A new sport I’m interested in, Lingerie Football League

I know there will be some ridicule here, but I am totally interested in Lingerie Football League.

I know what you are thinking, but I really am. Take a look at this clip:

Isn’t that some great action? I’ve sent off for my credentials to cover the games, wish me luck!

NFL Notes for 2-4-11

NFL teams could soon dump playbooks for iPads?

NFL teams including the Dallas Cowboys could soon be abandoning their traditional paper playbooks and game-day printouts of plays in favor of iPads or other tablets. Pete Walsh, head of technology for the Cowboys, said his team and at least a “couple” of others are currently considering abandoning their playbooks in favor of iPads, a move they feel could save them as much as 5,000 pages of paper printouts per game. Walsh explained this potential philosophical and technological shift to CNET during a discussion about Cowboys Stadium technology at Super Bowl Media Day here Tuesday. The stadium will play host on Sunday to Super Bowl XLV between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers. For tech-friendly sports fans, it’s an appealing image–coaches and players sitting on the sidelines of the giant Cowboys Stadium, iPads in hand, studying likely plays for the next few series, or sifting through overhead photos of the last plays in order to assess their performance, or that of their opponents. Still, it’s also a bit difficult to imagine old-school NFL coaches agreeing to carry around a shiny gadget like an iPad instead of their trusty playbooks–or reviewing glossy color photos on the 9.7-inch screen rather than shuffling through paper printouts of the last passing play. One can imagine such coaches agreeing to hand over their playbooks only through tightly gritted teeth. But Walsh suggested that this migration could well be coming, though he didn’t say how long it would be before we see football pros stalking the sidelines with tablets. –CNET News

Guess who Jerome Bettis is picking for the Super Bowl?

Don’t you love Super Bowl hype? I had a chance to interview Jerome Bettis last night at Wing Stop in Arlington.

The Snowy Knoll Theory

Good morning from snowed in north Texas, home of Super Bowl XLV.

Does anyone remember the 70 degree temperature here last week?

The mood was excellent for a Super Bowl. The Super Bowl teams arrived and not 60 minutes later, we all were iced/snowed in here and it hasn’t let up yet.  Not to worry saith the weather people, 50′s on Saturday and near 60 for Super Bowl Sunday. I call bull! After another 2-4 inches of overnight snow, now the weather gurus are saying 40′s for the Super Bowl.

You mean these weather people get paid ultra big bucks and get media passes to the Super Bowl, and are just as good as I am at predicting the weather? Pashaaa!

Did Jerry Jones and the NFL coerce the weather people to say it’s all ok, come on to Texas and spend money? It’s a theory.

1 to 6 inches of Dallas snow makes dangerous drive (Fox 4 News)

Please Support the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund

The Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund’s mission is to assist retired NFL dire need players who are pioneers of the game and have greatly contributed to the NFL’s status as the most popular sport in America. GGAF provides hands-on assistance to help retired players and their families deal with hardships they face after football. The services include medical assistance, financial assistance for utilities, medication, food, automotive payments and childcare.

Please check out their website here

Super Bowl Notes

Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb is going to the Super Bowl. Well, he’s going to Texas for Super Bowl week, but he’ll be working for ESPN, not the Redskins. McNabb will serve as a guest analyst next week for ESPN’s coverage of Super Bowl XLV, providing his thoughts on the game, teams and players. The safe guess is that a Redskins question or three also might pop up. “We’re excited to have Donovan back on ESPN as a part of our Super Bowl coverage,” said ESPN senior coordinating producer Stephanie Druley. “We worked with him in previous years and he always has strong opinions and great insights on the game, the teams and especially the quarterback position.” — Washington Post

Steelers defensive star spending big on Super Bowl trip

Steelers NT Casey Hampton’s “crib” isn’t in Dallas. He was born in Galveston, a city on the Gulf of Mexico. A few years ago, he moved to nearby Houston. His relatives and closest friends coming to the Super Bowl will have roughly a 240-mile drive to Dallas this week. Hampton, a five-time Pro Bowler, is personally taking care of their Super Bowl arrangements. He’s renting a house for them in Dallas. He figures that beats paying for their airfare and hotel rooms. And for at least 15 family members and friends, he’s purchased their tickets at $900 a pop. “It’s going to be expensive for me,” he said. “So from that standpoint, it’s not going to be a good thing.” Whatever Hampton ends up spending for his entourage’s Super Bowl stay, no one feels sorry for him. His base salary this season is $4 million. Plus, Hampton and the rest of the Steelers have already pocketed $21,000 for winning the divisional-round playoff game against the Ravens and $38,000 for the AFC Championship Game against the Jets. If the Steelers beat the Packers in Super Bowl XLV, each player gets $83,000 more (the loser’s share is $42,000). — Beaver County Times

T Minus 7 days and counting….

Saturday, 8:30 PM.

The zoo has begun. It’s official now, one week to go until Super Bowl XLV and people around here in north Texas are getting crazy. It’s the fist time the Super Bowl has been played here, we sort of don’t know how to take all of this.

I went to the NFL Experience today and had a blast. Lots of things to see and do. Got to see some cool jewelry as they had each ring from the winning team for all Super Bowl Champions on display.

And I hate to mention it, but I drove around Cowboys Stadium to see what it was like, and the traffic is terrible already!!

I can’t imagine what this week is going tobe like. I hope my vacation got approved.

My tribute to Ralph

Back in 1971 when I arrived at Fort Riley Kansas, there was this guy named Ralph, from Bulger Pa. that was assigned to my squad room on post barracks. On top of being some where I didn’t want to be in the first place, here was this guy always, always talking about anything related to Pittsburgh sports. The Pittsburgh Pirates had a great baseball team, and of course the Pittsburgh Steelers had Terry Bradshaw and Lynn Swan and all of those guys. There were some great games those Steelers had against my Cowboys by the way.

Ralph was always, always talking up how good the Steelers were. It got old pretty quick to me. I was in a situation that made me think about other priorities at the time, including a pregnant wife back home. I endured Ralph and all of his Pittsburgh bragging.

I guess I endured it long enough, for he and I became best friends. Aside from him bragging on Pittsburgh, he was a funny guy and helped me laugh about things that were pretty much serious otherwise. We were best friends after all.

And then like so many times in the Army, our tours ended and we were going to be going home soon. Of course you always say you will write, but you never do. But Ralph and I had such a special bond and friendship, we made a pact that every year, on Super Bowl Sunday, we would call each other and catch up and hopefully, be talking either Cowboys or Steelers in the Super Bowl.

We called each other for years. We helped each other through some tough times together. His cancer, and my divorce. We were still friends after all those years. He survived and so did I.

Time has sort of gotten by me now. It’s been several years since I have heard from Ralph, so since I see Pittsburgh is going back to the Super Bowl, I thought I would call Ralph and see what his plans are. Maybe he needed a place to stay to watch his Steelers and this being the first time Dallas has hosted a Super Bowl, what a great idea if I invited him down for the game.

I didn’t have his phone number so I Googled him and found this.

Ralph E. Campbell Jr.
Millworker from Bulger
Ralph Edwin Campbell Jr., 49, of Bulger, died Friday, June 30, 2000, in his home. He was born August 19, 1950, in Midway, a son of Alverta Stewart Campbell of Clinton and the late Ralph Campbell Sr. Mr. Campbell graduated from Fort Cherry High School and was a millworker at Climax Molybdenum. On October 7, 1972, he married Sharon Holmes, who survives. Surviving, in addition to his wife and mother, are a son, Brant Edwin Campbell of Bulger; a daughter, Angela Lynn Shaffer of Bulger; two sisters, Anna Black of Midway and Alice Reese of West Palm Beach, Fla.; and two grandchildren, Matthew Paul and Brianne Nicole Shaffer.

Wow. I’m pretty stunned. I should have called sooner. I just figured he would be there.

Maybe I’ll call his wife someday, just not now. Ralph was a great guy. Hang in there Ralph, your doing ok now.

If your favorite NFL team is a bird, you lost this weekend

Wow the Ravens, Seahawks, and Falcons all lost this playoff weekend past. Some incredible games for certain. Even the Jets’ win over the Pats was a shocker. So the Jets talked smack, but they were able to back it up. As we say in west Texas, ”it ain’t smack talkin if you can back it up.” So give the Jets credit, they won their playoff game against the Pats in the Pats’ backyard. 

But I digress. How do you let a team that is 3rd and 19, with 2:00 to go, not only get a first down, but complete a pass down to your 4 yard line? Incredible.

So there ya have it. The Jets vs. the Steelers for the AFC Championship this weekend, and the Bears vs the Packers for the NFC Championship.

Speaking of the Packers and QB Aaron Rodgers, does he snub a cancer patient trying to get his autograph? See for yourself:

Wow.

Let’s see how all this goes while my Cowboys sit home and introduce a new defensive coordinator.

So, let’s have a great week and see if we can even come close to predicting who will go to the Super Bowl after this weekend. Have a good one.

Enjoy the music for the day

Hey Jerry, I think YOU are the problem!

No one wants to read about how bad their team is, but you just can’t help it right? I hate writing about a losing team, especially since it’s been my team for 50 years now.

Why are the Cowboys 1-4 after the game today in Minnesota? Because we don’t have effective coaching. Why don’t we have effective coaching? Because Jerry Jones wants to be the man. He wants to be the Alpha Male. He’s willing to gamble that if his team makes it to the Super Bowl, in some sick sort of way, he can stand on the podium and claim responsibility. Since that isn’t going to happen given the poor record so far this year, then he should take the blame right?

Everyone in North America knows Jerry only hires people he can train as puppets. If they won’t be a Jerry puppet, they go elsewhere. (See Bill Parcells and Jimmy Johnson).