Green Bay Packers Beat Chicago Bears 21-14, Win NFC Championship

Congratulations to former Cal and now Green Bay Packers Quarterback Aaron Rogers and his team, along with Mike McCarthy, their head coach, for winning the 2011 NFC Championship Game, 21-14 at Soldiers Field in Chicago.

This blogger can't believe it; the game's full of "what ifs."

The Chicago Bears will certainly be thinking about them during the offseason. What if Bears Quarterback Jay Cutler connected with Wide Receiver Devin Hester and scored - twice during the 1st Quarter? What if the Bears Defensive Coaches prepared for the Packers "Pats Style" play action passing game? What if Mike Martz had his offensive system ready to adjust to the Packers' exotic blitzes?

A lot of what ifs for the Bears, which will be followed by a lot of "shoulds." Like, should the Bears keep Mike Martz? (Even with all of the errors, yes). And the Bears definitely must keep Head Coach Lovie Smith, as he made the right moves in turning what seemed to be a failed season into a winning one, one game from the Super Bowl.

A sad day for Chicago, and for this Chicago-born and raised blogger.

Meanwhile, the Green Bay Packers are headed to the Super Bowl in Dallas. They will play the winner of the upcoming New York Jets vs. Pittsburgh Steelers battle for the AFC Championship.

Green Bay Packers have 20-14 Lead vs. Chicago Bears, NFC Championship 2011

With 8:29 to go in the 2011 NFC Championship Game, the Green Bay Packers are clinging to a 14-7 lead. (No more, they just scored to make it 20-7 The Packers are ahead because of an offensive coaching move the Bears should have prepared for, but did not. And Jay Cutler's out of the game after hurting his knee.

The Packers Take A Pats Page

The Packers gained over 100 yards passing in the first half alone mostly on a play design popularized by the New England Patriots. It features an off-tackle run action with both the fullback and the halfback. The quarterback, in this case Aaron Rogers, moves over to the run action and fakes the handoff. But rather than drop back, he pulls up and throws to the split end running the deep drive (some call it deep slant) pattern. Because the linebackers are up biting on the run fake, and there's no safety in the way, the window to throw to the split end is open.

The way to stop that play is for the defense to use "bump-and-run" coverage and throw off the timing of the pass by jamming the receiver. The problem is the Bears use cover two zone or play single-high safety with eight-in-the-box and no bump-and-run. That leaves open the window the Packers Aaron Rogers exploited for big gains in the first half.

UPDATE. While the Bears got the ball back, they just coughed it up on an interception returned for a touchdown. It's now 20-7.

Can The Bears Come Back?

Now the question is can the Chicago Bears come back to even make a game of it? I'm really disappointed in Mike Martz' offensive game plan. It seems to forget the short pass, and has largely failed to pick up the Packers safety blitz packages. Part of the bad play is also due to Quarterback Jay Cutler, who missed Devon Hester for big gains three times in the first half.

Now, hold on, as this blog is written, the game changes fast. The Bears went on a fast drive to score, it's 20 to 14 and we've got a game again.

Wowsers!!

Kanye West - Flashing Lights: The Genius Of Kanye West

For all of his pop-culture missteps and interrupting of Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV VMAs, one thing is consistently overlooked: Kanye West is a musical genius.

Flashing Lights, West's modern classic about a relationship gone bad, is but one example.

Consider that while Flashing Lights was released November 16th, 2007, and as part of the album Gradulation, it's still one of the most-played nightclub songs in the World.

Indeed, it has been used for the Ciroc Vodka commercials, and in several video games. Pitchfork called it the "fifty-second best song of the entire decade." Pitchfork's Ryan Dombal wrote:

It's classic Kanye-- self-possessed, superfluously art-ridden, probably too clever by half. In Kanye's post-everything museum, da Vinci sidles up next to a bust of Julius; a Karen O-repping blog post follows one dedicated to 10-ft. tall "Chewing Gum Sculptures"; Parisian house mingles with stadium hip-hop. "But what do I know?" goes the hook, pop-pushing curiosity still intact

Flashing Lights is the result of a collaboration between Dwele with additional vocals provided by Connie Mitchell of Sneaky Sound System, an Australian electronic group. Mitchell said that while she had reservations about Hip-Hop, and had not known of West at the time, collaborating with him on Flashing Lights changed her mind about it.

Here are the lyrics:

Flashing lights, lights
Flashing lights, lights
Flashing lights, lights
Flashing lights, lights

[Kanye West]
She don't believe in shootin' stars,
but she believe in shoes & cars
Wood floors in the new apartment,
couture from the store's department
You more like L'eau de Stardee shit,
I'm more of the, trips to Florida
Order the h'orderves, views of the Water
Straight from the page of your favorite author
And the weather so breezy,
man why can't life always be this easy
She in the mirror dancing so sleazy,
I get a call like where are you Yeezy
Try to hit you with a 'Oeur de Whopee'
Till I get flashed by the paparazzi
Damn, these nigga's got me,
I hate these nigga's more than the Nazis


[Dwele]
As I recall, I know you love to show off
But I never thought that you would take it this far
What do I know? Flashing lights, lights
What do I know? Flashing lights, lights


[Kanye West]
I know it's been a while,
Sweetheart, we hard-ly talk, I was doing my thing
(From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/k/kanye-west-lyrics/flashing-lights-lyrics.html)
I know I was foul bay-bay,
a-bay late-ly you been all on my brain,
And if somebody would've told me a month ago
Fronting though, yo I wouldn't wanna know
If somebody would've told me a year ago
it'd go, get this difficult
Feeling like Katrina with no fema
Like Martin with no Gina
Like a flight with no visa
First class with the seat back I still see ya
In my past, you on the other side of the glass
Of my memory's museum,
I'm just saying, Hey Mona Lisa,
come home you know you can't Rome without Caesar


[Dwele]
As I recall, I know you love to show off
But I never thought that you would take it this far
What do I know? Flashing lights, lights
What do I know? Flashing lights, lights


As you recall, you know I love to show off
But you never thought that I would take it this far
What do you know? Flashing lights, lights
What do you know? Flashing lights, lights


Flashing lights, lights
Flashing lights, lights


[Fade out]
Lights, lights, lights, lights...

AFC and NFC Championship 2011 - Steelers and Bears Will Win

On Sunday the AFC and NFC Championship 2011 are upon us. Save your brain, the Steelers and Bears will win. Why? Over the last 11 games, the home team has won 8 times. That's a 72.7 percent home field win rate advantage. Moreover, the Packers' win over the Atlanta Falcons came on the fast track over the dome that defines the Georgia Dome. The temperature? About 70 degrees.

The NFC Championship Game will be played outdoors at Soldiers Field in Chicago, and in temperatures that may be as low as 8 degrees. The elements will play a factor here and that wasn't the case in Atlanta for the Packers.

Additionally, the Chicago Bears know the Green Bay Packers and Lovie Smith, more than any other coach in 21st Century Bears history, understands the objective is always to beat the Packers. He said so when he was hired.

The other x-factor is Bears Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz. He saves his best work for championship games, and its been a long time since he's been with a team in this position. Look for Martz to bring in new formations to confuse the Packers and cause receivers to be wide open.

Pick the Bears to blow-out the Packers.

The home field advantage also applies to the Steelers versus the Jets. Moreover while the New York Jets defense is good, The Steelers have the NFL's number one ranked defense. The Jets Offense is going to have a hard time getting anything going in a game that means so much to a team playing as much for history as it is against the Jets.

If the Steelers win, they will hold the NFL record for Super Bowl appearances with nine.

Pick the Steelers.

Steelers vs. Bears in Super Bowl 45, with the Chicago Bears winning it all!

Animoto Pre-Crunchies Party, San Francisco, CA 2011 #Tech

The Crunchies, the annual Tech Community event hosted by Tech Crunch with Venture Beat and Gigaom got off to a rousing start for those invited to the Animoto Pre-Crunchies Party. The event, staged to present the online platform's new offices at 333 Kearny St. in San Francisco, was every bit the "go-go-era" happening.

The ultra-modern glass and utilitarian office provided the perfect backdrop for an audience so tech, hip, and sexy, with black the prevailing dress color, that it looked like the set for a stylish sci-fi movie. Yep, DJ included; this is the 21st Century. Moreover, Animoto is a 21st Century product.

Animoto is a platform that takes your uploaded photos and music and other media and turns them into high-quality videos. The video can, if you wish, be shared with YouTube, RealBird, or other platforms. Animoto has been on a fast growth path, with over 1 million visitors as of this writing, and gained 750,000 sign-ups in just three days via its Facebook app. This blogger is a registered user of Animoto, and was before this blog post and the interview with Brad Jefferson, its CEO.

Back To The Animoto Party

The party was well-attended, with about half of the revelers going to The Crunchies, and the other half, not. Some familiar friends to this blogger were there, like Sylvia Paul, the East Bay PR specialist Fast Company calls a "Silicon Valley Public Relations Icon", and who's known for her lunches connecting brilliant and interesting people and sometimes just plain good-old folks.

Andrew Mager was there, and someone known to this space since 2007, when Owen Thomas, then the Editor of ValleyWag, had his Friday cocktail gatherings at Moose's. Now, Mager's with SimpleGeo, a platform that allows you to make location-based apps.

There was an abundance of four things: pulsating music, conversation, food, and drink. Add to that the eye-candy (for girls too, I hope, but some of the guys, new to this kind of party said they were actually surprised the women looked so good! Seriously.)

Around 6:30, Jefferson announced that those going to The Crunchies should leave to board one of two complementary busses headed to the event at The Palace of Fine Arts.   Cool.

Now, I expected a standard large "airport bus" style vehicle with all seats facing forward.

Hell no.

What we got was a bus that was a giant limo, with all seats, save the ones in back, facing sideways, and a stripper poll at the center.  And if you think I'm kidding, look at the video.  You'll see it.

We were allowed to bring our drinks on the bus and Animoto provided more buckets of bottles of beer for the riders.  The drink, the rocking bus, the company, the pole, and the sideways passenger positioning, and one man's claim that a woman on the bus invented the Internet, made for an interesting trip to the The Crunchies.

Thankfully, I know my cut-off point for cocktails, and I hit it on the bus.

Besides, I had to do some live blogging.

CNN Should Get Keith Olbermann Now Before Fox News Does

If CNN has any hunger for success, any backbone or spine, and any interest in gaining ratings, the Cable News Network would grab Keith Olbermann and sign him to a contract today. To say that MSNBC will be hurt by Keith's ouster is an understatement.

MSNBC has nothing else to offer to even half-way challenge Fox News in the prime time show segment areas. Keith grew into the MSNBC theme park attraction; the Cinderella's Castle around which all other shows were connected to like the spokes in a wheel.

Now, the hub is gone.

MSNBC President Phil Griffin's famous ego battles with Keith prove once again that ego is first the friend, then the enemy, of success. If Griffin wants to prove he's a capable manager of top-notch talent, he has to find a new way of dealing with people who have large egos. Keith's a diva - deal with it. It's worth it.

CNN needs Keith Olbermann. It's prime time show program ratings are terrible. Parker / Spitzer still hasn't taken off. Piers Morgan's not going to catch on any time soon unless he tweaks his show, and Anderson Cooper 360 isn't the powerhouse it used to be.

CNN needs a spark, and Keith Olbermann, with his following of millions of people, can provide it.

More on the Keith Olbermann ouster here.

Keith Olbermann Leaves MSNBC

USA Today online is one of the many news sources reporting that Keith Olbermann has permanently left MSNBC:

"There were many occasions, particularly in the last 2 years, where all that surrounded the show — but never the show itself — was just too much for me," Olbermann said.


The 51-year-old had the MSNBC's highest rated evening anchor. The New York Times reports that in 2008 he signed a four-year contract extension that estimated to be $30 million.