The Playboy Super Bowl Party Was Fun; So Was The Super Bowl!

Yep. I attended my first Playboy Party and fifth Super Bowl. More with a click here!

NFL Game in UK already promised a Sellout

Ticket Requests Pour in for NFL in London- See my comment at the end
By Associated Press

February 7, 2007, 9:38 AM EST

LONDON -- The NFL's first regular-season game outside North America already looks like a big hit. More than 500,000 tickets were requested by about 160,000 fans in the three days following Friday's official announcement, the NFL said Wednesday.

The ticket request process ends Feb. 18, two months before tickets go on sale for the Oct. 28 game between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants at Wembley Stadium.


Wembley is expecting to seat between 85,000-90,000 for the game.

"Nearly all these requests have come from UK based fans," said Alistair Kirkwood, the managing director of NFL UK. "These figures do not take into account the allocation of tickets for Dolphins and Giants fans from the United States, so we anticipate a very quick sellout when tickets go on sale in early March."

On Sunday, more than 4,000 fans gathered in London to watch the Super Bowl at Super Bash, which is in its fourth year.


So how much will these tickets Cost? Let's book our hotels now........

Sporting News Final NFL Power Rankings for 2006-07

Final 2006-07 NFL Power Poll
By Mike Nahrstedt - SportingNews


Final rank, plus a look ahead to 2007

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1. Colts. Sure, there's room at the end of that laser, rocket arm for another ring.

2. Bears. Who would you rather be, Grossman or Bartman? Man, tough call.

3. Patriots. Don't bet against the Pats ending an excruciating two-year title drought.

4. Chargers. Arizona desert would be a good spot for Marty to exorcise his demons.

5. Ravens. The core players are old, but you can say that about the Stones, too.

6. Saints. That glass slipper? It just might fit the next time around.

7. Eagles. Invincible was great, but wouldn't it be nice if it applied to McNabb?

8. Jets. You know, that Mangini guy, he seems to be working out OK.

9. Seahawks. Seattle remains the class of the NFC West. (Talk about your oxymorons.)

10. Chiefs. Need some DTs, OTs, WRs … stop me if you've heard this before.

11. Cowboys. Enough with the fuss over the coach. Who's gonna be the holder?

12. Broncos. When upgrading D-line, Denver should look beyond Cleveland this time.

13. Titans. Wouldn't Pacman look good in a Bengals uniform? I'm just sayin'.

14. Giants. Something tells me Coughlin ain't the guy to fix a fractured locker room.

15. Jaguars. If you have the answer at QB, please call 1-877-JDELRIO.

16. Steelers. NFL can never have too many coaches named Mike. Tomlin makes five.

17. Bengals. 2007 goal: More wins than arrests. Hey, you gotta reach for the stars.

18. Bills. Move Buffalo to the NFC, and suddenly it's playoff-caliber.

19. Panthers. DeShaun? DeAngelo? DeSomebody has to run the ball for DePanthers.

20. Packers. It would take a Lambeau-sized leap of faith to put the Pack in SB42.

21. Falcons. This just in: Vick is not a great passer. But isn't that what QBs do?

22. Rams. Let's just say Jackson ain't shakin' in his cleats about a Faulk return.

23. 49ers. Well, they'll be the best team in the Bay Area again.

24. Texans. A Domanick by any other name is still injury-prone.

25. Dolphins. Welcome back, Ricky Williams. T.O. can't handle all the lunacy alone.

26. Cardinals. You can put the Super Bowl in Arizona, but you can't put Arizona …

27. Redskins. Two scarcities in D.C.: allies for Dubya and W's for the 'Skins.

28. Bucs. Bucs need to make a deep playoff run or Chucky could be toast.

29. Browns. Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thy offense and defense, Romeo?

30. Vikings. Wouldn't Culpepper look good in purple right about now?

31. Lions. If it's lightning and Millen is nearby, head his way--the man is fireproof.

32. Raiders. To paraphrase the Wizard's guard: Not no way, not no how.

A ring for Eli Manning?

Peyton thinks brother is on right path and also could be a champ

BY ARTHUR STAPLE
Newsday Staff Correspondent

February 6, 2007

MIAMI -- Peyton Manning had taken time to savor his first Super Bowl win and his MVP award for leading the Colts to a 29-17 victory over the Bears on Sunday night. Yesterday, he promised that his kid brother will stand in the same spot someday.

"There's no doubt in my mind that Eli will lead his team to a Super Bowl, probably more than one," Peyton said. "I know how hard he works. There's no question he's going to be fine."

The quarterback brothers talk plenty of football during the season, exchanging tips on defenses one of them has seen. Eli told Newsday on Friday that Peyton had barely sat down to relax in his Indianapolis home after beating the Patriots for the AFC championship when he started asking Eli for tips on the Bears.

Sunday night - early yesterday morning, actually - the two were talking football again, even though there are no more games to be played this season.

"We talked, like we do after games. We got into the X's and O's," Peyton said. "He sees things like I see things. He said, 'The safety is really holding his looks to the very end and coming down late.' It's fun to talk about a game you just won with your brother, who's an NFL quarterback."

Eli's Giants started this season playing Peyton's Colts, and for the Manning family, there might have been as much hype for that game as there was for the Super Bowl. The Colts won in September, 26-21, at Giants Stadium and won their next eight, a typical run for Peyton.

Eli and the Giants ... well, you know how that went. A 6-2 start, a midgame meltdown against the Bears and a stumble to a .500 finish. Along with plenty of questions about Eli's maturation in his second full season of starting.

Now that Peyton has his coveted ring, his status as one of the game's great quarterbacks is assured. He said Eli, who at 26 is almost five years younger, is still on the right path.

"He's been a huge supporter of me throughout my entire career and life," Peyton said. "I'm a huge supporter of him. He's been right there, with the rest of my family."

There already have been plenty of changes for Eli - his old position coach, Kevin Gilbride, is his new offensive coordinator, and Chris Palmer is his position coach - and Peyton could see some new faces when the Colts begin their title defense.

His quarterbacks coach, Jim Caldwell, might get a chance to interview with the Cowboys for their head-coaching job. Dominic Rhodes, who ran for 113 yards Sunday, is a free agent. So are defensive end Dwight Freeney and linebacker Cato June. Even coach Tony Dungy is weighing whether to retire now that he has won a Super Bowl, the first for a black head coach.

But Peyton, who hasn't missed a game in nine NFL seasons, is the Colts' constant. He finally won by not being the impatient Peyton of old, by settling for short completions and handoffs in the rain Sunday. But he's not looking to kick back now.

"In some cases, I've seen past quarterbacks that have won a Super Bowl getting 'the pass.' They kind of get the pass when they have a bad year. People say, 'He won a Super Bowl; we'll give him the pass,'" he said. "I guess what I'm saying is, I don't want the pass. I want to be held accountable each and every year. Next year, my goal is to be better, and I feel like I should be because of the experience I gained this year."

So Lets Give Peyton a hand here People. Anyone seen that Monkey??

Newsday's Arthur Staple wraps up the coverage of the Big Game

SUPER BOWL XLI: COLTS 29, BEARS 17
See My end comment!
Colts finally grab ring
Manning, Dungy use ball control, 5 turnovers to get that elusive title

BY ARTHUR STAPLE
Newsday Staff Correspondent

February 5, 2007

MIAMI -- Peyton Manning showed he could win without being flashy. Tony Dungy showed a coach could rally his team through tough times without screaming. And the Colts, the decade's most dominant team during the regular season, showed they could win the big one.

Their 29-17 win over the self-destructive Bears in Super Bowl XLI on a rainy night at Dolphin Stadium capped an up-and-down season for the Colts, who won their first championship since moving from Baltimore to Indianapolis in 1984. They started 9-0, then stumbled to a 3-4 finish with a Swiss cheese defense, seemingly needing Manning to put them on his back.

Turns out the Colts needed Manning to be smart and safe. He was picked off by safety Chris Harris on the Colts' first drive last night, then guided his offense smoothly by dumping off passes underneath a deep-playing secondary.

Rookie running back Joseph Addai led the Colts with 10 catches, and Dominic Rhodes ran for 113 yards as the Colts ate up clock, holding the ball for 38:04 and running 81 plays to the Bears' 48. Five turnovers by the Bears offset three by the Colts, all in the first half.

"This was a great team win, a team championship," said Manning, who won the MVP award despite a modest 25-for-38, 247- yard game. His only touchdown pass was his only big play, a 53-yard strike to a wide-open Reggie Wayne in the first quarter.

"With our defense playing the way it has, you don't feel like you have to be quite as aggressive," Manning said. "It wasn't really that way in the regular season. The defense has been outstanding in the playoffs. It's nice to be able to get this win as a team."

And for Dungy, who had as much a bridesmaid's reputation as Manning for being a great coach unable to win a championship. He still never changed his genial ways, and it paid off when he became the first black coach to win a Super Bowl by besting his close friend and former assistant, Lovie Smith.

"This may not have been the best team we had over the last five years, but it's definitely the team that's been through the most," said Dungy, who had one of his sons on the postgame podium with him. His son James committed suicide in December 2005.

"This wasn't the easy road, it was the tough road. And tonight, more than anything, we were a team, fighting together all the way through."

They were fighting from behind just 14 seconds in after rookie Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for a score. Between that and Manning's interception, Chicago couldn't have envisioned a better start. Even after Wayne's TD, Thomas Jones ripped off a 52-yard run to the 5 and Rex Grossman hit Muhsin Muhammad for a 4-yard TD to give the Bears a 14-6 lead after a quarter.

"We got a chance to set the tempo," said Hester, who barely touched the ball again, with the Colts squibbing kicks to steer clear of him. "We set it early, but we couldn't keep it going."

Even with long, clock-eating drives, the Colts settled for three Adam Vinatieri field goals inside the red zone and let the Bears hang around into the fourth quarter.

But Grossman, the whipping boy entering the grand stage, lived down to his billing. He had two fumbles, two sacks after slipping on the wet field and two fourth-quarter interceptions. Backup defensive back Kelvin Hayden returned the first 56 yards with 11:44 to play to make it 29-17, crushing the Bears when Chicago still had a chance.

"Not just Rex, all of us could handle the situation better next time," Smith said. "It's a growing experience for him as much as anything."

The Colts have grown as much as they could during the last five seasons, winning 60 regular-season games while Manning cemented his Hall of Fame status. But the playoffs had been a different story. The Colts either ran into the Patriots' juggernaut or coughed up games like last year's home loss to the Steelers.

So even after their torrid start this season, the bad finish - including a Dec. 10 loss to the Jaguars in which they allowed 375 rushing yards - made the Colts leery. But the defense stiffened in the playoffs against the Chiefs and Ravens, and Manning lit up the scoreboard in the second half to finally vanquish the Patriots two weeks ago.

Then last night the Colts beat the Bears at the game Chicago hoped to play: smash-mouth running and ball control. Manning was a guide, not a do-it-all, and perhaps that was the difference in their becoming champions.

"It's just been a long time coming for us," defensive end Dwight Freeney said. "We've been through so much as a team, been so close so many times. We finally got a chance in the Super Bowl and we seized it."


So it was a good game considering the weather and such. Now we are just waiting for Zennie to return and Post about his visit to South beach.

A SB wings recepie from Food Network's Paula Deen

Buffalo Wings
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Show: Paula's Home Cooking
Episode: Fire House Pot Luck Dinner




Creamy Roquefort dip:
1/2 cup Roquefort cheese, crumbled
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
1/2 cup sour cream
12 chicken wings, disjointed
Oil, for frying
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup hot red pepper sauce
In a medium size bowl, cream the Roquefort and cream cheese until smooth. Mix in the remaining ingredients and blend well. Chill for 2 hours.
Using a fryer or a large pot, heat oil to 350 degrees F. Deep fry the wings until golden and crispy, approximately 10 minutes.
In a separate bowl, melt the butter, add the hot sauce and heat thoroughly. Immediately toss hot wings into sauce. Place wings on a platter and serve with creamy Roquefort dip.

NFLPA's Gene Upshaw Does a Little Dance.....

This is from Pro Football Weekly's Online edition......see my end comment

Upshaw defends NFLPA’s level of contribution to retired players’ pensions

By Eric Edholm, Dan Arkush and Mike Holbrook
Feb. 1, 2007


MIAMI — The NFL Players Association held its annual meeting at the Super Bowl to discuss a wide range of hot-button issues, including testing for human-growth hormones and other designer drugs, player conduct and the early returns on the first year of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. But the testiest exchange came at the end of the question-and-answer session over retired players’ benefits.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Brian Burwell finished the session by asking union president Gene Upshaw, sternly, “I am a little confused. You talked about the oldest players, and how, back when you were playing, you were told what doctors to go to and (that) a lot of times you didn’t know what your own diagnosis was. … In light of those kinds of those kind of working conditions that you and all of the older players that I have talked to dealt with, isn’t there any way, as this huge, enormous pie continues to grow, that you can find some extra money for them?”

Upshaw retorted by saying there is $60 million paid each year — money that comes directly from current players’ salaries — that benefits former players drawing pensions. “They’re the ones who put that money in. That’s where that money comes from,” Upshaw, a retired player, said. “We just spent $51 million this (past) year to improve the benefits for guys like me. And it’s not just this year. It goes all the way back (to 1993).”

There are nearly 9,000 former players who are eligible for benefits, but fewer than 200 get long-term benefits. Many NFL alumni have suffered serious medical problems after their careers have ended, a lot of whom have distanced themselves from the league they feel has left them behind. The NFLPA says a new $50-a-month increase in the new CBA should help matters.

The union also has concerns about current players. The talk of increased testing for performance-enhancing drugs is something that resonates from both the players’ union and the league, but Upshaw said he and new commissioner Roger Goodell differ on how the testing should take place. Upshaw said he wants to avoid having his players “getting stuck in the arm with a needle every five minutes” and that there is no effective, reliable testing method for HGH and EPO, one of the newest banned substances to be added to the league’s list.

So Mr Upshaw still comes off to most people as someone who works hard for players rights, and he does, for current players.
50 Bux a Month?? That's Not much.....tell that to Herb Adderly who gets $126.50 a month. I know One of the last things Paul Tags did as commish was the #88 rule named after John Mackey, to help those players who have suffered TBI from their playing days. It just might be too little too late......