet, throws in front of us all – gets a little mind-numbing.

This may not be the ‘sexiest’ Super Bowl in recent memory, but it is the Super Bowl that provides a compelling matchup that should be able to stand on its own for a hopefully memorable NFL championship game. However, the idea that we need any more than two or three hours of coverage before the game begins is beyond comprehension.

Ninety hours from ESPN’s networks.

Fifty-five hours from the NFL Network (for the seventeen people who have it).

And just a measly six hours from NBC, the actual broadcaster of the Big Game.

For those of us who have something to do during the day such as work, go to school, look after the kids or sell illegal pharmaceuticals, we’re able to mostly avoid the über-analysis and absurd questions of Super Bowl Media Week. Even so, there is still an inordinant amount of programming waiting for us to smack our heads over and over again.

Yet, unlike most sports media personalities, your favorite blogger is going to give you some advice on how to avoid the Super Bowl Migraine that comes with actually paying attention:

First and foremost, don’t use sick days, Paid Time Off or vacation days to actually soak in any of the stuff coming out of the ‘idiot’ box. Not only will the multiple shows scramble your brain despite hearing the same stories over and over again, but you won’t have days to use later this year. Keep that vacation to the Caribbean during your favorite team’s bye week in mind.

Now, in terms of actual TV programming, there’s plenty to offer that you may have completely forgotten about because as this writer, your head has been wrapped around an oblong spherical brownish object thrown in the air for three hours. There are plenty of shows throughout the week that are showing new episodes, but if you have not been up-to-date on them, spend your next few evenings catching up on whatever shows you recorded on DVR or get yourself online… well, don’t watch anything on one of the MTV Networks or American Idol.

If you’re like this writer and barely keep up with actual scripted content, there’s a good chance that you are a true sports junkie. This week, the NBA offered a free week of their absolutely wonderful League Pass, giving cable subscribers a chance to see any game coast-to-coast. Look, the economy is shaky and people are looking to cost-cutting methods to save a buck or two. Yet, if you need to entertain yourself with something athletic, either invest in the half-season sports packages from the NBA, NHL or college basketball or find the nearest watering hole/restaurant. Hey, if you’re nice enough and willing to go Dutch on some (insert food delivery company here), I might let you swing by.

The Australian Open has been quite intriguing so far, so take a gander at either ESPN or The Tennis Channel to watch the matches that went on while you were sleeping.

If you are really hyped for some hitting and you’re fortunate to have the premium channels on demand, check out HBO and Showtime’s best matches of 2008 along with Sugar Shane Mosley’s absolute beatdown of Antonio Margarito that entertained many this past Saturday.

Of course, there was a time when there were about three television channels and only one TV per household. Some families huddled their one TV unit and watched iconic shows that still stand the test of time. Yet, some people did something that seems almost unheard of these days. They grabbed one of these. It’s not a bad idea to do so while all of the media in Tampa is sweating to find anything worth our attention when we wake the next morning.

Being that this was the first non-football weekend since the late summer, you probably reconnected with loved ones and friends, stepped out of the house on a Sunday, took a long weekend out of town or actually stepped inside a church for the first time since Easter. Have an encore performance.

If you’re like me and there are at least 10 movies in the past five years that you have not seen that people keep demanding that you watch, cherry pick a few for each day up until the minute leading to Sunday’s kickoff. I have a list of about thirty.

Finally, there are probably three or four websites you have been meaning to check out or some blogs that you haven’t caught up (ahem) with (ahem) in about a week (or month). This is a pretty good time to get all educated and whatnot.

By the time Super Sunday rolls around, you would swear that the last football game you watched was six years ago. You would be caught up with most of what you have missed in the last five months, you’d put a dent in a book that you haven’t touched since last May (Atlas Shrugged for this guy) and you would finally be able to say to your co-workers “yeah, I watched ‘Juno’ the other day and I got to say that it was kinda overrated”. You would be so far away from the gluttony of pre-pre-pre game coverage that you’d be convinced that Kurt Warner was the rookie that the Arizona Cardinals drafted last April.

Most importantly, you would actually look forward to watching the game itself.

Good luck and remember, by 6:30 PM this Sunday, it’ll be all over.

Start

Various thoughts may consume the mind, yet these handful seem to shine through the most today.

First and foremost, those that we have lost in our lives who fought, spoke and hustled for real change in society should be here to witness this day. I knew someone in particular who would make sure that our newly-elected government officials, including President Obama, stick to their guns.

Secondly, a song that has become a personal mantra over the past sixteen months since the album's release in 2007 may speak more to what we are celebrating today:

We will make a brand new start
from the pieces torn apart
The break of day is before us
Cast your sorrows to the wind
Let the highway take us in
as we escape the disorder

Finally, as said once before, we're not done. Nowhere close. This may be a sports blog, but the ramifications of the new Obama administration are supposed to speak to change for everyone, regardless of socioeconomic background, political (in)differences, prejudices, occupations, etc. While this inauguration may turn out to be the Wilt Chamberlain 100-point game of the early 21st century, to not have a passing published thought would be foolish on my part.

However, don't forget... we're not done. Change will take a few more tomorrows than most of us have planned.

So let's get to work.

For inauguration links, check out the always-on point Fang's Bites.

Say What?!?!: As always, I'll be real with you; I've always known that this day would come, just not when. However, I'm probably the only black/African-American person in the country who thought that a person of color or a woman President of the United States was more likely than the Arizona Cardinals playing in the Super Bowl. Yeah, I said it.

Staggering

New poll: this one’s focuses on the first über-hyped game of the college football season, but it’ll be up until next Thursday.

Meanwhile, we’re just in Week One of the NFL season and there’s already significant Super Bowl news.

NBC will take its turn on the broadcasting wheel this year for the NFL’s championship game in Tampa, Florida. Earlier today, the Peacock proudly announced that not only have they already sold 80% of their advertising inventory for the game, but they have “a dozen or so advertisers” who purchased 30-second spots for $3 million.

Three. Million. Dollars.

$100,000 per second.

That’s about a month’s rent in Beacon Hill or Daly City, right?

In all seriousness, it’s an absolutely staggering figure that hopefully receives its own in-depth analysis within the advertising and marketing trade media. The asking price has grown each year for a milieu of reasons, yet there is no denying how $3 million became the latest threshold.

Last year, the writer’s strike put broadcast networks at a standstill. Reruns and reality television were not desired avenues for companies to promote their goods and services. Though viewers gravitated towards cable programming in droves, those paid channels do not command the audiences that broadcast networks can offer.

Just as real estate in your nearby up-and-coming neighborhood, there were few prime spots in a weakened economy. Those few bastions of advertising potential turned out to be live sports. Live sports are considered DVR-proof as viewers are less likely to fast-forward through ads or record games for later viewing. In the States, the television events with the biggest audiences are typically sporting events; notably baseball and basketball games featuring the highest-profiled teams, players and/or markets and NFL games because of a short season with dedicated days for action.

The Super Bowl XLII broadcaster, FOX, knew that any event with a huge national audience had to make up for the lack of scripted fare. The network decided to increase the price of a 30-second ad to upwards of $2.7 million, a 15% increase from the year before.

If you know a competitor was able to pry $2.7 million from a vendor for essentially the same service, wouldn’t you consider boosting the price?

Though this is less about the pigskin – after all, no one has even played two regular season games in September yet – you wonder if the reason behind NBC’s eagerness to boast about its Super Bowl buys has to do with their success in broadcasting the Beijing Olympics a couple of weeks ago.