Friday, January 30, 2009

Around the Internets: Super Bowl Edition



While I'm busy constructing my fool-proof gambling plan, I figured you might want some things to read about the big game.

-The fine folks at Football Outsiders have broken down all the numbers and carried all of the ones for their annual SB Preview.

-They've also done the same with all of the exotic prop bets. This is my favorite pre-SB column to read.

-Speaking of prop bets, if you know me then you've undoubtedly already heard about the wagers that I may or may not have placed on Springsteen's set at halftime. Does he open with The Rising and close with Born to Run? Will he really play Born in the USA? Who knows? Not me. But after some speculation in Rolling Stone magazine, a bunch of online sports books were pulling down the bets for fear that word was out on what songs the Boss may or may not be playing.

-While most people are worrying over Heinz Ward's knee and Big Ben's brainspace, the fine folks at The Times are getting to know Pittsburgh's long snapper.

-The key to the Super Bowl: mullets.

-Don Banks at SI, Gene Wojciechowski at ESPN.com, Adam Schein at FOX Sports and Butters Professor Chaos are taking the Steelers. I'm not. My neighbor Carl, on the other hand is.



-Adam Duerson, Big Daddy Drew, The Sports Gal, Gregg Easterbrook, The Wildcat, King Kaufman and WWOD? are going with the upstart Cardinals.

-Although WWOD? is pulling for the Cardinals and is crafting a theory in which they win this game handily, I wouldn't mind if the Steelers won just so we could, as a nation, watch the fiscal situation in the Steel City play out. Because, you see, the economy is in such a state of disrepair that the city of Pittsburgh cannot actually afford a victory parade.

-The Super Bowl means four things. 1) Football 2) Gambling 3) I use the deep-fryer and my apartment smells like a carnival for two weeks 4) Commercials. With the fourth thing in mind, here's a rundown of the best Super Bowl commercials. Ever.

-If sport is not your cup of tea (which means you probably also have a literal "cup of tea" that you prefer over all others) then perhaps you should check out The Puppy Bowl. This marathon of canine cuteness is counted as one of EW's best counterprogramming options for those people too good for football or your boyfriend's, brother's or buddy's Super Bowl Party.

-The tens and tens of longtime Cardinals fans around the country are hoping that Sunday will provide a marquee moment for a franchise that has only given us one all-time great gridiron moment.