Tucson Station Broadcasts Porn During Super Bowl

From here:

A short clip of a pornographic movie cut into a Comcast broadcast of the Super Bowl in homes in and around Tucson.

Officials at Comcast confirmed that its signal was interrupted during the Super Bowl, but the company is still working to figure out how porn broke into its cable feed.

Engineers at Comcast will be working throughout the night to determine what happened, said Kelle Maslyn, a Comcast spokeswoman.

The Star newsroom erupted with calls from irate viewers shortly after 7:30 p.m. who said that the porn cut into the broadcast just after Cardinals player Larry Fitzgerald scored a touchdown on a pass from Kurt Warner to give the Cardinals the lead with less than two minutes in the game.

Callers said that the clip showed a woman unzipping a man's pants and included full frontal male nudity.

So, I'll admit, I find this a little funny. However, it's certainly not appropriate for any young schoolchildren watching, and given that the Super Bowl started at 3 or 4 PM Arizona time (they're one of them weird states that doesn't do DST), there would have been plenty of children watching.

Still, it's more amusing than any of the commercials, which, on the whole, were pretty lame.

2009 Super Bowl Pick(s)

So yes, I understand that having failed to update yesterday, I broke my New Year's Resolution and am thus a horrible person.

That said, let's move on to the elephant in the room: the Super Bowl is tomorrow, and I have yet to announce my pick!

Unlike last year, I haven't given a whole lot of thought to my pick for this year. The reason for that is two-fold:

1) I think the Steelers are that good

and

2) The party I'm going to is a de facto Steelers party, so regardless of my personal feelings, I have to root for Pittsburgh.

Seriously, though, on paper the Steelers should have this game in hand. However, the Cardinals are reminding a lot of people about the Giants in '07-'08: a team that sneaked into the playoffs and then got hot at the right time.

For this reason, I don't think anyone that picks Arizona is making a stupid pick; history shows that they might very well be the ones celebrating tomorrow night. Larry Fitzgerald could very well be the very best player in the game.

Both QBs have played in--and won--Super Bowls, although it's been nearly a decade since Warner won his last one in 2000.

So go on and fill up on greasy snack food--America's unofficial holiday is nearly here.

They Might Be Giants

Wow.

I can't really say much more than that.


It doesn't get much more storybook, much more Cinderella, than that. There are games. There are Super Bowls. There are the ones we will remember for the rest of our lives.

This is one of them.

It wasn't just a Super Bowl. It wasn't just a championship game.

It was the New England Patriots going for perfection, dominating nearly everyone on the way. It was Tom Brady, American Icon, and Giselle. It was Randy Moss and an indomitable offense, and Asante Samuel and a perfect defense.

It was the New York Giants finding themselves somewhere no one expected. It was Eli Manning, kid brother of Peyton, wondering what the hell else he had to do to prove he belonged. It was starting 0-2, wondering why Tom Coughlin was still there, and then a turn around for the ages. It was beating Dallas, their biggest rival, and then beating Green Bay, in overtime, on a 47 yard kick that they probably shouldn't have made.


If there's ever a team to make a movie about, this is it.

It's not 'they might be Giants'. They ARE Giants.

Stupor Bowled (a LiveBlog experiment)

Note to self: Telling your professor you'll have an assignment done the same day as the biggest American sporting event of the year is generally a bad idea.

Oops.

So here we go.


1.38 PM: TV is off. I have to do thesis corrections for the first section, and while it shouldn't take me too long, I can't work with the TV done. I can finish tomorrow if I don't today, but I'm better off getting it done now.

1.57 PM: Have gone through and done all the minor corrections, but still have some of the harder stuff, such as redoing citations. Trying to decipher my adviser's handwriting is an adventure.

2.41 PM: Hardest part of thesis corrections done, but whether or not the adviser likes it, is another story. A little more to go, mostly correcting citations, and then I can turn the TV on without any real sense of guilt.

3.44 PM: Thesis corrections for first section DONE and emailed to adviser. TV is now on. Paying special attention to the commercials, especially as it gets closer to game time, to see how many for local spots there are.


3.50 PM: That segment on how the Super Bowl impacts business is actually really interesting, and I hate to say it, but Trump's right--the Super Bowl is a microcosm of American spending habits. One of the most interesting segments I've seen.

3.52 PM: And they follow it up with this? If I wanted to watch Access Hollywood, I would--how much would you be the parties are a result of one of the teams being New York? Like, I mean, if it was, say, the Arizona Cardinals, would it be this exciting?

3.54 PM: Ahh! House! Best show on TV. No question.

4.10 PM: So I couldn't read the text on that commercial, as my eyes are kind of bad and I'm sitting kind of far from my TV, but I got the gist of it, and it did make me chuckle...that's one way to find someone's house!

4.11 PM: A political ad? YUCK. I am a voter and I do NOT approve of this message.

4.26 PM: I give Paula Abdul credit, she can still move. However, I am unsurprised and disgusted that FOX is using the Super Bowl as one giant American Idol advertisement. Football players aren't generally well known for their music.

4.28 PM: Another political ad Yuck. Again. However, I do have to say, GO AND VOTE ON TUESDAY, if you're a registered Republican or Democrat. I'm registered independent.

4.45 PM: Hmm, best NFL dynasty of all time? Have to go with the Packers. Those that do it first usually do it best.

5.02 PM: Alicia Keys is okay, not really my style of music. Still haven't seen anything that beats KISS from a few years ago, though...

5.12 PM: Ok, that Russell Crowe piece did sort of get to me. Perfection? Always elusive. No matter how good you are, there will always be someone better...

6.04 PM: My friend Dan is going to come over to watch the game. He's a Patriots fan. Anyway, I'm trying to order some Buffalo wings for him, but the number of the place is busy. I've tried calling about four times now, and the Campusfood.com website doesn't want to work properly.

Guess I should have planned ahead.


6.18 PM: And the American Idol advertisement continues. At least Jordin Sparks has a connection to the NFL though, so I'm not totally appalled. She also has a good voice. That counts, too.


6.26 PM: Giants win the coin toss. I nearly always go with tails myself, but more because I think 'tails' is better sounding than 'heads'....and that came out really, really wrong.


6.37 PM: I usually don't like car commercials, but that one may have been worth my time. Good opening drive by the Giants so far. So far.


6.45 PM: Good drive, but unable to finish. Good thing Tynes seems to have shaken off Green Bay. The "What is Love" commercial, the song reminds me of my childhood.

6.54 PM: Super Bowl XLII: Defense is Overrated.

7.01 PM: Doritos chose well. I really enjoyed that.

7.02 PM: Oh, irony. Announcer dude 1: The shorter game helps the Giants. Announcer dude 2: TOUCHDOWN NEW ENGLAND!

7.06 PM: Of course, how could I forget there'd be a FedEx commercial.

Dan: If ever there was a website whose name was misleading as to the purpose of the site, it'd have to be www.godaddy.com.

7.09 PM: Talk about being in the right place at the right time...not sure what Eli was getting at there, but he got REAL lucky.

7.16 PM: Count on Budweiser to have a good one. A Super Bowl ad perennial.

7.25 PM: If that commercial was supposed to get me to try Life Water, it didn't work. I am now oggling my bottle of Wegmans Spring Water for Geckos.

7.35 PM: If there was no flag, that fumble-turned-first down would be the funniest play of the night.

7.42 PM: Now, THOSE are the type of mice I'm worried about running around my apartment!

7.54 PM: First Half Comments: One of the quickest first halves of a playoff football game in recent memory--the Giants game against Green Bay started at about the same time and didn't end till nearly 11, but this is on pace to be over around 9.30 PM.

The first and second quarters could not have been more different; the first with just two possessions and no defense, the second, more or less the exact reverse.

The Giants defense looks GOOD. The offense...well, they don't look horrible, but they've certainly looked better. The Patriots are more or less the same.

It was a first half that certainly kept my attention, can't wait to see what the second half brings.


8.05 PM: Well now, there's my innuendo for the day. The explosion in the heart when the oddly shaped guitar reached it was an excellent touch...

8.11 PM: Dan: MOVE IT DAMN YOU (said to Tom Petty). When you hear the 'Frreeeeeee falling' you have to sing it.

Truer words have rarely been spoken.


8.17 PM: That Ford Commercial may have been hands-down the most boring Super Bowl commercial ever. Though this Time Warner one is certainly up there.

8.34 PM: Too many men on the field? Isn't that something you usually see only in hockey? Would be a really stupid penalty. Also, not a huge fan of that bud light commercial. Cavemen have been done before.

8.58 PM: This has got to be one of the lowest scoring Super Bowls. I wonder what the record is for the lowest scoring one of all time? Any one know?


9.05 PM: Dan: Wait. Marilyn Monroe, Madonna and Shakira? That makes no sense!

9.11 PM: Dan tried to trick me into thinking that the Patriots had the ball, because I can't see the score from where I'm sitting (I'm sitting kind of far from the TV), but it didn't work. GO GIANTS!

9.40 PM: The Giants' defense was spent on that. They've got one chance now to score a TD. Stay tuned, this could be one of the greatest finishes in Super Bowl history.

Remember 2000 anyone?


9.54 PM: I don't know how Eli avoided that sack, but that's one for the highlight reel.

9.56 PM: They don't get any more story-book than this.

22.06 PM: Wow. Perfect. Summary post coming up in a little bit.

NFL Picks: The Super Bowl, Part Two

As promised:

Why the Giants will win the Super Bowl

The only way I can explain it is destiny--teams that start 0-2 don't usually make it this far in a postseason--and yet this exactly what has happened.

At the beginning of the season, the Jets were the ones fresh off a playoff year; there was no question about Mangini as a coach, most experts had them at 9-7. The Jets, however, had what can best be described as a complete collapse...and the Giants didn't.

They had bad losses to Dallas, Green Bay...even Washington...but somehow, some way, they made it into the playoffs, and, as we all know, everything changes in the postseason.

So why will the Giants win the Super Bowl?

They've done that thing where they get better as the season goes on, unlike the Patriots, who struggled for their last win against the Giants, trailing by 12 at one point.

They've won an obscene number of games on the road, and the Super Bowl is many things, but a home game, it is not.

They've survived injuries to Shockey, who hasn't appeared in any playoff game and Burress, who has shown sheer grit through playing through an ankle injury that would sideline lesser men--if Maroney and Moss went down, I'm not sure the Patriots would be quite as immortal as everyone is making them out to be.

They've done all of this without Tiki Barber.

The Giants are kind of like the Rockies were last October--they sneak up on you, you're not expecting it at all because they're not one of the powerhouse teams in their league, yet, before you know it, they're there, in the final round. The difference is, the Giants now just have to win one game, not four.


The Patriots are past due for a loss.

New York is past due for some football glory.

The Giants have the momentum and the sheer bravado to get it done.


Tune in Sunday, February 3rd, to find out which it is!

I usually have a wager with my brother, but as this time he's a Giants fan and I don't want the Patriots to win, we'd both be picking the same side...


If I have to though,

Giants 34, New England 17.

NFL Picks: The Super Bowl

So since there is still another week before the big dance, I thought I'd do two different predictions--one why the Giants will win, and one why the Patriots will win.

I should be clear though, that even as a NY Jets fan, I am rooting 100% for the Giants. Why? When it's New York and New England, there's really only one choice. Unless it's hockey. In which case the choice is the Devils.


So, I'll get to it:

Why the Patriots will win the Super Bowl:


Okay. They're 18-0 so far, which is not only really good, but has never actually been done before. They have a quarterback who is having a 2007 A-Rod like season in terms of stats, but without any sort of opt out controversy.

The Patriots are good. Not just the run-of-the-mill good enough to get to the playoffs and maybe even the third round good, like some hockey and basketball teams, but good like the '98 Yankees, '72 Dolphins, the Bulls that one year, etc. They're Good.


This decade, the Patriots have played like the Packers and Cowboys of old, dominating the league to the point that it's just assumed they'll be in the postseason--and when your division contains the Jets, Bills and Dolphins, well, maybe that's all need be said. However, the Patriots haven't just dominated the AFC East; they've been better than nearly ever other team in the league. Only the Colts have come close to equaling their achievements in the conference over the past few years, and the AFC...well, they have won eight of the last ten Super Bowls.

This year, the Patriots have not just Brady, but Moss and Maroney, and a defense that, well, you know, it wins championships.

So they're good.




Okay, now that was rather hard to right as a Jets fan, but it's true. The Patriots are that good.

They might, however, not be good enough.

Check back next Thursday, same place, to see why the Giants will win!