the Who's Super Bowl halftime show rocked. I don't care what anyone says.

I thought the Who's Superbowl 44 halftime show rocked. Mindblowing? No. the best I've ever heard them? No. Great venue? Hardly. But they did rock. They sounded great (the TV mix was perfect, actually; and surprisingly). The stage, and lighting design/platform that surrounded it was awesome. And Daltrey, who never sings as good you want him to - including 4 decades ago - was good enough; I've heard him before, markedly worse than I did yesterday. Pete's guitar sounded great, and so did his vocals. The other musicians played well, and the backup vocals were good also. They had fun. I kind of felt like I was right there, having fun with them. It was just cool seeing the legends up there, rocking it, in front of the largest TV audience EVER.

Most of the people I was watching with - a large majority - agreed with me. I'd say, "good" to "really good" were the responses. But today, I can't view a single media outlet without hearing about how much they sucked. Why did it suck? How did it suck? Can anyone tell me how or why the performance, or the Who sucked? Seriously.

Was it because SBowl halftime venues suck? Well, that can't matter. It was a SBowl halftime venue - yes the "venue" sucks! Sure I'd like to see them at the Knitting Factory, but the Superbowl wasn't played there.

Was it because they're old? Well, they're old! But they still held their own, and sound better at this stage of their lives than the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Brian Wilson put together (at their late late late stages)!

Was it the song selection? (M)eh. Sure, I'd personally like to hear other songs, but they're up there playing to millions and millions of people who were hearing them for the first time and/or seeing them for the first time! Why not play the hits?! Played out to us, maybe, but not everyone.

Was it the medley? They got 12 minutes; what's wrong w/ a medley? I loved how they went from "pinball wizard" into "baba o'riley!"

Have you seen the other halftime Superbowl shows? Prince's was as good, perhaps better than the Who's, but no one else has come close. People need to put the 12-minute, Superbowl half-time shows in the proper context, and expect a little less. It's entertainment for a global audience, and if you're lucky, you see a really good performance. The Who's show was worthy rock.

Here's a quote from both Roger and Pete, on their performance, shortly afterwards... Roger: "It didn't even feel like a concert. It's a television show. And what can you do in 12 minutes? I thought it went OK. I understand. It's a TV show. Cameras were everywhere" And Pete: "We were trying to put on a great show. We had as much fun as we could have."

Perhaps Rachel Sklar at Medialite.com put it best: ""If you love The Who and are old enough to remember how awesomely groundbreaking they were, then you loved the 2010 Superbowl Half-Time Show. Amid the flashing lights and super-stadium pyrotechnics, there was a real honest-to-goodness rock concert," she wrote.

I totally agree.

Super Bowl XLIV musings, considerations, predictions and other nonsense...

I have never been so conflicted with considering a winner for a football game. Seriously. Both teams are bleepin’ sick; without question, the best two teams in football. Colts are 16 & 2 right now. If they didn’t sit their top players/starters during the second half, in the only 2 games they did, they’d be 18 and 0; w/ a chance to achieve only the second perfect season in the modern era of football. By the way, the Colts (and the Saints to some extent) proved again, that resting players and taking losses, once the post-season goal of home field thru the playoffs is achieved, works perfectly.

Here's a post from Nov 16th (after week 12, NFL) on my fantasy football msg board when both Saints and Colts were undefeated. Believe it or not, I took flack for posing this obvious question:

"Is it too early to discuss a Colts/Saints superbowl as inevitiable? Colts have whipped off 18 straight regular season wins; they have a defense (not everyone is the Pats offense), and Manning has thrown for 300 yards in 6 of their 8 games! NUTS. And how about the Colts playcalling? it's ridiculous. Do Colts even have an O-Coordinator? And look out for the Saints; their defense is for real as well."

The only team I though could MAYBE beat the Saints was the Vikings; there was no one I thought could beat the Colts.

I’m bored w/ all the numbers and stats at this point (yards per game, points against, blah, yadda, etc), so I’m gonna focus on the other aspects of the teams and matchup. With regards to the numbers, suffice it to say, both teams, on both sides of the ball have very similar numbers; on offense, the numbers are tremendous; on defense, both teams are above average units, but have similar issues w/ consistency and yards against.

The Saints offense has more weapons than the Colts O (#1 offense this season). They have 3 legitimate running backs, who are all good! Pierre Thomas is a personal favorite of mine; a great team player, always positive (I follow him on twitter!), a smart runner, and catches well, out of the backfield. His back-up is Mike Bell, a very hard runner, who’s been averaging 10 carries a game, roughly, through the season. And of course, the still underrated Reggie Bush. Who is awesome. Nevermind all the fantasy-geeks (I myself, am one) crying about him not “putting up the numbers.” If you watch him play, you know. That long run he made for a TD (vs. Vikes?) this post-season, is what he’s capable of on ANY play. The reason he’s not used more is because this offense has SO many other great weapons, there just isn’t a need to use him more. It keeps everyone more energized, less beat up, and even more importantly, keeps the defenses guessing.

They also have a stacked WR corps, probably as good as the Colts, even taking Dallas Clark into account. Marques Colston, who is great, to be sure, might only have the third best set of hand out of them. Robert Meachem (in his third year, I think, and arguably the best WR on the team), and Devery Henderson both can actually catch the ball better; Colston is bigger, more physical and has more experience, which is why he’s the more known, and commands the double team, if any defense chooses to go that route. Lance Moore, their 4thWR is the best #4 in the leaugue! And Jeremy Shockey has proven all year, he can handle anything, when the game or a first down is on the line.

Drew Brees, has been awesome for years. And I mean awesome. If you watched him play for San Diego, you already knew this. Chargers might have a SBowl by now, if they kept him and got rid of Phillip Rivers, instead. He’s about as accurate as Manning and Warner, super-smart, very physical, and a born leader. Not sure how many MVP votes he got, but he should’ve gotten more.

Saints offensive line, however, while it appears very good to me, isn’t as good as the Colts offensive line. That is the only spot on the offense where the Colts have a marked advantage, when comparing offenses.

Colts offense? It’s the kind you dream about. When Manning’s career is eventually over – and it’s gonna be a long time, still, HATERS! – I don’t see any reason he won’t be considered the greatest QB of ALL TIME. He’s a bleepin’ master; he has mastered the QB position. Seriously.

Their running game is slightly above average, but just slightly. Saints is definitely better. Joseph Addai has had a great year for a seasoned veteran, and is definitely a force to catch out of the backfield, whenever Manning needs to go that route; he’s got good hands. Back up Donald Brown, in his first year, appears to be a good runner also. When don’t’ the Colts have good and great running backs, WR’s, tight ends, and QB’s? Seriously. THAT’s ownership. Colts can’t run the ball consistently, but they don’t need to, when you have as much talent in the passing/receiving game as the Colts do.

Speaking of receiving corps. It’s quite extraordinary. Reggie Wayne is one of the best in the league. He has been, is, and will be. Their next best WR is actually their tight end, Dallas Clark. STATS for him. Austin Collie is a rookie NUMBERS? And Pierre Garcon is a second-year guy, and BOTH have fantastic hands! They’re both physical, run amazing routes, and are very smart. It’s because of Peyton, these two already have the mental capacity and football smarts of 5-year players.

All that being said, former coach Tony Dungy is tripping ballz, for making this statement earlier in the week: “I would be absolutely shocked if the Colts lose Sunday.” If he’s serious, he’ll be the only one.

Tired of writing, so I’ll skip over the defense. Both teams have relatively the same type of defenses: any number of individual players are very good, and/or fast, and they fly to the ball and create turnovers. Saints, I think, led the league in Defensive TD’s. Both teams are aggressive, but neither is a shut-down D, or even consistent when they need to be. Here’s an irony, I suppose: since both offenses can, and will, score a lot, the defense will most likely be the deciding factor in the game.

The problem I’m having w/ deciding on a winner, is borne out of not knowing which D is actually going to play better today, or which QB will be able to make more plays, when the D finds the right blend of pressure and coverage. Ugh. Not sure yet.

Coaching edge goes to Saints. I don’t know a damn thing about COLTS coach, except he’s doing a fine job, without question. “Not getting in the way,” is highly underrated, when it comes to coaching in pro sports. Many coaches are in the way all the time (Reid), and can’t see the scoreboard for the clipboard. Or just don’t have any sense about what is actually going on in the field. COLTS coach is smart enough to guide the team, coach the team when necessary, and ‘see’ the team.

But make no mistake, this Saints team is the team that Sean Payton built. Did they award Coach of the Year, yet? Sean Payton (along w/ Brad Childress) is deserving. He truly has a great sense of how a game is going, and possesses a nice blend of simultaneously being both measured and thinking outside the box. He’s a good motivator, and a student of the game.

Experience. Colts have been there, done that. And without question, this is a legitimate advantage. Big, big game experience (and everything that leads up to it), begets more focus in subsequent games. I can assure you, Colts have shed some of the extra baggage – as fun as it is – that has overwhelmed, and still is overwhelming the Saints.

Honestly, I’m calling Colts O vs. Saints D, and Saints D vs Colts O, even. Completely even. I can’t see a single advantage either way. If Dwight Freeney plays, he’s going to be a shell of what he normally is, and a detriment to the team. The guy hasn’t STOOD ON HIS FEET all week, including last night’s practice. And ESPN, NFL Network, and other sports media should be ashamed of themselves for making him the lead story all week Sad, sad, journalism. Raheem Brock (former Eagle!), his backup, is a DE that could start on most teams in the NFL. He’ll be fine. It’s a hit, but he’ll be fine. Both QB’s are SO good, cerebrally, they’ll both be able to do almost anything they want against the opposing defense. THAT being said, the D will makes a little more plays, maybe even just ONE more play than the other, will decide the game. That notwithstanding, these defenses are just about equal.

So confused…

Who do I WANT to win? Even that is tough! I’ve been a Colts fan since the mid-70’s, and I still have fond memories of seeing some Colts games at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, with my dad (who’s folks lived just outside Baltimore), when Ted Marchibroda was coach, and Lydell Mitchell and Bert Jones led the team! Oh, and how could I forget the Colts cheerleaders! To this day, the Colts’ cheerleaders had the best costumes, featuring a single blue upside horseshoe, on the rear (forget which side!) of white short shorts, and almost knee-high, white boots; awesome (couldn’t believe it, looked on line and couldn’t find a single pic of this era’s Colts cheerleaders)!

I love the colors, the logo (the upside down horseshoe is one of my favorite luck charms), and have loved that team through the ages. I also think Bill Polian and the Colts ownership is the best in football. Talk about leading, and managing a team! I’ll take this moment to state I think the Eagles ownership sucks, and has for years. Oh, and I don’t have all those other problems Baltimore fans have w/ the Colts leaving town in the “dead of night.” Whatever. It’s the NFL. Dumb, annoying shit happens.

And the Saints? They’re an awesome team, one of the most talented offenses I’ve ever seen in my 38 years of being a football fan, likeable, and if they win, they deserve it. The fans deserve it. And the town of New Orleans is one f America’s best. And they’ve never won. It’s very easy to pull for them.

So, for the first time ever, I decided I am not rooting for a team in the Superbowl - awesome!

Okay, a couple very specific predictions:

---Bush will run back at least 1 PR for a TD. Now, this is predicated on the Colts not “pitching around” him; which, they should be doing, by the way. He can’t break on if he never has the ball. They may – and I would, If I was coach – use him on Kickoffs.

---There will not be an onsides kick except a desperation kick. A surprise or strategical one is out of the question. Neither one of these defenses is a good enough match up against the other’s offense. That would be dumb.

---Manning will throw at least one interception.

---Sean Payton will engineer a very nice game plan, and call an excellent game, w/ a few obscure/trick plays thrown in. I am impressed w/ this guy’s creativity when it comes to play calling.

---The refs will make two inexcusable calls, both, going the Colts way.

---The game day announcers will be incredibly annoying. Find an AM station to listen to.

---The Who will rock at halftime, but Roger Daltry will still sing too much.

Final thoughts on the game…

If Colts take a 14 point lead at ANY point in the game, then Manning and the Colts get their second championship in the last several years (Colts w/ their third overall). The game will still be fun to watch, but Saints cannot come back from that. They would have to get a turnover, or defensive TD or a special teams TD to get back in it and have a chance.

The Saints must – and that cannot be emphasized enough – score on either a special teams TD or defensive TD, and create two turnovers, or they won’t win. It wouldn’t hurt for them to score first either.

For what it’s worth, I did take the Saints and 6 points for a small chunk of change. That decision, at least, I feel fairly confident about.

My absolute, best guess, on the final score:

Saints: 36
Colts: 33

The Saints will win on a long (40 yard+) game-winning field goal, as time runs out.

"go Cards!," Blagoya-pong, CSI, "the keystone GOPrS!" ...streaming thoughts..

...I'm rooting for the Cardinals this Sunday in Superbowl 43 (by the way, am I the only one who didn't remember what number the roman numeral "L" represented?). Look, the Steelers have 5 Superbowl victories, and unless you're a FANATIC of the team, that is quite enough. I'd probably root for ANY other team in football to beat the Steelers if they were playing them this Sunday - except Dallas. As much as the Steelers are an organization and team I have mad respect for, and they are what a great football dynasty is all about, so are the Arizona Cardinals every bit a part of what makes professional football so good (although the polluting and misguided new rules to make the game "more entertaining for the casual fan" this last decade has made me want to say-goodbye for good, at times): they're a testament to what can happen when good ownership, a skilled, hard-working coach, and incredible players can achieve in a short time when they're all on the same page and have the same goal (no Andy, Jeffery and Joe "the Mouse" Banner, I don't include you and your "Gold Standard" in this sentiment). Anyway, some of my best friends are Steelers fans (!), and of course they're the other team from my home state, and they'll most likely win, but nevertheless, I'll be donning red first thing when I wake up this Sunday morning (it's a throwback Joe Montana Mitchell & Ness Jersey, who, by the way, are having their 3-day, semi-annual 50%-off sale any day now -maybe now!). I like the underdog almost always. And I don't want to see the Steelers become football's Yankees (the sport's most parades).

...Ahhh, the corrupt and the clueless....I'm glad Blago was never taken seriously by a single bleepin' soul. Seriously. He just never mattered. Not now, not before, not ever (59-0 to oust him today!). Has anyone heard on "the tapes" what the highest bid actually was for Obama's former senate seat? We heard EVERYTHING else; why not the only thing anyone actually gave a crud about? I was just thinking, it would be a dream come true if Dem political scandals got no worse than this these next 8 years! maybe the next guy will be even funnier!

..."fugheddaboutit, eh!?" ... take Soprano's, House, Gray's Anatomy, Wire, Lost and the other favorite dramas out there and put them in the "wannabe-bin." The original CSI is STILL the best drama on television. Period. People pay good money to go to the movies and not see action, intrigue, and thrills on this level. THIS season specifically, has been fantastic; one of the best in their 9-year run (so far). TiVo them, DVR them, get 'em 'on demand', "where-ev!" But if you haven't been watching, you've been missing out on the best-written, superiorly-produced, fabulously-acted, most consistent, drama on television.

...still in shock, angry, and outright hurting, every one of you house republicans did indeed vote against Obama's stimulus package today ("er..like..he said, 'stimulus package'"). Whatever. Maybe all Senate republicans will do the same thing next week, and like today, the stimulus will pass without you. Then, even more people can see how irrelevant you are actually becoming. One thing I'm very hopeful about, should your insolence continue: it won't take long for Obama, and the remaining democratic members of congress who, for whatever reason, still think there's hope for you, to stop making concessions for you. Why give you concessions if we don't need your vote to get bills passed and stuff done? I think Pelosi, Reid, and many Democrats are happy to have their backbones back (after 8 years of not) since the election, and I expect them to begin asserting themselves, and once they get comfortable with that, to start pushing you around like the half-wits you are. All for the good of the country of course!

...Man. Props to Alton Brown! He is a true original. His Good Eats show is just awesome. Mentally, you just can't keep up with guy. You just can't.

...The Dark Knight was one of the best action/crime/good vs bad/superhero movies ever made. It's telling that the people who give awards out for this kind of greatness in filmmaking, don't see it for that.

(Please feel free to comment below, by clicking on 'comments')

tough one...

my initial thoughts on yesterday's game...A sign, for sure: 2 Cardinals, one male, one female, were sitting in a tree next to our driveway, when I pulled back in from taking the kids to school!...that was a terrific football game and what conference championship football games are all about; we got slightly beat by a slightly better football team; make no mistake: this game was TEAM LOSS for the Eagles, on both sides of the ball; everyone on the team wishes they could have a "do-over," or a play they made or didn't make, back. The Cardinals, on the other hand, WON as a TEAM; everyone made plays ....Jimmy Johnson was either out-coached by the Cards o-coord or he was thoroughly mistaken in his assessment that just one of his CB's could handle L. Fitz. And he was a day late and 3TD's short in fixing the problem....can't give up 32 points in a huge game like that and expect to win....Donovan played awesome, 90% of the the game (28 for 47, 375 yards, 3TD's and 1INT), including engineering 3 straight TD drives! He also improvised beautifully, keeping many plays alive when w/ other QB's, they would have died; 10% of the game, he made some atrociously horrible throws and bad decisions to even throw the ball (this, without question, has been his biggest weakness since he became an Eagle); if he had made just ONE of those throws he made poorly, outcome of the game may be different....some of the best throws Donovan made were dropped by his WR's. Holy mother of Jesus, did Greg Lewis drop a perfectly thrown 50-yarder that might have actually won the game for us; the receivers came up VERY small at times....the last play of the game WAS pass interference on Cardinals (no one will deny that) and the ref who saw it should be fired immediately for being a spineless loser and deciding not to make the appropriate call....look at Warner's numbers: 21 for 28, 279yds, 4TD's, 0INT's. SICK....look at Arizona's balanced attack: 28 pass attempts; 29 rushing attempts....there were lots of mistakes by the Eagles but if one is compelled to find a scapegoat for the loss, one need not look further than out defense and Jimmy Johnson. While they tightened it up in the second half (after spotting the Cards 24 points in the first), they gave up an 8-minute drive in the 4th quarter to the Cardinals, which gave them the go-ahead TD w/ just 3 minutes left...Quentin Demps had a nice first year I thought, but wow, did he look like a high school player out there yesterday. And I'm not even talking about the TD he gave up to LFitz in the first-half, where he literally spun around trying to defend LFitz and TRIPPED OVER HIMSELF (this was Coach Johnson's mistake ultimately, anyway: you can't put a rookie safety, who hasn't played that position all year on the best WR in football; it wasn't Q. Demp's fault he was the only one defending LFitz on that play!); the play I'm talking about is Cards final TD, where K. Warner made a little pass to Hightower, the RB, who ran hard the last couple yards to the goal line (it was third and goal): Q. Demps made the most half-hearted, weak-ass tackle attempt I might have ever seen in the NFL. He didn't open his arms to wrap him up at the two yard line: he just put a shoulder into him thinking it would knock him down, and he just bounced off him. He didn't even try. HE DIDN'T EVEN TRY! And instead of forcing Cards to kick a field goal there, they scored a TD. SOOooo incredibly weak....for the 19th game this season - all of them - the 21.5 rushing attempts per game stat has PERFECTLY dictated every win and every loss this season: when the Eagles call at least 22 rushing attempts per game, they've WON EVERY GAME. When 21 rushing attempts or less are called, they've LOST EVERY GAME.....my predicition (video, below a few posts) of an Eagles win, 26-24 was looking like Nostradmaus when the score was 25-24, Eagles, for a nice stretch in the 4th quarter. If our defense could have held (they got WAY outplayed on that last drive), That very likely would have been the final score!...one might say, 'there's always next year,' but not me. This team, under Reid (Coach and General Manager, all 10 years here), is not good enough to win the SuperBowl....Reid's legacy (besides not running nearly enough, and never really getting any playmakers at the WR or TE position on a disproportionate, pass-first offense), will be this: 1 win and 4 losses in conference championship games.

The Pittsburgh Steelers Prayer

Our Father,

Who Art in Pittsburgh,

Football Be Thy Game.

Thy Kingdom Come,

5 Super Bowls Won,

On Earth as it is in Heinz Field.

Give us this Day a playoff Victory,

And forgive us our penalties,

As we defeat those who play against us.

But lead us into a victory,

And deliver us to Tampa!

A-Ben

Birds/Cards prediction: a video (why not?!)

It's kind of lame, and I'll never be in movies, but if nothing else, I'm learning how to make, edit and post videos...
(click the play icon, left, underneath blank screen)