mario

...e.

And what is going on with the half time extravaganza? Can we calm that thing down? Can we see more xs and os and less screaming clueless teenagers making a grown man cry. The game has become the opening act for a concert, rather than the other way around. There seems to be more concern about costume malfunctions than referee malfunctions, which there were plenty of. I suppose I could put the extra time to good use, like paint the house, but I dont want to. I want to stay involved in the moment of the battle. But these Vegas shows are killing my patience. And as bad as it is for the fan, it must be brutal keeping players focused in the locker rooms.

Having said all that, we know that most of the added time is due to the commercials. Ah, the commercials. It is all about the commercials. How can they extend the game to make a few more bucks on commercials? Why dont they give each coach ten time outs? Why dont they have two minute warnings every minute? Pretty soon, theyll have to start the game noon Saturday and have it end midnight Sunday. And the commercials arent even that entertaining anymore. Its killing me. The madness has to stop.

So here are some ideas to get the game that the real fans support so tirelessly back on track. First, eliminate the extra week prior to the game and shift the season so that the Super Bowl is played on Presidents Day weekend. Second, fix the refereeing by employing full time referee teams. Third, use the half time to honor the latest Hall of Fame inductees, or our troops, or Super Bowl MVPs of years pastmake it about the game or something noble, not about pop icons. If you want to have concerts, have them before the game starts. Finally, rein in the commercials.

What the NFL executives have allowed the Super Bowl to become is what is so unappealing about America to people who have no other lens. Everything is bigger than life. Everything is glitzy. Everything is so self important. Its a bad, media contrived face to the world. Please bring our simple, humble game back. Please let the players play the game they earned to play. Please stop the insanity.

Im beggin ya please!

Why the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers are the Best Team in NFL History

...plan on every team that stood in their way.

The 2005 Steelers overcame more odds, compounded odds, than any other super bowl victorious team has ever had to face. They barely made it into the playoffs, and could have missed the post season altogether had it not been for a couple of weak teams that lost pivotal games. Yet what eventually decided the division championship between the Steelers and Bengals was a tie breaker, the Bengals had 1 more division win. How can a team involved in a tie breaker to decide the division not make it into the playoffs? It could have easily happened to the Steelers this year. But life came back to the team in the very late stages of the season and they were able to grab the last spot on the caboose. The dark horse was dismissed as "previously beaten" by Cinci, and the tone remained the same as the Steelers rode into Indy and stole the upset victory for a chance to play in the Championship game in Denver. By then the dark horse was getting a little more respect, and Denver was wondering what to expect. Their worst fear was to face a team that was in that zone, the unbeatable zone that propels teams to glory. Unfortunately for them, Denvers gut was right, and the Steelers smashed through Colorado and never looked back, handing the Broncos one of those old fashioned respect getter loses that finally cemented them as not only contenders, but favorites to win the big game over the Seattle Seahawks. And it distinguished the boys in black as the only team to eve...more

League One Betting Review - 5 February 2006

...oked the safest bet of the day as goals for Isaiah Rankin, Ricky Newman, Paul Brooker, Sam Sodje and a penalty for Kevin O'Connor eased the Bees to victory.

Huddersfield lost ground in the promotion hunt going down 2-1 at Tranmere on Friday night. David Graham cancelled out an early Carl Tremarco goal but the home side stunned the Terriers when former striker Delroy Facey netted the winner with six minutes to go for 7/5 Rovers.

Veteran striker Paul Hall's 100th league goal denied Gillingham an unlikely 7/2 victory and extended Chesterfield's unbeaten run to 15 matches. The Gills took the...more

Digital Sports Photography - Top-Scoring Shots With Expert Coaching

...A digital sports photography article would have been fairly brief as recently as a couple of years ago. In essence, it would have stated that digital cameras have unacceptable shutter lag, and cannot yet achieve the frame rates of their film cousins. End of story.

Well, that particular story has in fact ended. These days the focus is on digital cameras finally reaching the level of film cameras, and being widely used with great effect in digital sports photography. The aim nowadays is to point out the clear benefits offered by the digital route.

In fact, a number of excellent books have appeared on digital sports photography, confirming that this type of photography has finally become an acceptable mainstream digital activity.

In 'Digital Sports Photography', G. Newman Lowrance offers a wealth of informat...more