Los That Links: T'was the Night Before Super Bowl

How do you come up with something creative, original, and though-provoking for a sports website during Super Bowl season? The NFL season finale is upon us, and the one sport that can legitimately claim to be ruler over all things sport in America, has been impossibly dissected, scrutinized, examined, and any other word you would use to express those sentiments.

So what do you do if you're in our shoes, and are looking to provide our own proverbial log to accelerate the Super Bowl fire? Links, baby. Interesting, made-to-order, mother-lovin' links.

Los That Super Bowl Links (Super Bowl story lines)

- EA Sports has already decided the winner to Super Bowl XLV. That should free up your Sunday to do those chores your wife/mom has for you.




- When stat geeks put their powers to good use, stuff like this happens. The Pac-10 is well represented in Super Bowl history.

- PORN! So, remember the last time the Steelers made the Super Bowl, and folks in Arizona had their game interrupted with 37-seconds of porn? Well...

- A two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback, an accused rapist, and an image-rehabbing NFL star go to a bar. Stop me if you've heard this one before.

- Personally, I love Buzz Bissenger because he's such a chap-ass. Here he is with his curmudgeonly hype on the Super Bowl hype.

- Jason Whitlock with his take on the 2011 NFL Hall of Fame class, and why denying entry to a fellow fat man will make him cry.

- Bill Romanowski picks the Packers to win. More importantly, now is a good time to appreciate that Romanowski is the only linebacker to start in five Super Bowls, winning four times. See what steroids can do for you?

- Get your Super Bowl XLV gamble on (where it's legal).

- Lil Wayne versus Wiz Khalifa. Loser has to get a face-tattoo. (Wait a minute...)

Non-Super Bowl, but still NFL-related links

- Mark Sanchez may have a Long Island Lolita.

- Michael Vick never wanted to go to that party that bore his name (and Roger Goodell asked him not to attend) in the first place. (Yeah baby, I really don't want to go to the strip club with the homies. I just wanna stay here with you tonight and watch "Real Housewives of Atlanta".)

- It's fun to play like Chad Ochocinco-Johnson is unintelligent, but really, we know he's not.

- Google "Goodell, Labor issues", and you get about 5,832,964,897,692 articles. Some positive, mostly not. Here's a negative piece worth reading.

- Dave McKenna of the Washington City Paper listened to "Hit Em Up", "Takeover" and "Ether" for 72-consecutive hours, then wrote this piece on Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder back in November. Now Snyder wants to sue for libel.

Lil Wayne Green And Yellow Remix

With the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers set to meet Sunday in the Super Bowl, rapper Lil Wayne released a remixed version to the popular Pittsburgh street anthem, Wiz Khalifa's "Black andYellow". Check it out after the jump:



Lil Wayne - Green And Yellow
Shouts to thefader.com and weezythanx.com for the link. Catchy, but personally I was already growing tired of the original version. Should be a good game nonetheless. The Super Bowl will air on Fox Sunday Feb. 6th and coverage is an all day event so tune in like everyone else in the world. You don't want to be the only one without something to offer to the water cooler conversations come Monday morning.

-ALR

Los That Links 8-24-10

Brett Favre made his return (to something he technically never left) with a bang last night in the Minnesota Vikings loss to the Super Bowl-bound San Francisco 49ers (bias). Literally. The return was a whopping four plays long, complete with one highlight (a 13-yard swing pass to Adrian Peterson) and the aforementioned lowlight.

For all the hype about Favre, I'd have to say the television audiences were left a bit disappointed. Unless you were like me, and appreciate watching a dominant pre-season defensive performance by a dark horse Super Bowl contender, you were probably looking to see Brett Favre do Brett Favre-type things for at least 3-4 series.

Too bad.

What viewers last night were treated to, however, was more of the same unabashed apologizing and excuse making for the legendary Favre's diva routine. There was the story of the three Viking players who traveled to Mississippi to talk to him. There was the halftime interview where he gave vague references to contentious feelings he may or may not have towards Brad "Chilli" Childress, who occaisionally serves as head coach for the team. There was the story of anonymous players in the Viking locker room were quoted saying Favre didn't trust Childress, and how they were cowards for doing so. And, of course, there were the "Favre just loves this game" stories, complete with Favre slapping the butts of his teammates, as proof.

I know just last week, I posted an article stating how we shouldn't hate Favre, or the game, for all the love he receives. I'm not backing off my position on that. It's okay to hate Jay Mariotti, but not Favre.

Still, as a sports junkie, it is a bit nauseating to listen to the positive Favre stories being told by the media members who scathingly criticize Terrell Owens and Albert Haynesworth for underming their head coaches, and basing those criticisms on words from anonymous sources. It's hypocritical, at best, to do so. What's worse, every allusion to the identity of the anonymous sources is played up as being either backup QBs Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels, implying that they're saying things out of jealousy.

So, its okay to label guys cowards and team cancers, when they may or may not have done anything to deserve those labels? And you don't need to back it up with fact, so much as an entertainig opinion? This is wrong.

I don't mind giving Favre the benefit of the doubt, or even special privliges. That's why they make the big bucks. Just don't do it at the expense of guys who are just as accomplished (Owens), guys who are in similar situations (Haynesworth), or guys who are just barely hanging on (Jackson and Rosenfels).

Shouldn't be too difficult, eh?

- Here's an article from the thegrio.com, asking whether Favre would be given the same amount of rope if he were a black athlete. (http://www.thegrio.com/)

- Two QBs looked pretty good last night in the Vikes-49ers game. Neither one was named "Brett". (http://www.sfgate.com/)

- Tiger Woods is officially a single man. Hide your Hooter's waitresses. (espn.go.com.)

- Have gun, will travel? Maurice Clarett on work release. (http://www.baltimoresun.com/)

- Another amazing centerfield catch coming from Japan. Call it "Spider Man 2". (sports.yahoo.com)

Who Ya' Gonna Call? Sweatpants Buster!

Word on the street is former New York Giants wide receiver, and sweat pants aficionado Plaxico Burress has applied for work release. If all goes well, Burress could be back on the streets by Sept. 9, just in time for the start of the NFL regular season.

You may remember Burress being involved in what the television show "The Boondocks" describes as a "N***a Moment" back in November of 2008, when he took a loaded gun to a Manhattan nightclub, stumbled, and accidentally shot himself in the leg. Prior to that incident, Burress was one of the top receivers in the NFL, and made the game-winning touchdown catch, helping the Giants win their first Super Bowl in almost twenty years.

The NFL has stated that they won't suspend Burress any further, and at 33 years old, Burress could still have some productivity left.