On The Friday before Super Bowl XVL, six people were injured, by ice that fell from the Cowboys Stadium roof in Arlington, Texas, according to The Associated Press. The Dallas News reports that one photographer, Win McMamee of Getty Images, thought he was "going to die here."
And a local Dallas TV station has a video featuring a dramatic shot of ice and snow as it was falling from the Cowboys Stadium roof. It's a scene topped in scale only by the that seen by millions when the Metrodome Roof collapsed in November of last year.
Here's the video:
In the video, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said the Dallas officials were caught off-guard and didn't plan for the weather. That comment and this incident may put the unfortunate kabosh on any future Super Bowls in The Dallas Ft. Worth area.
The photo of the stadium and its surroundings covered by snow and ice, and that video, as well as this accident and other problems, will not be forgotten.
Given the fact that Texas weather is "tricky" and has produced outcomes like this, but not this bad, in the past, the Host Committee should have had a plan for this in place long ago. Now, sadly, this is starting to look like Super Bowl Atlanta 2000 all over again. D-FW deserves better.
Stay tuned.
Friday, February 04, 2011
Super Bowl XLV - Accident At Cowboys Stadium
Super Bowl XLII NY Giants Greatest Drive In Super Bowl History
It's not often one get the chance to witness history in the making but the third-deck 50-yard line seat at Super Bowl XLII, NY Giants vs. New England Patriots in Glendale, Arizona, presented just that. Why do I call this final drive by the Giants to win "The Greatest Drive In Super Bowl History"?
For several reasons.
First, the New England Patriots were on a roll and would have posted the first undefeated season in NFL History since the 1972 Miami Dolphins. And some of their players were reportedly in the stadium to witness the expected hand-off of greatness.
Second, most, especially New England Patriots fans, expected New York Giants Quarterback Eli Manning to screw up. It seems Eli, the younger brother of Indianapolis Colts Quarterback Peyton Manning, could not get out of his brothers skyscraper-high shadow. Plus, few gave him credit for the Giants march to Super Bowl XLII, pointing to the G-Men's defense and running game, more than anything Manning did. Eli was a bit-player, rather than the star.
Third, while the Patriots arguably fooled around with the implementation of an arrogant deep passing game, all but forgetting the short passing game that got them that far, many in the stadium expected the Pats defense to save the day. The crowd around me - about 70 percent Pats fans - were making fun of Manning almost exclusively, chanting "Eli! Eli!" and expressing faith in their vaunted defense.
For a while, it looked like they were right.
The Giants were moving toward mid-field, and picking up a key 4th and 1 conversion on the Giants 38 yard line, but they seemed to be flirting with disaster rather than getting a big play. That changed when, on 3rd down and six yards to go, Manning, seemingly about to be sacked by Defensive End / Linebacker Adalius Thomas, somehow spun away, then rolled to his right, set his feet, and fired a pass toward the deep middle, and to since-retired wide receiver David Tyree.
Tyree, in making a catch that's now part of history, and partially explains why he retired (how can you top that?), held the ball against his helmet as Patriots Safety Rodney Harrison brought him down.
Many call that catch the greatest in Super Bowl History. I agree and I was there to see it.
Obviously.
When the Giants set up shop at the New England Patriots 24 Yard Line, you could actually feel they were about to score, and that feeling was helped by Offensive Coordinator Kevin Glibride's strategy of using his backs in underneath patterns, while the Giants receivers ran deep.
But the difference was the Pats Defense.
On the pass to the running back, the Giants were in what's called "Trips Right," which is three receivers to the right, the running back closest in to the quarterback. On the opposite side was the wide receiver, Buress. But Plaxico was double covered by the cornerback and the safety, who moved to cover him, causing Manning to throw to the back (in the photo on the left).
Buress took a quick slant-in move, then broke to the corner of the end-zone. Manning spotted him, really before the snap, and threw. The touchdown catch ended the greatest drive in Super Bowl history: 12 plays and 83 yards. And a performance that gave Manning the MVP award.
As you can see in the video, the Pats fans around me were stunned, and I went nuts. I could barely hold my camcorder!
And while the Pats did have time to possibly score, it didn't happen.
The Best Of The NFL
This represents the best of the National Football League, and I thank the NFL for allowing me to present it to you here. This is what The Super Bowl is all about: people doing things you didn't expect them to do on a giant stage.
Bring on Super Bowl XLV!
Paladinette to 99er Nation: "I feel a Boner coming on"
In the latest episode of Jobless Talk, Paladinette ripped weeper of the House Boehner but good, stating through sniffles: "I feel a Boner coming on" - a joke she repeated in this weeks Jobless Talk Rant (seen below).Actually she/I was attempting to appease the conservative listeners of the show who:
The rant continues with a rather thought-provoking take on why the government is lying about the magical drop in the National UE rate (to the incredulous 9%) when less than 40K jobs were created last month. FEAR!"... may have been offended by my radio show Jobless Talk last week – I apologize as I mean no disrespect to your views and honestly believe unemployment and the 99ers suffering is NOT a partisan issue.
Just so you know, I do not only BASH conservatives or Republicans - I AM an EQUAL OPPORTUNITY BASHER."
Paladinette went on to say: "I try to entertain, inspire and inform with my shows. It is nothing personal and look at it like the liberals view Stephen Colbert. We know he is an act – a put-on that HE really just tries to make us laugh. We need much laughter in the 99er Nation today and I am sorry if I offended any of you who clearly have not yet evolved to the stage where humor is universal.
..... So stop being so sensitive ... And if that does not work for you and you still feel the uncontrollable URGE to dictate what gets said on a radio show - MAY I suggest you get off your lazy hyper-critical butts and begin your own show... catering to the stuffy humorless conservatives that cannot stomach my show cuz it hurts their feelings. WHAAAA"
"With what is happening now all over the world and most recently in Egypt - I believe it is no accident that the DOL thought it prudent to lie about the UE rate now, as I feel our Government is more than just a bit scared that this Egypt type of uprising might happen here in the USA!"
"Be afraid Washington DC --- BE VERY AFRAID!! You have worked ever so hard to earn it..."
The RANT continues with discussion on the so-called Internet 'kill switch' bill that was approved by the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee back in December and recently resubmitted by Republican Senator Susan Collins.
[The donation button below is for Paladinette. If you like what I write please donate so I can keep on fighting for the 99ers! Thank You!]
Kenneth Cole Cairo Egypt Twitter Tweet Was No Mistake
Kenneth Cole the famous shoe manufacturer and retailer, had nothing better to do it would seem, so he decided to issue a provocative Twitter tweet, drawing in the Cairo, Egypt protests, to help move his product. This one:
Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at http://bit.ly/KCairo-KC.
And while that URL now leads to a page that doesn't exist, and Kenneth Cole deleted the tweet, the "damage" was done, and to Cole.
Or was it?
Kenneth Cole issued this apology on Facebook:
I apologize to everyone who was offended by my insensitive tweet about the situation in Egypt. I’ve dedicated my life to raising awareness about serious social issues, and in hindsight my attempt at humor regarding a nation liberating themselves against oppression was poorly timed and absolutely inappropriate.
Kenneth Cole, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer
But that didn't stop others from unloading on him on the same page:
Cristian Reatti
You are an asshole! No excuses
on Thursday · Report
Alex Fellas Khater
insensitive
on Thursday · Report
Daniel Machock
bastar-d
on Thursday · Report
Bruce Willke Sr.
I still cant get over how you could even think of making jokes about Egypt/Cairo when people are dying in the streets.
on Thursday · Report
And that's why Kenneth Cole didn't make a mistake. I think he knew his action wasn't going to be well-received, but went ahead and did it because he knows it's a common action today.
In other words a marketer will take an action that's less than kosher to get attention, which satisfies the first level of reach, then apologize for that action, which draws more attention, and then ride off the talk that's generated from the entire episode.
That's what Kenneth Cole's going through. Overall, he's still got a good name and the Internet flamers who jump on him will, in some cases, make themselves look so bad it actually helps Cole.
Meanwhile, Cole was just doing the kind of "hashtag piggybacking" (a term I created) that's common on Twitter.
Hashtag Piggybacking is where a person uses a Twitter hashtag intended to bring attention to one thing as a tool to bring attention to something of their own design. Here's an example using two hashtags that are top Twitter Trend Topics as of this writing: #scariestwordsever and #statefarmwasntthere.
Now the idea is for you to take the hashtag and add some snappy words to it to cause a cool new tweet. But what I did was use it to bring attention to my video-blog on Kenneth Cole's actions.
#scariestwordsever Zennie62 is talking about you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNHG8Hi4Ypw because #statefarmwasntthere
See?
It's a sure thing Cole, or one of his associates, noticed this and decided to try it around the Egypt situation, perhaps thinking there would be a negative backlash but nothing that would really hurt his brand. So, he did it.
What followed was a lot of buzz for his brand and for a certain SOMA store, and 400 new Twitter followers in one day. The angry Internet people? That will pass. Cole's not going to do that again, and he knows it.
Not bad.
American Heart Association: Wear Red Day
The Go Red For Women campaign was created by the American Heart Association in 2004. Today, February 4, 2011 is the annual "wear red" day.
The campaign's mission is to help fight heart disease in women. National Wear Red Day is nationally sponsored by Macy's and Merck.
The donations toward Go Red For Women go toward funding the efforts for breakthrough research and more education of the disease. The site includes testimonials from celebrities such as Jennie Garth and Betty White.
The "going red" campaign is similar to "going green," and since its launch in 2004 has made a huge impact in locations such as Niagara Falls, Empire State Building, Seattle and more. This movement is for companies and individuals alike.
Many will wear red today in hopes to draw attention to heart health for women.
Dallas-Ft Worth Super Bowl Gets Snow, Many Hotel Rooms Available
The Dallas Super Bowl organization officially called "The Super Bowl XLV North Texas Host Committee" issued a post on its website that reports:
This is the first time in Super Bowl History that a host committee issued a message explaining that even major hotels had rooms and that you didn't have to buy one for four nights - the common minimum Super Bowl stay requirement (get there Thursday, leave Monday). That's due, for the most part, to the unexpected severe weather conditions. In other words, the ice storm followed by the snow that started falling overnight and hasn't stopped since.
Detroit was snowing like this for the 2006 Super Bowl, but folks there were used to it and Steelers fans didn't care - hotels were hard to come by. And a Steelers fan said "Detroit's just up the road from us," meaning it was no problem to get there by car and not plane.
I stayed in Warren, Michigan, about 20 miles out, and drove in for the game and the parties. I thought it was going to be awful; man, I had a blast! But that was because snow was and is part of the deal for them, and for Indy too, where the 2012 Super Bowl will be.
This is different.
Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones has to wonder if God's got something on him, because not only was the snow not supposed to be part of the deal, last year's NBA All-Star Game had bad weather too.
But not this bad. This is the worst weather for this time anyone's seen in over 15 years. It also completely obliterates the forecast of 50 degree weather over the weekend, and points more to a Super Bowl played with the snow and cold outside.
Moreover, Twitter tweets under the NFL-created hashtag #sb45 mostly concern the snow:
You get the idea.
The snow is everywhere in the D/FW Metroplex. The photo above was taken in FT. Worth just 20 minutes ago. And now on The Dan Patrick Show on DirecTV Channel 101 you can see know falling outside the window of the set. (For some reason they elected to do the show at a make-shift set outside The Super Bowl Media Center.)
Plus, a number of flights into Dallas - Ft. Worth airport have been cancelled, impacting Super Bowl events. One Atlanta Falcons player - I'll nail down his ID for the next blog post - missed a radio show because his flight from Atlanta to Dallas was nixed due to the weather.
I can't help but wonder how many people bought Super Bowl tickets, yet can't get to Dallas. Yikes.
ROOMS STILL AVAILABLE
Most major hotels throughout the region still have availability for Super Bowl XLV...National Football League (NFL) fans in Chicago, Green Bay, New York and Pittsburgh take note: it’s not too late to book hotel rooms for Super Bowl XLV in North Texas. Major hotel brands such as Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Sheraton and Westin, just to name a few, still have rooms available at affordable prices. Rates start as low as $79 per night, with some hotel properties not requiring a minimum night stay.
This is the first time in Super Bowl History that a host committee issued a message explaining that even major hotels had rooms and that you didn't have to buy one for four nights - the common minimum Super Bowl stay requirement (get there Thursday, leave Monday). That's due, for the most part, to the unexpected severe weather conditions. In other words, the ice storm followed by the snow that started falling overnight and hasn't stopped since.
Detroit was snowing like this for the 2006 Super Bowl, but folks there were used to it and Steelers fans didn't care - hotels were hard to come by. And a Steelers fan said "Detroit's just up the road from us," meaning it was no problem to get there by car and not plane.
I stayed in Warren, Michigan, about 20 miles out, and drove in for the game and the parties. I thought it was going to be awful; man, I had a blast! But that was because snow was and is part of the deal for them, and for Indy too, where the 2012 Super Bowl will be.
This is different.
Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones has to wonder if God's got something on him, because not only was the snow not supposed to be part of the deal, last year's NBA All-Star Game had bad weather too.
But not this bad. This is the worst weather for this time anyone's seen in over 15 years. It also completely obliterates the forecast of 50 degree weather over the weekend, and points more to a Super Bowl played with the snow and cold outside.
Moreover, Twitter tweets under the NFL-created hashtag #sb45 mostly concern the snow:
HeyDivaD Hey, DivaD
Good Morning, Dallas! #nastytexasweather #sb45 http://plixi.com/p/74724865
cbarta carolyn barta
Should Dallas get out of big events biz? Bookend to icy #SB45: GOP Natl Conv in 1984. Temps hit 110, heat was miserable. We're snakebit.
MsPartyGirl Molly B
Dear Lord please make it stop snowing in Dallas....this sux....xoxo....#SB45
You get the idea.
The snow is everywhere in the D/FW Metroplex. The photo above was taken in FT. Worth just 20 minutes ago. And now on The Dan Patrick Show on DirecTV Channel 101 you can see know falling outside the window of the set. (For some reason they elected to do the show at a make-shift set outside The Super Bowl Media Center.)
Plus, a number of flights into Dallas - Ft. Worth airport have been cancelled, impacting Super Bowl events. One Atlanta Falcons player - I'll nail down his ID for the next blog post - missed a radio show because his flight from Atlanta to Dallas was nixed due to the weather.
I can't help but wonder how many people bought Super Bowl tickets, yet can't get to Dallas. Yikes.
Thursday, February 03, 2011
The Daily For The Apple iPad - Rupert Murdoch, Steve Jobs' Media Risk
The Daily,the long-awaited iPad-only news publication that's the result of a team-up between Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation, was released on Wednesday. The representatives of The Daily were kind enough to ask this blogger for a review, thus this vlog and post.
I want to be excited about The Daily, and for the most part, I am. But let me get my issues with it out of the way, up front. The first problem is it has three barriers to success, which are also economic barriers to entry: you need an iPad to use it, there's a $39 cost for the news after a 14-day period, and you have to want the content they're presenting. Those are rather significant blocks to over come.
The other problem reared its head when I saw the staff makeup: it's almost all white male. In an era where Americans, who are the most likely to consume this product to some degree, prize diversity as a sign that you're cool, hip, and intelligent, the makeup is not the way to go.
But with all of those shortcomings, The Daily is still an exciting development just because it's the first of its kind. The content is fresh, and the videos on subjects like The Super Bowl have celebrities like Kathy Griffin offering a hilarious perspective.
The other attraction, which I can't comment on beyond the video below because I don't have an iPad (I avoided purchasing one at first out of protest against its subpar video-blogging usefulness) is the user interface. It's designed to work as if you were flipping through the pages of a magazine. Moreover, it has access to apps and games.
In short, The Daily is packed with features.
But so is the Wired iPad app, and with a download price of just $5, it was considered too expensive by Jay Yarow at Business Insider at SFGate.com.
And how's the Wired app doing? Well, after a promising start, not so well. Sales dropped from 100,000 in June to 31,000 in August. And by December came the news that people just were not buying iPad magazine apps.
Into this comes The Daily. I think Jobs and Murdoch should have created an iPad app portal for existing blogs - a cross between Technorati and The Daily, with a chance for bloggers to earn revenue if a post is featured.
But for now we have The Daily in its present form. Let's see what happens.
Levi's "Social Media Girl" Effort Degrades Social Media
This blog post isn't about who does this correctly, because as long as companies continue to refer to Twitter as a social network, and compare Facebook to Google, when they have different roles online, finding great examples of social broadcasting done well will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
What Levi's is trying to do is find what marketers call a "brand manager." But the implication is that the company itself, from the CEO on down, doesn't get social media at all. Indeed, the one person who should be out in front on this is Levi's CEO John Anderson, but he doesn't even have a Twitter account as of this writing.
Mr. Anderson's shirking his duties. The overall message must come from the person in charge; if Anderson's not using social media platforms, or having Levi's make its own, then it's not going to know how to values its own efforts.
(Indeed, this "handing off" of social media efforts to one person or some intern was widely complained about and by digital media experts like Cheryl Goodman and Russell Reeder at CES 2011 Las Vegas. Check out this video:
)
My research reveals a Levi's that just plain doesn't know what it's doing when it comes to social media and social broadcasting. For example, it's most successful effort in this area, the iSpy program, was recognized by Digital Buzz Blog in 2009, and had this video as part of its campaign case study:
But guess what? The iSpy Twitter Campaign, a real work game where you use clues to find people, brand ambassadors, wearing Levis, and if you went up and asked them if they had Levis pants on and were correct, got their pair, was launched not in the United States, but in Australia and New Zealand!
That's it!
Meanwhile, Levi's has does not have a name that's consistently used between its Facebook, Twitter, and other online platforms, and no blog at all. Thus, there's no place for Levi's CEO to get out a consistent brand message.
That's his job, not that one "Social Media Girl." And the problem is that because Levi's leaves its social media efforts to a few people, rather than it being part of its culture's DNA, the remnants of its failure are all over the Internet: page after underused page on platforms showing what Levi's tried to do at one point or another.
It all ads up to one big fail. An already big fail the jeans brand is about to continue in it's search for a Levi's Social Media Girl.
In fact, to show how bad this all is, Levi's reps have the messaging "We're looking for the next Levi's Girl," right?
So you'd figure they'd buy the URL LevisGirl.com, which they did. But they're not using it, didn't buy anything else as of this writing, and totally missed levissocialmediagirl.com.
I didn't, I got it while making this post. I'm going to use it by Friday and in a way that will be more effective than what the jeans brand would have done.
That's bad. Levi's job is to mark its online territory.
Levi's effort degrades social media and digital media as a whole. It's the CEO who should be doing this, and calling his culture to do the same, not one woman.
Er,"girl."
Meanwhile, watch this space via levissocialmediagirl.com.
Super Bowl 2011 - Dallas Roads Covered In Ice
Yep. The Dallas Super Bowl 2011's officially impacted by ice. This photo was taken three hours ago and uploaded to Flickr. It shows a road in Dallas that's covered in ice, and it's not the only photo of its kind. Here's the comment:
3 days after the ice storm, little is cleaned off. Rumor has it that salting/sanding trucks have been diverted to the Super Bowl area.
As I blogged before, the Dallas / Arlington / Ft. Worth Super Bowl will be judged by how the NFL Commissioner's Party goes. If they can get the attendee out of their without massive delays or mishaps, then the Super Bowl week will go well for the Dallas planners and the The North Texas Super Bowl Bid Committee. If not, well, you'll hear about it.
Here is my ranking of the best and worst Super Bowl host cities: link.
Super Bowl XVL Dallas Weather: Ranking Super Bowl Host Cities Since 2000
As one who's headed a Super Bowl Host City Bid Effort, as I did for Oakland from 1999 to 2001 and against Miami and Jacksonville for the 2005 game, one issue is always the weather as a sell point - or not.
Bad weather can turn off the NFL from returning to a city, and a spread-out Super Bowl plan combined with it, can make prospects worse.
If you're representing Oakland and The San Francisco Bay Area, the worst factor you have to deal with is rain. But in cities like Atlanta and now Dallas, the worst issue is the cold; it may or may not be a factor. In Dallas, like Atlanta in 2000 for Super Bowl XXXIV, the cold came up big.
I was in Atlanta for my first Super Bowl game, and have been to San Diego (2003), Houston (2004), Detroit (2006), Miami (2007), Arizona (2009), and Miami again in 2010.
The Atlanta Super Bowl XXXIV Host Committee expected 72 degree weather, outdoors, as well as indoors where the Georgia Dome provided an excellent venue for the game. But that didn't happen. A massive ice and snow storm made getting around Atlanta an ordeal, and it got worse, not better, on Friday, the day of the NFL Commissioner's Party that night.
Getting to the Commissioner's Party, what the NFL calls its "Friday Night Party" wasn't too much of a problem by cab. But while we were eating foods from four different themed areas, enjoying Cirque Du Soleil-like entertainment, and socializing, the weather was taking a turn for the ice.
By the time the Commissioner's Party was over, sheets of rain were pouring down and mixing with the already freezing cold, making road navigation tricky. We happened to be standing next to several NFL Owners and their families; you knew from the chatter and choice words that the NFL would not be coming back to Atlanta for a while; it took three hours for transportation to arrive to get us out of there.
With that memory fresh, I put together this list, ranking Super Bowl Host Cities from worst weather to best, and using my notes and emails from friends who went to the Super Bowls in New Orleans (2001), Tampa (2002) and (2008), and the city Oakland lost to for Super Bowl XXXIV, Jacksonville (2005).
1. Dallas. This is not just because it's cold and freezing, but, unlike the Atlanta Super Bowl in 2000, events are way spread out. Cowboys Stadium is 15 miles away in Arlington, Texas, and many NFL-sanctioned events are in other cities like FT. Worth, 30 miles away. I still can't get over the sight of ESPN's Mike and Mike show coming from a set in Ft. Worth so cold the hosts were blowing steam. (Why were they in Ft. Worth and not the warmth of the Dallas Convention Center, where Media Row is, is beyond me.)
2. Atlanta in 2000. Unlike Dallas, you could walk from The Ritz Carlton to The Georgia Dome for the game, as my friend Phil Tagami and I did on game day morning, first going to The NFL Tailgate Party at the convention center, then walking over to the Georgia Dome for the game. What Atlanta needs is not a brand new outdoor stadium but an upgraded Georgia Dome. The NFL should push for that, rather than an outdoor complex in a suburban location, as some rumors have it.
3. Detroit in 2006. Detroit was cold with snow, but not as freezing cold as in Atlanta and Dallas. Plus, it was a "compact" host plan, with about 80 percent of the events within Downtown Detroit and walkable (I rented a car). The best event? ESPN taking over five stories of a building and subdividing it with parties on different floors, including the Leigh Steinberg Party. On game day you could walk from the NFL Headquarters Hotel at Ren Cen to Ford Field. The whole experience was a blast, even the long security line outside before hand. Props to D-Town for doing it big in the snow.
4. Houston in 2004. Houston was cold, but not snowy, so that wasn't a big deal. And considering that it too was spread out, not so bad overall and the Super Bowl itself was a blast, and even had a wardrobe malfuction. But the problem was the conflict between placing events in Downtown Houston and the other places that had stuff going on. You needed a car to get around, and could easily get lost if you didn't know your way.
5. Jacksonville in 2005. Jacksonville had rain, cold, and a spread-out Super Bowl plan without mass transit. (The Bay Area would have been better, but...) Like other Super Bowls, the planners tried to concentrate a lot of event stuff downtown, and even used cruise ships as hotels, which didn't go over well with my friends who went.
6. New Orleans in 2001. I'm told by my friend I've gone to all of these with, that New Orleans wasn't bad at all weather-wise. Plus, the Superdome was adjacent to many event venues and the convention center, so you didn't have to go a long way at all. Nice.
7. Tampa in 2002 and 2007. I missed these, but emails have it to be a nice Florida experience with a good Super Bowl events plan and not too spread out considering the weather. Still, it's no Miami. And another city and metro area did well...
8. Arizona in 2009. Spread out, yes, but the great weather and cities that are in kind of a quad setting between Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, and Tucson, made it fun. And there are few places more fun than Scottsdale for a Super Bowl. The one major issue was getting to the game and out of it: dust storms. I remember running into MC Hammer in the parking lot after the game at the stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and barely being able to see him because of the giant clouds of sand that were blowing around. It was awful. Other than that, the experience was a blast, and Leigh Steinberg threw a kick-ass party.
9. San Diego in 2003. For me this was the second hottest Super Bowl other than Miami. Weather wasn't an issue but an asset. You could get to the game via trolley. And many Super Bowl events were in San Diego's awesome Gaslamp District or at The Convention Center across the street. The only issue I had was the Raiders got creamed by the Bucs.
10 and 11. Miami in 2006 and 2010. Miami's the best place for the Super Bowl, and provides the right combination of weather, concentration of venues and event along South Beach, hotels, and parties. Going to the Super Bowl there is like being in a dream factory with beautiful venues and people. Awesome.
There was just one issue: the rainstorm that hit on game day in 2006 and left us soaked! Other than that, man. Here's a video from The Playboy Party in Miami in 2006:
Well, the fact is that, regardless of the weather, the fun comes in what you make of the experience. With all of the weather problems, Dallas future Super Bowl prospects will hinge on how the NFL Commissioner's Party goes. If the NFL Owners can get in and out with ease, and have a great time while there, it makes all the other problems that much smaller.
Stay tuned.
Bad weather can turn off the NFL from returning to a city, and a spread-out Super Bowl plan combined with it, can make prospects worse.
If you're representing Oakland and The San Francisco Bay Area, the worst factor you have to deal with is rain. But in cities like Atlanta and now Dallas, the worst issue is the cold; it may or may not be a factor. In Dallas, like Atlanta in 2000 for Super Bowl XXXIV, the cold came up big.
I was in Atlanta for my first Super Bowl game, and have been to San Diego (2003), Houston (2004), Detroit (2006), Miami (2007), Arizona (2009), and Miami again in 2010.
The Atlanta Super Bowl XXXIV Host Committee expected 72 degree weather, outdoors, as well as indoors where the Georgia Dome provided an excellent venue for the game. But that didn't happen. A massive ice and snow storm made getting around Atlanta an ordeal, and it got worse, not better, on Friday, the day of the NFL Commissioner's Party that night.
Getting to the Commissioner's Party, what the NFL calls its "Friday Night Party" wasn't too much of a problem by cab. But while we were eating foods from four different themed areas, enjoying Cirque Du Soleil-like entertainment, and socializing, the weather was taking a turn for the ice.
By the time the Commissioner's Party was over, sheets of rain were pouring down and mixing with the already freezing cold, making road navigation tricky. We happened to be standing next to several NFL Owners and their families; you knew from the chatter and choice words that the NFL would not be coming back to Atlanta for a while; it took three hours for transportation to arrive to get us out of there.
With that memory fresh, I put together this list, ranking Super Bowl Host Cities from worst weather to best, and using my notes and emails from friends who went to the Super Bowls in New Orleans (2001), Tampa (2002) and (2008), and the city Oakland lost to for Super Bowl XXXIV, Jacksonville (2005).
1. Dallas. This is not just because it's cold and freezing, but, unlike the Atlanta Super Bowl in 2000, events are way spread out. Cowboys Stadium is 15 miles away in Arlington, Texas, and many NFL-sanctioned events are in other cities like FT. Worth, 30 miles away. I still can't get over the sight of ESPN's Mike and Mike show coming from a set in Ft. Worth so cold the hosts were blowing steam. (Why were they in Ft. Worth and not the warmth of the Dallas Convention Center, where Media Row is, is beyond me.)
2. Atlanta in 2000. Unlike Dallas, you could walk from The Ritz Carlton to The Georgia Dome for the game, as my friend Phil Tagami and I did on game day morning, first going to The NFL Tailgate Party at the convention center, then walking over to the Georgia Dome for the game. What Atlanta needs is not a brand new outdoor stadium but an upgraded Georgia Dome. The NFL should push for that, rather than an outdoor complex in a suburban location, as some rumors have it.
3. Detroit in 2006. Detroit was cold with snow, but not as freezing cold as in Atlanta and Dallas. Plus, it was a "compact" host plan, with about 80 percent of the events within Downtown Detroit and walkable (I rented a car). The best event? ESPN taking over five stories of a building and subdividing it with parties on different floors, including the Leigh Steinberg Party. On game day you could walk from the NFL Headquarters Hotel at Ren Cen to Ford Field. The whole experience was a blast, even the long security line outside before hand. Props to D-Town for doing it big in the snow.
4. Houston in 2004. Houston was cold, but not snowy, so that wasn't a big deal. And considering that it too was spread out, not so bad overall and the Super Bowl itself was a blast, and even had a wardrobe malfuction. But the problem was the conflict between placing events in Downtown Houston and the other places that had stuff going on. You needed a car to get around, and could easily get lost if you didn't know your way.
5. Jacksonville in 2005. Jacksonville had rain, cold, and a spread-out Super Bowl plan without mass transit. (The Bay Area would have been better, but...) Like other Super Bowls, the planners tried to concentrate a lot of event stuff downtown, and even used cruise ships as hotels, which didn't go over well with my friends who went.
6. New Orleans in 2001. I'm told by my friend I've gone to all of these with, that New Orleans wasn't bad at all weather-wise. Plus, the Superdome was adjacent to many event venues and the convention center, so you didn't have to go a long way at all. Nice.
7. Tampa in 2002 and 2007. I missed these, but emails have it to be a nice Florida experience with a good Super Bowl events plan and not too spread out considering the weather. Still, it's no Miami. And another city and metro area did well...
8. Arizona in 2009. Spread out, yes, but the great weather and cities that are in kind of a quad setting between Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, and Tucson, made it fun. And there are few places more fun than Scottsdale for a Super Bowl. The one major issue was getting to the game and out of it: dust storms. I remember running into MC Hammer in the parking lot after the game at the stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and barely being able to see him because of the giant clouds of sand that were blowing around. It was awful. Other than that, the experience was a blast, and Leigh Steinberg threw a kick-ass party.
9. San Diego in 2003. For me this was the second hottest Super Bowl other than Miami. Weather wasn't an issue but an asset. You could get to the game via trolley. And many Super Bowl events were in San Diego's awesome Gaslamp District or at The Convention Center across the street. The only issue I had was the Raiders got creamed by the Bucs.
10 and 11. Miami in 2006 and 2010. Miami's the best place for the Super Bowl, and provides the right combination of weather, concentration of venues and event along South Beach, hotels, and parties. Going to the Super Bowl there is like being in a dream factory with beautiful venues and people. Awesome.
There was just one issue: the rainstorm that hit on game day in 2006 and left us soaked! Other than that, man. Here's a video from The Playboy Party in Miami in 2006:
Well, the fact is that, regardless of the weather, the fun comes in what you make of the experience. With all of the weather problems, Dallas future Super Bowl prospects will hinge on how the NFL Commissioner's Party goes. If the NFL Owners can get in and out with ease, and have a great time while there, it makes all the other problems that much smaller.
Stay tuned.
Nikky's 30 Day Detox with Debby K -Day 3
The purpose of this 30 day detox blog posts are to promote and report as a type of emersion journalism to see the results from my trainer and life coach Debby. It has been quite a struggle, reading e-mails over and over and miscommunication.
Making it clear that Debby is not forcing me to eat or not eat any food - she makes suggestions and tells me what foods are considered acceptable during the detox and what foods I should probably avoid. She does not pressure - the goals are made by the person doing the detox and Debby is just there to help guide the way. She is not going to be angry if the person eats a big hamburger, but she will remind that person that his or her goals are not being met by doing so.
In my next post I will include the foods that Debby recommends and doesn't recommend. Some of them I disagree with, but that's okay. As long as I follow it generally. Debby has said that the body takes around 20 days to stop craving the certain fats and sugars.
It is difficult in the society and environment that I am currently in to eat the healthiest things, but I make it happen. I am on day 3 and although it has been difficult here is what I have eaten. I am also going to be renewing my Planet Fitness membership and will include which exercises I have done.
Just because I list a food as something I ate - does not mean Debby recommended that I eat it. There are some items, like Odwalla drinks, that I bought just because I expected it would please Debby, come to find out - they are not on the detox list. The goal is to eat real foods, not processed.
The first few days are difficult without knowing what to eat. Debby is not asking me to starve myself, it will just take some getting used to.
Day 1- A cup of papaya and pineapple that I cut up
Some granola balls that my mother made
Water
Day 2- 1 piece of pepperoni pizza from Dominos
Nestea Ice Tea
2 Red Powerades
Day 3 (today, at 8:55 am)
In the school's dining commons
A few pieces of fruit (cantaloupe, orange, strawberry)
egg whites.
corn beef hash
ketchup
water
Debby will assess what I have eaten and give suggestions.
Stay tuned.
EDIT FROM DEBBY:
"HI Nikky, I just needed to clarify my title. I am NOT a Life Coach. I am a certified Health/Fitness specialist with the American College of Sports Medicine. I have also gone through the Wellness and Fitness coaching program with Wellcoach Corporation, which is endorsed by ACSM
I hope this clarifies this for those of you out there who actually are Life Coaches!
You can visit my blog at www.yourfitday.com to view my complete bio.
Make it Your Fit Day!
Debby"
Farmville Interruption Causes Baby's Death
Farmville is a game on Facebook where users are able to harvest crops, milk cows and basically be an online farmer minus the labor.
On Nancy Grace's CNN breaking crime news show last night, Wednesday, February 2, 2011, Grace reported and gave insider info about a 22-year-old woman who shook her baby to death for interrupting her as she played Farmville back in October 2010.
Grace includes clips from when the woman called 911. The woman claims that she shook the baby, had a cigarette and then shook the 14-month-old son to death.
This took place in Jacksonville, Florida. The Florida Times Union online reports that Alexandra Tobias has plead guilty to second degree murder back in October, but the story did not become popular with the news sources until last night when she was sentenced to up to life in prison.
The fact that a Facebook application could cause a mother to actually kill her child shows that there is definitely something wrong with society.
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