Daily Loaf

Watch the CL Street Team snuggle, drink and “sausage” their way through the tailgating parties at Super Bowl XLIII.

More CL TV

You know the news stories about the Super Bowl feed in Tuscon, Arizona that got interrupted by 30 seconds worth of pay-per-view porn? I found some video that’s being touted as the alleged telecast; I have doubts about its authenticity as it cuts back in right as John Madden is saying “the right guy, in the right situation.” But who knows, maybe it is real; click here to see it at your own risk and judge for yourself. But beware — this is not safe content for work.

Have a better headline for this news bite? I want to hear about it.

Brian Ries recommended some sports-bar alternatives where the crowds wouldn’t be on Game Day, and he was right about the attendance. At the start of a Super Bowl that would turn out to be one of the best ever, Ybor City (hung over from the night before, perhaps) was very quiet. But if nothing much was happening yet in the bars themselves, the denizens of the bars were happy to talk to Creative Loafing’s camera.

Alton Isings of L’Olivier’s Restaurant (and Miami Modern) asks a key question:

More videos after the jump:

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On 1A of the St. Petersburg Times, sports columnist Gary Shelton trumpeted last night’s game as the greatest Super Bowl ever. It ranks high on my list, but I still have to give the overall nod to last year’s Giants/Patriots juggernaut. Admittedly, I liked the outcome of that game better than this one. I was surprised at how fervently I ended up rooting for the Cardinals, even though I’ve never been within a hundred miles of Phoenix. Something about them coming up short in their first chance for an NFL title since 1947 I found particularly poignant.

Larry Fitzgerald

For awhile, I thought the burgeoning recognition of otherworldly Cards receiver Larry Fitzgerald was going to flicker out like a spent candle. I’ve become a fan of his, and in the first half the Steelers bottled him up. But he busted out late with two touchdown catches and more than a hundred yards receiving. He would’ve been my MVP had the Cardinals won. Endorsements next?

Like the Springsteen halftime performance, I’ve been seeing raves about Jennifer Hudson’s rendition of the National Anthem. I thought it was too overheated and the tempo way too slow.

Was I the only one who thought the pregame on-field appearance of “Miracle on the Hudson” pilot Chesley B. Sullenberger III and his crew was inappropriate? Yeah, he did a heroic thing that shouldn’t be diminished, but his appearance came off like a blatant, out-of-left-field tug at the heartstrings.

Read the rest of this entry »

The New York Times‘ Stuart Elliott says the ads ranked with such disappointments as the movie “Australia” and errant airport birds. The Washington Post’s Tom Shales marveled at the expensive-looking production values. For a quick overview, check out Creative Loafing’s live blog of the game.

Watch the vids below and vote!

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“My gold hip replacement!”

More videos after the jump: Read the rest of this entry »

If that was lip-syncing, she’s an even better actress than I thought she was. But that was apparently the case, at least according to this passage from a HuffPo report (Minor is pre-game show producer Rickey Minor):

Although entertainers can perform live, Minor insisted that Hudson and Faith Hill, who sang “America the Beautiful” before the national anthem, use the tracks the NFL requires them to submit a week before the game.

But even that explanation’s unclear. What “tracks” does this statement refer to? Background tracks? Were some parts lip-synced, some not? Whatever. To quote a HuffPo commenter: “That Lady can flat out SANG!”

Judge for yourself, below the jump:
Read the rest of this entry »

One of the best.

One of the best Super Bowls ever. That’s two in a row.

Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Arizona Cardinals 23.

For a good portion of the game, it looked like it was going to be one of those ho-hum affairs, and order would be restored.

Instead, Kurt Warner and the Cardinals mounted a serious comeback in the fourth quarter, and made it a jump-out-your-seat contest.

I was at a friend’s house in Seminole, with maybe 25 folks, and almost everyone was pulling for Arizona. When Larry Fitzgerald caught a long touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter, it looked like another titanic Super Bowl upset was in the making. Instead, Ben Roesthlisberger led the Steelers on a drive that culminated in an acrobatic catch by Santonio Holmes to take the lead.

A lead that held. With 29 seconds left, Warner took the helm, and Arizona backers fantasized about Fitzgerald making another one of his leaping, circus catches in the end zone for a Cardinal win.

It was not to be.

Still, it ended up being a terrific game to watch, even though it was a bit heartbreaking to see the Cards, who haven’t won an NFL championship since 1947, come up short.

A close-up of Fitzgerald, wide-eyed, saying, “Oh no, oh no, oh no,” told the story.

The game had everything to excite watchers, including a 100-yard interception return at the end of the first half by Steelers’s linebacker James Harrison that proved to be a major swing.

The referees played a big part in the outcome, having to decide several replays, and throwing penalty flags at crucial times. But TV replays showed that they made the right calls, although it was curious that they didn’t review the last Cardinals play, in which it was ruled the Warner fumbled.

It appeared, at the very least, that the officials should’ve looked at the play to see if Warner was in his throwing motion, which would have resulted in an incomplete pass, and one more chance for Warner to heave a hail mary, possibly giving Fitzgerald one more chance.

Instead, the Steelers walked away with a record sixth Super Bowl trophy in a game that will be remembered fondly by football fans for decades to come.

Cards bettors were happy. The Steelers did not cover the 7-point spread.

10:15 Stay tuned as we live blog The Office. Just kidding. Goodnight, everybody!

10:12 After many years of snoozefests, we’ve had two great games in two years. This probably doesn’t top the Giants/Patriots, or does it?

10:10 Pittsburgh 27 – Arizona 23 – FINAL

Valiant comeback by Arizona, but in the end their defense could not hold.

10:08 Hail Mary, full of grace…

Omar Epps or Mike Tomlin. Can you tell the difference? Read the rest of this entry »

Sorry, ladies: Your Leather and Laces bash underwhelmed HuffPo.

Huffington Post is at its huffiest in this putdown of Tampa’s Super Bowl weekend parties — which, according to HuffPo, have been “a major bust.”  Why? According to Jenna Fryer, taxis were scarce, the A-listers were no-shows and — yes, Jenna, we have to agree this was lame — Frankie Delgado (who?) was a big draw. Read the whole story here.

Going to the game? Watching it (or ignoring it) at a party or a bar? Settling in with some nacho chips and a six-pack to watch it from your couch?

All good, and we can help.

First off, you can join us here to live-blog the big event. Root for the Steelers and trash-talk the Cardinals, or vice versa. Rate the commercials, review the half-time show, tell us what you’re doing instead of the Super Bowl. We want to hear from you, whether you’re in RayJay or your living room.

If you’re looking for a great game-watching spot, try one of the sports-bar alternatives described in this story by Brian Ries. And look for a Creative Loafing crew while you’re out; we’ll be roaming from L’Olivier in Ybor to Wine Exchange in Hyde Park Village to Partners in St. Pete — and…? Got any other recommendations for places to watch the game?

It’s Super Bowl eve, so we’re going with an all-SB edition of Do It Today:

The Good Life Experience The three-night bacchanal at The Venue culminates with tonight’s Diddy-hosted “Icons of the Good Life” event, which promises to be “an opulent night of glamour and extravagance.” Stars are sure to stud the joint, and with prices like these — $400/$700 — stars may be the only people who can afford it. Look for CL’s Eric Snider on the red carpet. The Venue, 2675 Ulmerton Road, St. Petersburg, Sat., Jan. 31, doors open 8 p.m., goodlifeexperience.com.

Diddy’s may be the most glamorous SB event, but you can catch come starpower (or at least some fur-power) at events today that are absolutely free.

DirecTV Celebrity Beach Bowl If the celebrity lineup for this free event pans out as promised, it might just outdo the star wattage of the Diddy party. The biggest names may be the coaches: Reggie Bush, Steve Young, Eli Manning and Warren Moon. But the players aren’t too shabby, either: DirecTV is touting a roster that includes Kevin Dillon, Christian Slater, Gossip Girl hotties Blake Lively and Penn Badgley,  Brothers & Sisters’ Dave Annable, the ubiquitous Kardashians, the obligatory Playmates, various NFL stars and NASCAR’s Kasey Kahne. And there’s a post-game show by LL Cool J. Kickoff at 1 p.m., Sat., Jan. 31, Progress Energy Park, 203 First Ave. S., St. Petersburg, free admission for spectators, 727-825-3137.

The Ultimate Tailgate Pawty Humane Society of Pinellas hosts a daytime fundraisin’ party with its HSP live animal mascots Duncan and Daisy, food, vendors of all varieties, a kid’s play area, doggie demos and agility shows, games, contests and adoptable pets. Socialized pets are welcome to attend. Sat., Jan. 31, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Coachman Park, 301 Drew St., Clearwater, free admission, 727-797-7722, humanesocietyofpinellas.org.

More Saturday events after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

The Tonight Show’s Ross the Intern was identified in Eric Snider’s NFL Media Day post only as “the queenie guy.” To be fair, no one is queenier than Ross the Intern, aka Ross Matthews — that’s his schtick — but he’s also got balls. (Pink balls, to be exact, but we’ll get to that in a moment.) The footage from Media Day he showed on Friday’s Tonight Show was seriously hilarious, partly because of the incongruity of that helium voice and fluttery persona on the loose in football world, but also because he was fearless. Take that pink ball — a pink football he was carrying around, trying to convince players they should switch from brown to pink: “It’s the color of pig!” Some players didn’t know what to make of him — “Don’t be throwin’ me no pink balls,” growled one — but most were disarmed, even charmed. He even got one guy to do a pretty creditable version of the wiggly “Ross victory dance.” The NFL ought to start inviting him to all their press conferences; I’d like to see what he’d do when players and commentators throw around classic sports cliches like the Madden-attributed “He sees the hole, then runs through it.” I can hear him squealing already.

Each year, hundreds of people come together on the ‘eve of Superbowl to nobnob with celebrities, taste specially created dishes prepared by some of America’s best chefs (this year, paired with matching wines from Gallo Family Vineyards), and raise awareness and funds for hunger charities. It’s a big hooha. On a weekend with plenty of sports activities, Tropicana Field tomorrow night will be THE place to be a foodie. I’m just psyched to be a media peon with a ticket. At $500 a pop, they aren’t exactly within my reach, so I got lucky. I’ll report back on what I saw, what I ate and whether it was worth it. Taste of the NFL website.

For most of the Tampa Bay media, it is all hands on deck for Super Bowl coverage as we near the game on Sunday. This has been building for weeks, with the crescendo in newsprint, online sites, video and audio over the past week.

The Super Bowl website on tampabay.com

Overall, though, my main thought about the coverage is: Damn! It would take a normal human being 237 years to read all of this. Most of it is ephemeral; on a blog or website front one minute, lost in the archives the next. You imagined that if the local media paid this much attention to our economy and government we would be the only metro area in the nation not suffering from a recession or corruption.

Given that caveat, here is a look at how they did, from worst to best, among the major media players in the Tampa Bay Market:

Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re an out-of-town visitor, you should know that our Convention Center is not ordinarily tricked out like an outdoor disco, and that we don’t usually project enigmatic artworks onto our parking garages, show animated visions of a flooded Tampa outside the St. Pete Times Forum or track our collective consciousness with an oversized mood ring (above, by Will Pappenheimer and Chipp Jansen).

Those downtown attractions are all part of Lights On Tampa, an outdoor art installation program revived just in time for you, our Super Bowl visitors. And if you’re a local who hasn’t had the chance to take in the Lights, this weekend’s your last chance. Read Megan Voeller’s story on the project here, and get all the details from the city’s site here.

After wandering around Media Day at Raymond James Stadium, squeezing my way in front of the stars while reporters shouted inane questions, I made my way up into the bleachers where it was less frenzied. That’s where I saw a good-looking large fellow sitting all by his lonesome. It said “Spaeth” on the back of his jersey and judging by the No. 89 I figured he was a tight end, maybe a guy who played on special teams.

I sat down behind his left shoulder and said told him I wasn’t a sportswriter, more of a “lifestyle writer.” He replied, “Perfect, I’m more of a lifestye guy anyways.”

We had a leisurely chat for a little more than 10 minutes, talked about what was on Matt’s iPod, then moved onto … football. But not X’s-and-O’s football, more about football from Speath’s perspective, from a lifestyle perspective. I found him to be a thoughtful, interesting young man. As it turns out, Matt’s on the field about 40 plays a game, as part of the Steelers’ two-tight-end sets. He caught touchdown passes in his first two games as a rookie in ‘07.

Here’s an audio recording of highlights of our interview, which was much like a conversation. Download.

Matt Spaeth

With the big game just around the corner, here is an informative video that should help ticket counterfeiters make more realistic facsimiles to sell to the helpless rubes around Ray-Jay. Thank you, St. Pete Times!

• We’re live-blogging the game on Sunday. Won’t you stop by and give your $.02?
• Be careful driving this weekend. There will be road closures to contend with.
• Good news Steelers fans, Hines Ward looks like a go.

More news (and Blago!) after the break…

Read the rest of this entry »

Much has been made over the last few days about the celebrities (or lack thereof) who will be populating the various Super Bowl week parties around the Bay area. It appears as if high-profile places like The Venue and Aja are not giving up many guest names other than party hosts, and we can understand: What if a party says Jamie Foxx is confirmed and he doesn’t show?

Not all parties are being so close to the vest about their guest lists, though. CL sales guy Hamgravy came back to the office with the skinny on one of the area’s most star-studded bashes. It’s at Plush Ultra Lounge in Thonotosassa and the confirmed guest list includes:

Gil Gerard, Connie Selleca, Willie Tyler & Lester, Jamie Farr, Sherman Hemsley, Brian Keith, Dan Blocker, Morris Day (and Jerome), Shields of Shields and Arnell, Charley Pride, Pat Cooper, GG Allin, Brian Keith, Sherry Lewis and Lambchop, Marilyn McCoo (but not Billy Davis Jr.), England Dan (but not John Ford Coley), Marla Gibbs, Billy Dee Williams, Chad and Jeremy, Robert Guillame, Sandy Duncan, Ruth Buzzi, Charo,

Larry Storch

Burt Reynolds-Lonnie Anderson-Dom DeLuise, Fran Drescher, Mac Davis, Dawn (but not Tony Orlando), Roman Gabriel, the Unknown Comic, Father Guido Sarducci, Larry Storch, Porter Wagoner, Rod “Toast” Jones, Cleveland Wheeler, World B. Free, Bill Buckner, Mickey Rivers, Pam Dawber, David Faustino, C. Thomas Howell and Ally Sheedy, and the Funk Brothers, Dory and Terry. Oh, and Vicky Lawerence as “Mama.” Music by Ferrante and Teicher.

If any of you readers hear about new additions to the guest list, please leave a comment.

A hulking, bearded man of 6-feet-9 stood in the bleachers during Super Bowl Media Day at Raymond James Stadium. He was a boisterous fellow who seemed to be enjoying himself. His name:  Jason Capizzi. He plays offensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers and wears No. 69. After Capizzi acommodated a guy from armed forces media and did a video message to the troops in Iraq, I sidled up to him.

“So Jason, how’d you get number 69?” I asked.

He chuckled and replied, “That’s all they had left. I’m serious!”

We then had a brief, lighthearted exchange. Take a listen. Download.

Jason Capizzi

Arnett welcomes those with “nothing to do on the Super Bowl i.e. losers,” including, apparently, Andy Richter and “YouTube’s most famous celebs.” The irony quotient suffers somewhat when you find out the party’s being hosted on refresheverything.com, the website of Pepsi. There’s a clip promoting the party in which Arnett welcomes all, including “nude dudes,” and Richter wanders in muttering something about there being a wig stuck in the toilet. Your basic nervous straight-guy quasi-gay humor (c.f., any given monologue by Conan O’Brien), but it might be fun to watch, nude or not.

The former Buc tells Sirius radio: “I think he’s a scumbag personally. You know what he told me? ‘Simeon you’ll be here in the next five years.’ I got injured [and] this man’s never said one word to me. I won a Super Bowl for you. I got 13 sacks, 12, 15 every year for you. I balled. I got injured [and] you let me go like it was nothing.”

The Athletics Department at the University of South Florida opened its doors to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday. USF is serving as a practice facility for the AFC champion team, who will be at the university until Saturday preparing for Sunday’s game.

In anticipation of the Super Bowl-bound Steelers, USF’s football practice field underwent an extreme makeover — including new grass, repainted hash marks and lines, and a Steelers logo in the middle of the field (right).

With Athletics in a frenzy over the arrival of the NFL, naturally the rest of the students on campus must be buzzing with Super Bowl hype. Right?

Eh – not really.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pepsi to run a Super Bowl commercial that features Dylan’s “Forever Young,” hip-hop star Will.i.am, and iconic images connecting the past to the present.

At Super Bowl Media Day, the star players sit at podiums and take questions from a throng of reporters, while the lesser names sit up in the stands and do interviews. Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin is a podium guy.

Reporters practiced in the art of gang interviewing (or those with high-profile TV faces) get to ask most of the questions, but I did manage to fire a query at Boldin (after the media horde had thinned). I wanted to ask if he studied Marcel Proust at Florida State, and, if so, what was his favorite part of “Remembrance of Things Past.”

I got this instead:

The Good Life Experience celebrity guest list just keeps growing and growing and growing.

(For those in the dark, the Good Life Experience is a trio of star-studded Super Bowl XLIII parties hosted by hip hop superstar Diddy; for more info, check out our celebrity events list.)

Here’s the release I received today: Read the rest of this entry »

Having a Super Bowl party? With the Bay area hosting the big game, you’re going to have a lot of competition. If you don’t serve more than the usual finger sandwiches and frozen wings spread, you might not get the attendance you’re looking for.

Thankfully, the blogosphere provides you a full array of ideas and recipes to amp your snack table for the big day. And we pulled a lot of them together for you, after the break: Read the rest of this entry »

Common wisdom would tell you that the big game and the sudsy brew go hand in hand. Sure, up to a point.

But when it comes to holidays and events, Super Bowl is way down the rankings in terms of beer sales, eighth on the list.

Why? Well, most Super Bowl celebrations don’t start until just before kickoff, probably not before 5 or 6 p.m. Holidays are day-long celebrations. Heck, our family Easter tradition is to tap the keg when we start the egg hunt and keep it flowing until we pass out from ham and beer overload. On Christmas, we drink to deal with our in-laws. On Father’s Day, well … that’s just depressing.

Check after the break for the complete list of top beer holidays:

From Kasper on Tap -

According to data from the Nielsen Co., consumers bought a mere 51.7 million cases of beer in the two weeks surrounding last year’s Super Bowl. That trails the 68.1 million cases bought during the top beer holiday, the 4th of July.

Our nation’s top beer holidays are as follows:
1. July 4
2. Labor Day
3. Memorial Day
4. Father’s Day
5. Christmas
6. Thanksgiving
7. Easter
8. Super Bowl

I’m real picky when it comes to pop stars singing the National Anthem at sports events. Too many artists tend to oversing, over-emote and occasionally turn it into a Patti LaBelle-esque shriek-a-thon. That said, I don’t expect everyone to sing the song exactly note for note — as a tune, it’s pretty  lame — so it’s cool when performers take a certain amount of license.

Last Sunday, I saw pop star/American Idol winner Jordin Sparks tackle the anthem at the NFC Championship Game. She nailed it, gave the song just the right amount of extra oomph, hit some stratospheric notes, bent a few phrases gospel-style and generally raised the hairs on my neck. Right after she finished, play-by-play announcer Joe Buck let out a “Wow!”

Sparks is in town for Super Bowl week, and last night I had a chance to do a quick interview with her as makeup and hair artists dolled her up for a charity performance at Roy’s restaurant in Tampa. The bubbly 20-year-old gave me a panicked look when I asked if we could talk a few minutes about her approach to singing the National Anthem in cavernous stadiums.

“What?” she asked. I repeated my request, and she said, relieved, “Oh, I thought you said you wanted me to sing the National Anthem.”

Sparks agreed that some artists overdo it. “Sometimes I’ll see it and I’m like, ‘OK, it’s not about you,’” she said. “If you’re out there singing the National Anthem, you’ve got enough talent to do it, so just go out there and sing the song as best you can — without butchering it.”

Her approach: “I remember when I first started doing sports events, I thought, ‘When I sing it, I don’t want to make it into a pop song,’ but I did want to put emotion into it — like how I would feel if I was the one standing there seeing that flag still standing amid all the bombs, feeling that sense of pride. I try to emote that, to get that in there.

“But it’s not about me, not about me at all. I always feel so honored to sing the National Anthem. It’s our national song. I think I get the most nervous when I sing it, because if I suck, noboby’s gonna let me live it down.”

I told Sparks about my favorite rendition of the Anthem: Marvin Gaye’s re-imagining of the song during the 1983 NBA All-Star Game. She fairly shrieked and said, “Oh, I have to put that into my phone right now.”

Sparks sang “The Star Spangled Banner” at last year’s Super Bowl. (Jennifer Hudson gets the honor this year.) Here’s a video of Sparks’ performance last Sunday at the NFC Championship Game.

Some roads are already closed and others will close over the next few days as Super Bowl fever, activities and traffic peak. The city of Tampa today announced the following road closures in Channelside, Ybor, around the RayJay and beyond:

January 30, 2009 beginning at 6 p.m. through February 1, 2009 at midnight, the Transportation Division expects increased traffic in Downtown Tampa and Ybor City for the following roads: Dale Mabry Highway, Himes Avenue, Hillsborough Avenue, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Columbus Drive, Armenia Avenue, Platt Street/Channelside Drive, Tampa Street Morgan Street, 21st and 22nd Streets, and 7th Avenue. The Tampa Street extension from Brorein Street to Franklin Street may be closed based on traffic flow, if so please use Meridian Avenue to access Harbour Island.

Road closures around Raymond James Stadium include:
• January 7, 2009 (already in effect) – Tampa Bay Boulevard between Dale Mabry Highway and Himes Avenue is closed to all traffic and is expected to reopen on February 10, 2009.
• February 1, 2009 – Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Dale Mabry Highway North between Columbus Drive and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard will be closed to traffic and is expected to reopen on February 2, 2009 at 4 a.m.
• January 31, 2009 – Beginning 10 p.m. Himes Avenue between Columbus Drive and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard will be closed to traffic and is expected to reopen on February 2, 2009 at 6 a.m.

Road closures in downtown Tampa include:
• January 29, 2009 – Beginning at 6 p.m. the northbound lane on Franklin Street will be closed from Harbour Island to Old Water Street (formerly St. Pete Times Forum Drive) and is expected to reopen on February 1, 2009 at 6 p.m.
• January 29, 2009 – Beginning at 6 p.m. Old Water Street (formerly St. Pete Times Forum Drive) will be westbound only from Channelside Drive to Florida Avenue and is expected to return to two-way traffic on February 1, 2009 at 6 p.m.
• January 30 and January 31, 2009 (two nights) – From 6 p.m. to 12 midnight, Channelside Drive between Meridian Avenue and Cumberland Avenue will be closed.

Talk about your fish out of water.

Take a veteran alt-weekly journalist and thrust him into Super Bowl Media Day. Loaded down with a video camera, a digital audio recorder and a digital still camera (oh, and a notebook, made of paper), the one-man-media-gang that was me joined a sea of others for more than two hours today at Raymond James Stadium.

A zoo. There had to be more than 2,000 media types herding around one side of the stadium, documenting the finer points of Larry Fitzgerald’s hair, Hines Ward’s diet, Troy Polamalu’s spirituality (and hair), Mike Tomlin’s hunger for winning, Ben Roethlisberger’s admiration for Kurt Warner (and vice versa), and more X’s-and-O’s 101 than one could stand.

Larry Fitzgerald and his hair

See more photos below the jump…

Read the rest of this entry »

Florida Museum of Photographic Arts celebrates the Super Bowl with a new exhibit, NFL HISTORY from Getty Images. The 32 iconic photographs illustrate great moments in NFL history and are on loan from one of the country’s largest collections of sports imagery taken by award-winning photographers. Tonight, the museum welcomes former NFL star placekicker Martín Gramática for “Martinis with Martín”, a sip and mingle reception (Fri., Jan. 23, 6-8:30 p.m., $100). FMoPA also hosts a gourmet, wine-included, four-course “NFL History Dinner” and after-dinner talk by special guest Sports League Manager for Getty Images Mario Prosperino (Wed., Jan. 28, 8:15 p.m., The Tampa Club, located above FMoPA, 101 E. Kennedy Blvd., #4200, Tampa). The works are on display through Feb. 28, 200 N. Tampa St., downtown Tampa, $4 suggested donation, 813-221-2222.

Pictured: David Tyree, No. 85 of the New York Giants, catches a 32-yard pass from Eli Manning as Rodney Harrison (No. 37) of the New England Patriots attempts to knock it out in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008, at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images).

Next Thursday from 7 a.m. until 10 a.m., NBC’s Today Show will broadcast celebrity weatherman Al Roker’s segment from Ybor City’s Teatro on Seventh, a restaurant that opened in October 2008.

Read more about Teatro on Seventh
Teatro’s website

What a bargain. Reuters reports that “tickets for the National Football League’s Super Bowl could be the most affordable in years as a recession drives down prices.”

How affordable? Overall average per ticket is $3,100. And get this Wal-Mart-worthy doorbuster: “The maximum price paid for a ticket so far this year is $5,250, down from $9,850 last year.”

Grab the kids and head on over!

The historic angle for the Super Bowl that Tampa Bay will host in a couple of week is probably not as compelling as most. The Arizona Cardinals improbably won the NFC Championship 32-25 over the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s the first Super Bowl for the long-suffering Cardinals, who won their last NFL championship in 1947 — against the Philadelphia Eagles. Other than the Chicago Cubs, no other professional sports franchise has gone longer between titles than the Cardinals.

Arizona will play the storied Pittsburgh Steelers, who beat the Baltimore Ravens 23-14 in 25-degree Steel City cold and light snow flurries.

The Super Bowl will pit the flashy, pass-happy offense of the Cardinals — which dominated the NFC-best Eagles defense for most of the game — against the more complete Steelers, who were the No. 1-ranked defense in all the NFL.

Read the rest of this entry »

Drew Magary’s Jambaroo, published every Thursday on sport blog Deadspin, is a must read for serious football fans who also get the absurdity of their favorite sport. This week, Drew is sounding off on championship Sunday when he takes time out to address a potential Super Bowl crisis:

And so, if the favorites hold, we’ll end up with an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl that will take place in Florida. People, I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say this kind of mass influx of Pennsylvanians into the greater Tampa area will result in A FUCKING DRIVING HOLOCAUST.

Read the rest of this entry »