Commercials. No Jordan, no Bird, not even Peyton or Brees during the NFL Network commercial. Athletes pockets are empty this Super Bowl as the endorsement deals went elsewhere.
I was anticipating a long night squirreling together a blog post as the resident commercial critic, but I get to hit the sack early tonight.
Hollywood dominated the commercial space digging into Stan Lee's waste basket to find a blockbuster. Eminem's anti-endorsement mantra snags him two deals eclipsing the entire rosters of the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL combined.
Unless A-Rod was actually previewing a Rom-Com with Cameron Diaz about popcorn, commercial execs are wildly throwing their money at a new approach that leaves athletes having to actually be good at their sport to earn a paycheck.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The owners of the rights to "Rocky Top," the song that's played throughout football season in Tennessee, have settled a copyright lawsuit against the television network A&E.
The Tennessean reported that U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger approved the settlement Monday and dismissed the lawsuit. The lawsuit filed in June accused the network of inserting the iconic tune in a 12-second video clip for a true crime television documentary after the owners said A&E could not do it.
Court filing did not reveal the details of the settlement and attorneys for both sides declined to discuss the settlement.
Felice and Boudleoux (BOO'-deh-loh) Bryant penned the song in 1967 and the couple's children own the rights to it, under the corporate name House of Bryant.
No word whether the song's owners plan on going after Peyton Manning for being such a choker during his days in Knoxville and for the punitive damages that he's giving them.
After the poopstorm that the infamous Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake titty show at Super Bowl XXXVIII caused, the NFL has done very little to clean up its halftime acts.
Since the 2004 performance, the Super Bowl has featured, among others:
An ambiguous gender bender who entertained football fans with a phallic silhouette.
A skeletal rocker best known for folksy pot songs.
And a guy from Jersey who used the show to shove his crotch in America's face.
According to NJ.com, "Former NBA star Jayson Williams is expected to appear in court Friday for a plea deal in the 2002 death of a limousine driver in Hunterdon County, according to people with knowledge of the case."
Sources cannot confirm whether or not he will don his Percy Sledge disguise.
I had been wondering all series why Dodger C Russell Martin's jersey reads "J. Martin". Now I relaize it's in reference to his alter-ego, rapper Fat Joe.
Just hours after dropping out of the PGA, Daly, who's got a history with the six-string, graced his Twitter followers with a new song called "Lost Soul." It's the title track from a forthcoming CD, one that I can guarantee I'll be buying.
As Busbee points out (and any remotely keen listener can pick up on from the clip below) the tune is that of the Poison classic "Every Rose Has Its Thorn."
What's more, if you listen to the lyrics, Daly seems to have followed the David Allen Coe/Steve Goodman formula for writing the perfect Country & Western song.
Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan are widely credited for mainstreaming professional wrestling by taking the "sport" national and away from regional promotions generally associated with the National Wrestling Alliance.
A major factor in bringing the form of entertainment to the masses was by associating its promotions and events with popular celebrities of the era. This was never as evident as the early-80's WWF "Rock N' Wrestling" connection that was prompted by the appearance of manager (and Mario Mario portray-er) Captain Lou Albano in the iconic rocker Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun video.
Lauper went on to feud with her cynematic step-father by partnering up in the Fed as Wendi Richter's manager (with Albano siding up with octogenarian heel extroidinaire the Fabulous Moolah). Promotional wiz McMahon ran with it, and soon he was rolling out 80's-era celebs at the first Wrestlmania in 1985, featuring WWF personalities in 3 other Lauper videos and animating his already cartoonish athletes into "Hulk Hogan's Rock N' Wrestling" series.
Truth be told, the WWF was as un-Rock N' Roll as it was the antithesis of professional wrestling itself.
Legendary grapplers, many of whom VKM would later scoop up into his own promotion, were getting into blood fests and fist fights that would make any self-respecting real rocker blush, all the while taking their cues from not only 70's super groups, but also Southern rock legends and hair metal glam rockers.
It's easy to point to this influence with the obvious types, including the Midnight Rockers and the Rock N' Roll Express.
Another obvious influence was due to the fact that unlike the WWF, they were smaller, regional promotions and not widely televised. Wrestlers in the NWA and other territories were able to use well-known licensed songs as their entrance themes. Most remember the intimidating Road Warriors coming to the ring with Black Sabbath's Iron Man blaring.
A more recent example is the now-WWF owned, once Philly-based Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) whose superstars throughout the mid-to-late 90's came out to just about every well-known metal song ever written. Eventually, ECW signed a national deal and had to opt for original tunes. (A great list of ECW themes can be found here.)
While Vince and Hulk and the WWF take credit for the Rock-N-Wrestling connection, there were a great number of non-WWF wrestlers who took their images, names and gimmicks directly from real rock and roll royalty - and did it much more convincingly.
Below are our favorites.
Bad Company, I can't deny. Bad, Bad company, Till the day I die
Tag Team: Bad Company (AWA): Pat Tanaka & Paul Diamond (Manager Diamond Dallas Page) Inspiration: Bad Company
Are you worried what your friends see? Will it ruin your reputation lovin me 'cause Im a dirty white boy?
Wrestler: Dirty White Boy (USWA, Smokey Mountain) Inspiration: Dirty White Boy (Foreigner)
Are you tough enough to still remember me?
Tag Team: The Fabulous Freebirds: Michael PS Hayes, Terry Bam Bam Gordy, Buddy Roberts, Jimmy Garvin (AWA, NWA, UWF, WCCW) Inspiration: Freebird (Lynyrd Skynyrd); The Fabulous Thunderbirds
Wrestler: Midnight Rider (NWA): After Dusty Rhodes was suspended by the NWA, the masked Midnight Rider burst on the scene to feud with Ric Flair, fooling no one. Inspiration: Midnight Rider (Allman Brothers Band)
Boogie Woogie Man from Tennessee, yeah baby.
Wrestler: Jimmy "Boogie Woogie Man" Valiant (NWA) Inspiration: The Boogie Woogie Man (Albert Ammons); Boogie Woogie Country Man (Jerry Lee Lewis)
Finally, we'd not be doing our readers any justice if we didn't mention some of these later-year non-WWF Rock N' Rock ripoffs.
The Boy Band Legacy
Tag Team: 3 Count (WCW) Inpiration: NKOTB, 'N Sync, Backstreet Boys
He'd be no worse a lead singer for the band than Gary Cherone
Wrestler: "Heavy Metal" Van Hammer (WCW) Inspiration: Van Halen
Race & Culture Wars
Stables: No Limit Soldiers: Master P, BA, Chase Tatum, Konnan, Rey Mysterio, Jr., Swoll, 4x4; The West Texas Rednecks: Curt Henning, Bobby Duncum, Jr., Barry Windham, Kendall Windham, Curly Bill (WCW) Inspiration: Master P
In a few hours, hundreds of thousands of dillusional idol worshipers will descend upon the Staples Center in LA to pay homage to recently deceased pop cultural wackadoo Michael Jackson.
Over the years, several athletes have paid their own respects to King of Pop in their own unique and special ways. Today, we look back at some of those tributes.
"Let me tell you another funny story, New Jack. Back in '74 the great Charlie Rich was named country musician of the year. Then, in '75 he had to hand the award off to the new winner. And you know who that was? Mr. Sunshine on my GD shoulders, John Denver. Can you believe it? Replaced by John F-N Denver. Well I'll be dammed if Mr. Rich didn't pull out his cigarette lighter right there and light that award on fire in front of everyone."
In all likelihood, sports fans, you spent last evening in the same manner as I did - not watching the BET awards.
I was however, lucky enough that plenty of folks on Twitter felt the need to keep a Simmonsian running diary, including ESPN 1st & 10 mainstay Jemele Hill.
Among other things, the show somehow became a tribute to former Phillies/Mariners/Giants/Reds/Indians/Astros/Twins/White Sox reliever Mike Jackson.
I, for one, had no idea he was so popular in the R&B community.
Nor did I have any idea just how out of touch with the BET-watching community I, in essence, am.
Take it away Jemele...
If anyone wants to explain to me what exactly that action is referring to, by all means. Whitlock?
Last night's reunion performance, New Edition's 27th in the last 10 years, surprised and pleased only Jemele Hill. Then again, she remembers fainting when an adolescent Bobby Brown would strip off his shirt and dry humpthe stage.
Apparently Jamie Foxx came out looking like this:
Is that Sheila E?
Jemele finds this amusing:
Wow. Jamie Foxx came out with a Beat It jacket. I love this dude.about 13 hours agofrom web
Aight, Jamie, if you're going to do the Beat It reincarnation, i'mma need you to stay on beat.about 13 hours agofrom web
J Foxx has on some pants so tight I can see his butt cheeks flexinabout 13 hours agofrom web
If Jamie moves a bit too quickly, he coming out of those pantsabout 13 hours agofrom we
LMAO...Jamie Foxx just said his Michael Jackson pants are giving him a "camel toe." Now that's hysterical.about 13 hours agofrom web
Clearly it doesn't take much to amuse Jemele Hill, and clearly Foxx fails to recognize and understand the subtle, yet distinct, differences between "camel toe" and "moose knuckle."
You people in Bristol just don't learn do you?
The real questions are:
Why does BET have an awards show?
Why does Jemele Hill have a career?
Why am I following her Twitter feed?
A larger size uh what exactly?
After marveling over Bron's snug slacks, Hill goes on to Tweet about the following people I've never heard of:
Keri Hilson
Ne-Yo
Neffei
Keke Palmer
XScape
That what she said.
If I followed this recipe but instead did so with Puerto Rican midgets and called in PRMET, I guarantee 2 things: 1. I would be deemed racist and offensive; 2. It would be more entertaining and successful than anything ever produced by BET. Bank it.
It took a fifth of vodka, but there we have it - Jemele's first and only amusing comment.
Jemele Hill, tearing down black stereotypes on Twitter since 2009.
This comment is applicable to:
A. BET's 2009 Awards Show B. Jemele Hill's Tweetcap C. This Post D. All of the Above
Commercials. No Jordan, no Bird, not even Peyton or Brees during the NFL Network commercial. Athletes pockets are empty this Super Bowl as the endorsement deals went elsewhere.
