Take a moment

2020 summed up in a commercial ...

Commercial break: Mine

Following up on my post last weekend, I caught another commercial that had me smiling tonight. And this one also involves a car.

Enjoy.

Commercial breaks: Living to the Full

It's baseball season, and I'm loving my MLB.TV subscription and the ability to stream any game I want. Watching them on my projection screen every night in my den is pure heaven. ... and it's especially important these days, considering Mother Nature thinks it needs to be like January outside.

"Fun" Story, the record lowest maximum temperature recorded on this day (4/15) was 43 F in 1917 for St. Joseph and for Kansas City it was 41 F in 1993. We're only forecasting a high of 34 F for both #KC and St. Joe. #LockItIn #TrustTheProcess #mowx

— NWS Kansas City (@NWSKansasCity) April 15, 2018

The commercials between innings on MLB.TV, however, are limited, which means I tend to see the same ones all the time. They go in cycles as the seasons change and advertisers swap out various products. Some are really good, and some are really bad - and get terribly annoying.

Right now, I gotta say, there's some I really enjoy ... including a sweet series of Phillips 66 commercials depicting a day in the life of a stay-at-home mom, a father and daughter during the course of a basketball season, and a car pool driver.

Watch the commercials below. ... Today, I noticed that, in each commercial, all three drivers are featured pumping gas at once at a Phillips 66 gas station. Look for them between the 10 and 15-secod marks in each 30-second spot. So cool!

Cookie Monster waiting and other March Madness ads

For the last few years, I've said March Madness commercials are more entertaining than the Super Bowl ads.

Here's one of my favorites from this year's batch. From good ol' Apple showing off its latest iPhone.

Poor Cookie Monster.



Update 4.24.2016: Here's some outtakes from the commercial.


And while I'm at it, I really enjoy this year's Buffalo Wild Wings spots, especially the one with the Wisconsin cheese curds shoutout.

The World Series: Game 3 goes to the Mets

The Royals didn’t get a win last night, and the World Series now stands at two games to one.

On the bright side, it means we’re one game closer to a Game 6 showdown in Kansas City.

The Royals looked like their usual selves early. After Noah Syndergaard knocked Royals leadoff hitter Alcides Escobar to the ground with a fastball up and in – a ploy to keep Alcides from swinging at the first pitch – the Royals took a 1-0 lead in the first on a Ben Zobrist double, a Lorenzo Cain single to move Zobrist to third and an Eric Hosmer RBI on a muffed double play ball by the Mets. The Royals were capitalizing on mistakes again.

Then the Royals took a 3-2 lead in the second inning on singles by Salvador Perez, Alex Gordon and Alex Rios. After Gordon was called out sliding into third on Rios’ single, Ventura sacrificed Rios to third and he scored on a wild pitch. … At that point I turned to Kates’ and said, “This series is so over.”

Outside of Gordon being called out at third on a replay review, everything seemed to be going the Royals' way.

From Sports on Earth ...

For the first two innings of Friday night's Game 3 of the World Series, it looked like the Kansas City Royals were simply never going to be beaten. This had been a glorious Mets season, but the Royals were a buzzsaw that would vivisect and eviscerate anything unfortunate enough to cross their path. The Royals had outlasted the Mets in Game 1 -- while hitting Matt Harvey harder than he has been hit in a while -- and batted Jacob deGrom around in Game 2. But Friday was their greatest trick of all: They were murdering Thor.

Coming into this game, Mets fans were demoralized and shaken by the two losses in Kansas City, but they could tell themselves one thing: They still had Noah Syndergaard. Perhaps their best postseason pitcher, and definitely the one who threw the hardest, Syndergaard was the reason Mets fans weren't in total despair. Sure, the Royals hit a lot of fastballs, but they surely couldn't hit his, right?

And then seven of the first 10 Royals batters reached base. Every time Syndergaard got two strikes on a Royal, the batter would fight him off until he either walked or found a hole to hit the ball through. It was one thing to see this happen to Harvey and deGrom. But Syndergaard? Thor? It made you feel like it was hopeless. The whole reason Mets fans had any optimism in the first place was because they had all these power arms, and here, these relentless Royals, they were knocking them around three straight games. The Royals led 3-2, but it felt like a lot more, and that a lot more runs were coming. Sorry, Mets: You did what you could, but sometimes, you're the bug, and the windshield is wearing blue.

We were so wrong. It was all Mets the rest of the way. Raul Mondesi’s Major League debut was a dud. New York won the game 9-3.

I don’t even recall seeing the final outs. Phoebe and I dozed off on the couch sometime in the eighth while Kates was reading a book and Faye was playing “school.”

In other words …

I am as annoyed as ever with the national broadcast team. Maybe it’s my Royals bias and middle-age jadedness, but let’s all agree – as also noted above – Noah Syndergaard did not “announce his presence with authority.” I didn’t think that when the pitch was thrown at Escobar and don’t think it had any significant impact on the game now. Here's another take from The New York Times.

Here's a great read about why the Royals owe Hall of Famer Robin Yount for hitting coach Dale Sveum. It's another one that that will have my fellow Brewers fans rolling their eyes again at what Milwaukee gave up to Kansas City ... Robin Yount is arguably my all-time favorite baseball player, and I loved watching Dale Sveum play in Milwaukee when I was a boy, too. I've been behind Ned since day one in Kansas City, and I thought the day he hired Dale -- within hours of his firing by the Chicago Cubs -- that it was a genius move. ... I also vividly remember watching the night Sveum's Brewers career ended when he broke his leg in an outfield collision with Darryl Hamilton. Sveum's replacement at shortstop was a rookie named Gary Sheffield.

I caught this commercial during last night’s game. I really liked it.



Here's a remembrance of the World Series comebacks by the Royals and Mets.

Commercial break

Here are two commercials I saw today that caught -- and held -- my attention. Great stuff.

This one is a fascinating look at the construction of a wind turbine ...



And here's a yodeling country man who charms stressed city dwellers ...

Don't Be That Parent

Saw this commercial for the first time today. Pretty funny ...

I'm not as behind as this mother on pictures of Faye, but it was a solid year or two after Faye was born before the ratio of Phoebe-to-Faye photos started to even out on our walls.

Random conversation starters

Now that the World Series is over – I’m still having occasional “What could’ve been fits …” – I am refocusing my attention on other projects …

Like following the trendiest entertainment news and reading news features …

The “Star Wars” sequel has a title!

A fourth “Toy Story” is in the works!

The “Mean Girls” cast reunited!

* * *

A lot of stories are being written and shared this weekend to mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Here’s a fascinating photo essay of how the streets around the wall appeared then and now.

* * *

It’s inevitable every year around this time that Walmart breaks out the Christmas wreaths and radio stations bring out the Christmas music. I’m in the camp of Not yet!

I also agree almost completely with this EW write-up about Mariah Carey’s classic: I hate Christmas songs -- but I love "All I Want for Christmas Is You." I still vividly remember the season the song was released, turning the volume up every time it came on the radio and wanting to play it repeatedly once I laid it down on a cassette tape.

* * *

I saw this commercial for the first time during the World Series and got a kick out of it. I would totally do this.

* * *

My friend Laura sent me this star-studded take on one of my all-time favorite songs, "God Only Knows." (In case you're wondering, here's the who's who of who's in it.)

* * *

And still, I can’t keep myself from clicking and reading World Series leftovers like these …

• Royals fans made Giants' Madison Bumgarner want to cry ... If only that actually happened. 
• Letter about KC Royals fans goes viral ... Very nice. 
• Most Tortured Fans In Baseball ... Ah, the Cubs and Brewers at Nos. 1 and 3, respectively. This list also gives me more fuel to dislike the Giants and Cardinals.

Take more vacation

Just saw this new MasterCard commercial for the first time.

Cute. Good advice I need to heed.

Awesome of the week

Various things I found awesome this week ...

Orbit dances to 'Bye Bye Bye', draws out the N'Sync in all of us...

"Lost." Has it really been 10 years. My favorite letter on this list: P for Pilot.  

Lost's first episode — half of the two-part series premiere, the most expensive pilot ever produced by a network at the time — is as close to a perfect hour of television as you're likely to find.

Ok, this one isn't just from this week ... But I get a kick out of this commercial every time I catch it. ...

Whatever, Barbie

In case you missed it, this ad was all over the Internet today.

It's pretty great. ... But I'm not so sure Phoebe would go for it. She loves her pink toys.

  

iPhone love

This is one of those posts I've had on my mind for some time, but haven't followed through on ... until now.

Man, I love my iPhone. And its capabilities continue to amaze me and surpise me and simplify my life every day. This summer, Kates joined the iPhone nation, too.

In the meantime, Apple continues to roll out these heart-tugging, emotion-packing commercials that make me stop in my tracks every time I see one.

Advertising almost never has an impact on me the way this campaign has. And I already own the product.

I saw "Music Every Day" for the first time shortly after I returned from my trip to Los Angeles. So many of the images in the campaign resonate with me because several of the scenes were our reality in L.A. alone, not to mention the last few weeks in our home ...




Then I saw "Photos Every Day" for the first time shortly after we returned from our summer vacation to Wisconsin. It resonated with me because I'd just taken hundreds of photos during our trip, not to mention in L.A. ... on my iPhone. My digital camera bag hasn't moved from its spot on my desk chair since the day I got my iPhone last year ...




And then the other night, I saw "FaceTime Every Day." It resonated with me because of the meaningful minutes we've spent talking with loved ones. Face-to-face via my iPhone. Even though we're standing hundreds of miles apart. While in L.A., the iPhone gave me the opportunity to say goodnight to my girls ...



This stuff amazes me. This is the kind of technology we read about as children in the Weekly Readers or saw in the movies and television shows like The Jetsons. And still it seemed lightyears away.

Sometimes it's still hard for me to believe this stuff exists and I'm lucky enough to have access to it.
Life is good.

All we need is love

The Super Bowl ... and those commercials

Congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens on winning the Super Bowl ... But, boy, was I breathless during the second half, hoping the 49ers would finish the comeback after that crazy power outage.

Good game, good game.

a It's John over Jim in HarBowl
a Reasons for defeat lost on 49ers’ Harbaugh
a Joe Flacco drops f-bomb during Super Bowl ... Yep. Totally heard it, along with the s-word during the same exchange.

We enjoyed watching the game, and the commercials, and Beyonce's big halftime show with friends.

Add to that, we enjoyed watching each other's kids -- 11 girls, three boys, all under age 10 -- romping around in a basement playroom as we sat in comfortable lawn chairs and watched the broadcast on a big screen projection system.

a Beyoncé Silences Doubters With Intensity at Halftime
a Beyonce puts a Super Bowl ring on it
a Beyonce Rocks Super Bowl Halftime Show With Destiny's Child

There were certainly moments of the game I missed, and commercials I didn't see. In fact, we had just boarded our car and were about to head home when the power went out in the Superdome, only to discover what had happened when we were back in our own house and turned on the game. (Funniest Super Bowl power outage tweets)

But after a little bit of catch-up and surfing the interwebs this morning to see what I might have missed, here are my favorites ... For the record, I think critics are being a little harsh and this year's batch of ads was pretty entertaining.

Here's a look at the best and worst.

My favorite commercial, hands-down, was the Hyundai Sonata turbo ad.




Another big winner, for me, was Dodge Ram's "So God Made a Farmer."

Presidential images

I enjoyed yesterday's inauguration coverage, watching it nearly all day from home, like I've never done before. Here are some good reads and images that I think best capture yesterday's festivities ...

First, some stunning photos from The New York Times. ... Which doesn't include Malia's photobomb, which, in case you missed seeing it play out live during the TV coverage, was a classic family moment of the day.

From Rolling Stone: Obama's 2013 Presidential Inauguration
From Parade: Top 5 moments from the inauguration
And this morning's New York Times editorial: President Barack Obama

Then there's the always wonderful, entertaining and amusing reviews by NBC News ... Which doesn't mention Al Roker's impromptu interviews with Barack Obama and Joe Biden, not to mention his comical banter with Brian Williams and David Gregory afterward.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

... And finally, this wonderful little commercial that aired during yesterday's coverage ... The shot of that little girl staring out the window, riding in the car with cotton, or stuffing, or whatever it is attached to her face is priceless.

Grammy night!

Oh, Grammys, how nice it was to spend some time with you again last night. I missed you.

Last night's Grammys show was arguably the most anticipated in recent memory. ... It seems like it's been a couple years, since I really got to soak it in and enjoy the show. So, maybe it was the blur of the last couple years' shows that caused me so much excitement for this year's awards.

Either way, I was not disappointed.

We counted down the nights last week as the big show drew closer. For our household it was like the Super Bowl all over again. But perhaps more exciting than the football. Few things make me happier than good music.

Our pregame was the Adele interview on "60 Minutes." ... I've said it again and again. The woman was everywhere in 2011, and rightly so. Those who follow music closely had her "21" album pegged as a serious Album of the Year candidate even before its release early last year. Some of my most vivid memories of the year have that album playing in the background, from unpacking boxes in our new house on a Saturday morning last spring, to being mesmerized with the "Rolling in the Deep" video from the first time I saw it, to a late night of work last fall with my cohorts in the office as a student group blasted the album outside, to the instant classic of a "Saturday Night Live" skit that featured "Someone Like You."

I keep wondering if this is what it was like in 1977 after the release of "Rumours," or in 1983 after the release of "Thriller." I have some recollection that this is what it was like in 1993 after "The Bodyguard" was released.

... Plus, there's so much to like about Adele.

* * *

On with the Grammys show ...

Bruce Springsteen opened the festivities. I'm not a big fan of Bruce, but I really enjoyed his opening act -- strings and all.

With the first performance out of the way and the crowd settled, we got the standard pan of the stars. There was Taylor Swift, looking pretty as usual. Katy Perry, with blue hair. And Lady Gaga, wearing a full body fish net. ... At one point during the telecast, the TV flashed a shot of Lady Gaga sitting next to Miranda Lambert, and I couldn't help but chuckle at the odd pairing.

The moment that LL Cool J led the Grammys audience in a prayer for Whitney Houston was a touching one. ... Then, during a montage of Whitney that followed, Phoebe stood in front of the TV, staring at the screen. And at a point where Whitney was shown hitting one of her out-of-this-world notes, Phoebe blurted out "Who is that singing?!"

For me, the first highlight of the night came courtesy of Bruno Mars. To quote one of my Twitter friends, he killed it. ... Arguably, my favorite performance of the night.



Shortly afterward, the award for Best Pop Solo Performance. As the songs up for the award were run off, I thought, Tough category when you think of the play the songs and artists in this category have had during the last year. Lady Gaga: "You and I." Bruno Mars: "Grenade." Katy Perry: "Firework." Pink: "Perfect." Adele: "Someone Like You." ... Alas, Adele won it, and I said, "Let the route begin."

The Rihanna-Coldplay collaboration was a disappointment. And awkward.

But the Chipotle Foundation commercial that followed -- featuring Willie Nelson redoing Coldplay's "The Scientist" -- was fantastic.



In the Best Rock Performance, I was rooting for Coldplay. But it went to the Foo Fighters, to the surprise of almost no one. … In the acceptance speech, Dave Grol said he’s proud of his band's record because they made it in a garage with some microphones and a tape machine. He went on to say making good music isn't about sounding perfect or having the latest and greatest technology. I almost stood up and applauded.

* * *

While it might have been the most anticipated Grammys show in recent memory, there was no individual performance I anticipated more than that of the Beach Boys, especially when I learned Foster the People would perform with them.

And speaking of artists who were everywhere last year, another was Foster the People, thanks to their "Pumped Up Kicks." Which, by the way, is currently Phoebe's favorite song. She knows and sings to most of the chorus -- hey, don't judge my parenting skills; it's got a fun melody and I had no idea she'd learn to like the song so much -- and she's calls it "the children song" because the chorus includes the word kids. Cute. ... In addition to watching Adele's "60 Minutes" interview, we warmed up for the Grammys by playing "Pumped Up Kicks" and dancing in the living room.

Somewhere I missed the note that Foster the People would play as part of a tribute performance with the Beach Boys. Instead, I was having giddy visions of Foster the People performing "Pumped Up Kicks" with the Beach Boys adding their own twist and harmonies. After all, the song has a summery surf vibe that's right up the Beach Boys alley. And oh, that "Pumped Up" base line ...

As it turned out, that's not at all what happened. But the tribute was just as swell.

Maroon 5's cover of "Surfer Girl" was so slick that if it appears on iTunes tomorrow, I'll download it in a heartbeat. Foster the People’s take on “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” wasn't as good, but still pretty decent for my tastes. I especially liked that they dressed in the Beach Boys' vintage striped look.

When the real Beach Boys appeared, I was pleased to hear them perform "Good Vibrations," although I would have preferred a longer Beach Boys montage that also included hits like "Fun, Fun, Fun" and "I Get Around." ... Unfortunately, the performance was more fun to hear than to watch. Quite simply, they're hardly the band they once were.

Check out this gem featuring Jack Benny and Bob Hope getting hip with the Beach Boys.

* * *

Paul McCartney’s “My Valentine” nearly put me to sleep. I didn’t love it.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by Taylor Swift’s cheerful, bouncy performance of "Mean." ... I like Taylor’s music a lot. But if you think about her history of poor live performances (See: The 2010 Grammys, 8:46 mark), her Grammys showing this year was pretty good. ... I'm a sucker for cheerful, bouncy performances.

Plus from Twitter ...

@Spinner: Taylor's surprise face never fails to amuse. "People clapping for me!?

* * *

Adele won Song of the Year, hands-down for "Rolling in the Deep."

And then she sang. ... And the twitterverse either exploded, or went silent, depending on your point of view.

@globerodman: Adele! Adele! Adele! Starting off a cappella. Translation: "This is live singing, y'all!" #welcomeback #Grammys

@EW: Quiet now. Adele's singing

@USATodayMusic: Adele. Nuff' said. #Grammys

@JPosnanski: How magical is it to be able to just suddenly do something and make jaws drop? #adele

She was amazing. As expected. ... And if it wasn't for Bruno Mars' dazzling dance moves, this would've been my favorite performance of the night.

* * *

There was the Glenn Campbell tribute, which was another neat moment. I must admit though, I only know about Glenn Campbell because he toured with the Beach Boys back in the day. I’d be hard pressed to name one of his songs.

Carrie Underwood with Tony Bennett went down as my favorite collaboration on a night filled with them. From Alicia Keys with Bonnie Raitt, to Kelly Clarkson with Jason Aldean, to Rihanna with Coldplay. And all the kids that played with the Beach Boys.

When Bon Iver won Best New Artist, I sprang from the couch, pumped my fist and let out a loud "Yes!" I thought The Band Perry had that one wrapped up, but I was glad to be wrong. … I was hooked on the guy when I caught the buzz surrounding his first album already a couple years old. The shout out to Eau Claire, Wis., was nice, too.

And how could you not have chills running through your spine as Jennifer Hudson performed “I Will Always Love You” ?

* * *

Finally, Paul McCartney performed the Beatles' "Abbey Road" medley of "Golden Slumbers," "Carry That Weight," and "The End." Classic.

Icing on the cake: Watching Sir Paul jam it up with Bruce Springsteen, Joe Walsh and Dave Grol.

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."

Thank you, Grammys. See you next year!



Good reads ...
a Grammys 2012: The full list of winners
a A Prayer, a Celebration and a Coronation
a Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot
a The New York Times Critics' Notebook
a Rolling Stone
a EW: We Grade the Performances
a Nicki Minaj levitates, lights fires, speaks in tongues for Grammys performance of new single 'Roman Holiday' ... Worst performance ever.
a There's more to Adele's song than lyrics, more than music

Super Sunday

There's not a lot of new news to report from our house.

Last week was a busy one. My regular work required me to go hard during the day, and then my graduate work had me pretty tied up at night. On Friday night and Saturday morning I attended my graduate classes, and I spent the remainder of Saturday afternoon in my office trying to get some extra work done. Last night we watched the big KU-Missouri game ... which the Jayhawks should have won, but I'm not going to waste my time griping about it.

Yesterday, we did our usual church and Sunday School routine and then came home for a couple hours and grabbed some lunch before heading back to the church for the afternoon. Our church is offering Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course; Kates and I registered and think it will be good for us to pick up some financial pointers in these tough economic times. We'll be in that course for the next 13 weeks.

And then -- cue NBC Sunday Night Football music -- the Super Bowl ...

* * *

Let's start with the musical performances ...

Kelly Clarkson’s national anthem gave me chills and made me smile. It was perfectly simple, and I loved the sound of children accompanying her.

Madonna's halftime show? I didn't like it so much.

The dancing was awkward and bordered on awful. I would have been content to watch Madonna pace the stage and sing instead of seeing her perform some of those lame kick moves and prance around with toga-clad men. The cameos by LMFAO and Cee-Lo (Spinner tweeted: We've decided we all want Cee Lo's sequined snuggie) were nice, but ...

What was M.I.A. trying to pull when she flipped the bird to her nationally televised audience? ... For the record, I was looking away from the TV when the gesture occurred. A few minutes later I saw a tweet from someone wondering if anyone else saw what he thought he'd seen. And by the end of the game it was all over the internet -- with pictures.

The one upside of Madonna's show were the special effects, particularly during “Like a Prayer.”



Here's a blog from The Washington Post that closes reflects my observations of the performance.

* * *

I've said in recent years that I've thought the quality of the Super Bowl commercials has waned over the years, as if we've been primed to expect commercials that are more comical, more explosive, more dazzling than the year before. Thus, I watched with considerably lower expectations this year.

On top of that, we got a whole week worth of previews this year as some companies leaked their Super Bowl commercials early. Sure, I get that the internet is changing the media landscape, but the leaks make companies' decisions to throw millions of dollars at a 30-second spot during the big game even more questionable.

One of the most-talked about commercials during the week leading up to the Super Bowl, of course, was the Honda spot with Matthew Broderick reprising his Ferris Bueller. Apparently, I'm not the only one who thought it was overrated.

My favorite commercials -- hands-down -- were those from Chevy ...





As well as Volkswagen's doggy/Star Wars commercials -- great follow-ups to last year's classic Darth Vadar kid. The latter commercial from this year was one of those released early ...





I give honorable mentions to Hyundai's spot just before kickoff that featured employees singing the Rocky theme.



Best Buy ...



NFL.com's "Timeline" ...



And Samsung's commercial because of its ridiculous incorporation of that one-hit wonder, The Darkness's "I Believe In A Thing Called Love."




You can watch more of the best and worst commercials here.

* * *

Like most years -- last year being the exception, of course, when the Packers were playing -- the game was mostly background noise.

After we returned from church the second time, Kates and Phoebe made a grocery store run while I took in the pregame. They returned with plenty of goods and fixings to build some homemade sub sandwiches; I made a toasted seafood sandwich. And it was good.

At 3 years old, Phoebe is at an age now where she's starting to understand when something exciting is happening and can join in the fun. Rather than just being present in the room and being content with some blocks.

"Welcome to the Super Bowl, Phoebe!" I said in the midst of a high point in the game.
"I'm not there," she said, shaking her head and licking her ice cream cone.

She sat next to Kates on the couch, eating her supper and dessert, watching the game and taking it all in. Later, she intently watched as Kates and I judged the halftime performance and debated whether Madonna was lip-syncing. "I think she's really singing," Phoebe proclaimed.

If I had to tell you which team I was rooting for, I picked the Giants. But I wouldn't have minded a Patriots win, either.

I like the Giants for their scrappy play, Eli Manning as the ever-underdog, and because there's a Bearcat on the roster.

I like the Patriots because I think of them as a classy organization that has been built more on steady leadership than buying the best talent. And when a franchise has that going for them I don't mind watching them pile up the trophies as a true dynasty -- even though most fans now loathe the Patriots because of their success.

As it turned out, the Giants got the best of the Pats again, in another classic championship game that closely resembled the classic championship game they played a few years ago -- with Mario Manningham playing the role of David Tyree. (... And Letterman's rant after the Giants won that Super Bowl remains a classic.)

Something told me all week that the Giants had the edge again. And the moment Tom Brady was called for a safety  to end New England's first possession set the tone for the rest of the game. ... The Giants played with the Pats and then put the game away when they needed -- with an unusual touchdown run.

Here's some good reads I've collected leading up to the Super Bowl and afterward ...

Pregame ...
a Blocking for the Patriots Coach So He Can Do His Job
a Family Ties a Plus for Mannings
a Peyton Manning a Cheerleader for His Brother
a For Belichick, Fond Memories of New York (Giants, Not Jets)
a Early Patriots Were a Comical Traveling Sideshow
a Brady’s emergence and a super season started Patriots’ decade of dominance
a For Giants, Quarterback and Coach Together in Excellence
a Catching On After a Last Chance: Giants’ Cruz Defied Odds at UMass
a With Coach After Coach, the Same Vigilant Face

(Updated 02.07.2012) Post game ...
a Super Bowl XLVI Line by Line ... A light slideshow of drawings worth watching.
a Talent won out, as Patriots lost out in Super Bowl XLVI
a Sequel has same ending
a History repeats
a As losses go, we’ve seen worse
a In save situation, an opportunity lost
a Settling In at the Top of Their Game
a Bradshaw's Reluctant Touchdown puts to rest an unusual Super Bowl
a Situation hard to grasp for Welker
a Manning, Coughlin are content
a In the end, Giant difference in talent

Football double-checks

So the Patriots and Giants are heading to the Super Bowl. Joy.

I would have much preferred the Packers and the Patriots, but I'll take it. ... In a grocery-store conversation with a friend before the games this afternoon I predicted a Patriots-49ers Super Bowl matchup, forgetting for a moment that the Giants were the other team left in the mix.

Thinking about it later, I do have a lot of respect and admiration for the Giants. Plus, one of our former 'Cats has become a key player for the Giants defense, and our fans are pleased to have him representing us in the Super Bowl, which he did in 2008, too. Furthermore, I like the Giants resiliency, and I think I'll be rooting for them to take it to the Patriots again in the Super Bowl.

Either way, both the Patriots-Ravens and the Giants-49ers proved to be fine games.

To fill the void of the Packers not playing today, I thought I'd post a pair of Aaron Rodgers commercials making waves.

The first is one of the latest entries in the State Farm series featuring Rodgers, which you've seen if you've been anywhere near a TV projecting an NFL football game the last couple weeks. Raji's dance makes me laugh every time ...



The second is a regional commercial for a Wisconsin bank that my sister-in-law -- who works for the advertising agency that produced this commercial -- described to us during our Christmas visit. Among other behind-the-scenes stories and fun facts she told us: Aaron's line near the end -- "Is this part of the deal?" -- wasn't scripted. (As a side note, Sister-in-Law also was involved in December's amusing Mittengate. See for yourself.)



In other news, Joe Paterno died today. Truly a surprising and sad turn of events the last few months at Penn State ...

Some good reads ...
a Too soon to determine Paterno's legacy
a Joe Paterno dies, leaving a record for others to debate

Another week

This will be known as the week Amanda Knox was freed. Steve Jobs died. And postseason baseball kept getting in the way of other responsibilities that I didn’t find nearly as exciting.

There are dozens of tweets from this week I wish I could re-post. But time’s not on my side.

Like a lot of people, I sat breathless at my desk awaiting the Knox verdict, although I can't be sure why. The case was a compelling one for sure, but it never gripped me as much as it did today. I'm glad for her's and her family's sake their nightmare is over.

Then, I was working in my office Tuesday night, hunkering down for another night of graduate paper writing when I saw the first tweet from a Chicago television station reporting Jobs' death. "Whoah," I said aloud. In another moment it became one of those stories that exploded on the Twitterverse, and tweets were flashing as fast as lightning. ... It was amazing to me how hard some were taking the death of a guy who built computers. And then it wasn't so hard to understand the outpouring when you think of the direct and indirect influence his gadgets have had on our lifestyles.

"Given Jobs’s storied record, the quasi-religious hosannas were predictable. As Walt Mossberg, the Wall Street Journal’s technology columnist, wrote, Jobs rivaled Henry Ford as an industrialist and Thomas Edison as an innovator. In just over a dozen years, he transformed a foundering computer company into a giant of commerce and culture, with a broad influence on movies, music, advertising and retailing." ~ Paul Farhi, The Washington Post

More good reads ...
a Steve Jobs: Thank Him For...
a Steven P. Jobs: His Life, His Companies, His Products ... Cool interactive feature. And it's pretty fascinating to read some of the original reviews of these Apple products, too.
a A Tough Balancing Act Remains Ahead for Apple
a Apple Innovations Include Start of Big-Budget Super Bowl Ads
a Up From Ugliness
a Steve Jobs’ millennial fan club is devoted to Apple, but why?
a Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?
a Political cartooons

* * *

Meanwhile, the baseball playoffs were screaming for my attention.

My friend Matt predicted all sweeps. But for as talented and streaky as all of this year’s playoff teams were coming in, I expected all the Division Series’ to be close. For as hot as they were coming out of the regular season, I had the Rays -- especially the way they clobbered the Rangers in game 1 of the ALDS -- and Cardinals pinned as the teams every other team should be weary of.

And for the record, I'm rooting for a Brewers-Tigers World Series. I don't deny my love for either team, buut there's added interest this year because my boss is a Detroit native and die-hard Tigers fan, and our respect is mutual for each other's teams.

Dare I say, I'm quite impressed and pleased with TBS's postseason coverage this year -- something I never thought I'd be saying after the way they stumbled out of the gate in 2007. I'm lovin' the banter before and after games of Dennis Eckersley, David Wells and Cal Ripken.

Then, there's the commercials. Joe Posnanski had a great read yesterday about the most-played ads. ... I for one can’t get David Bowie‘s “Changes” (Thanks to commercial of product I can't remember) or the New Pornograhers’ “Moves” (Thanks to T-Mobile) out of my head. I also enjoy the Chevy Cruze commercial featuring a pregnant couple who is looking for a new apartment, passes on the first one and eventually comes back to it after a frustrating run of lesser apartments.

My favorite commercial, though, has to be the postseason commercial for the Brewers run. Oh, to see those images of the '82 Brewers mixed with this year's characters ... so ... cool.



Then, there's the matter of that Rally Squirrel. ... Thanks to late nights in my office and my attention devoted to the Brewers-Diamondbacks series, almost everything I know about the state of the Phillies-Cardinals series has come via the internet, which almost makes this whole thing even more entertaining for me.

This squirrel made an appearance at Tuesday night's Cardinals game, and my friend Erica wrote about it yesterday afternoon, noting the bold squirrel had its very own Twitter account: @BuschSquirrel. Of course, I started following Mr. Squirrel that afternoon -- when he only had a few hundred followers.

Fast forward to last night when I was working late again and I saw a tweet from Erica referencing another squirrel appearance. Then, I clicked on Mr. Squirrel's account to see, simply "SURPRISE!!" I burst out laughing and could only imagine what I'd just missed.

There's the head-shaking photos. And this video made me laugh more. ... Today, the Post-Dispatch conducted a revealing interview with the squirrel. ... Could it be the Phillies' black cat?



Some good baseball reads ...
a Long-shot Cardinals earning respect
a Where there's smoke, there's the Tigers on fire
a Strong Second Half Lands Tigers at Yankees’ Door
a Bob Gibson endorses Verlander for MVP as well as Cy Young awards
a In Baseball’s Bronze Age, Statues Are Becoming Bigger Part of Landscape
a Milestones to Lose Signature Touch
a A Career Sustained by Unwavering Faith
a A Lou Gehrig Treasure Trove

Clubhouse in the Corn

My good friend Matt passed this dreamy baseball video on to me today ... Classic.