Links of the Day 2/5/12

Today is the Super Bowl. I intend to, get this, watch the game.

The Patriots fans had some free time for arts and crafts.

Darren Rovell has made an ass out of himself with Playmates.

Valentines Day is in a little more than a week. Here are some ideas for you.

SCOREBOARD
NCAAB
Mercer 61, South Carolina Upstate 47 - Upstate goes down. Ha! Get it?!
Indiana 78, Purdue 61 - This one was ugly. This is a bad season for Robbie Hummel to go out on. At least he has his knees.
Oral Roberts 85, North Dakota State 76 - The Bison are going to finish third in the conference. South Dakota State already beat ORU and has the conference tourney at home...
Missouri 74, Kansas 71 - The Tigers came back to deliver a back breaker to the Jayhawks, and may end up with a 1 seed.
NHL
Dallas 2 (SO) Minnesota 1 - The Wild haven't won in Dallas since 1974. Or something.

How not to conduct yourself

Indianapolis is the host of the Super Bowl this year, and much like St. Paul when the Republican National Convention was in town, they are proud to have a national and narrow international spotlight aimed at their town. Fortunately, residents of St. Paul and the owners of the Xcel Energy Center didn't make the trip about themselves. In fact, I would say St. Paul came off looking well, with the anarchist protesters and the Republicans being the only ones that embarrassed themselves in any way (depending upon your political affiliation). The point is, St. Paul played the gracious hosts.
It's been slightly different in Indianapolis. The city is equally excited to represent itself to the world, and is generally a gracious host during other major events, like Big Ten Tournaments or Championships and the Indy 500, but that doesn't quite hold a candle to the Super Bowl, does it? From what I've heard, the city and the residents are having a great time, but the Colts and Peyton Manning are being selfish prigs.
First, there were sources saying that Manning had been cleared to play, perhaps in response to the reports earlier in the week that he was done for his career. Manning didn't come out and say anything, of course, but sources near him heard it, and I'm not foolish enough to think that he didn't have a hand in the process. Of course, doing this while the Super Bowl is in HIS town means that coverage will be on him. While it's a tactless move had this happened anywhere, in any Super Bowl, it's especially tacky in his home town with his brother playing in the game.
Compounding matters is owner Jim Irsay. He could have quickly come out with a statement to the press or on the Colts website. Instead he tweeted a denial at 130AM, local time. Super Bowl aside, that's just boorish behavior. Despite the game being in Indianapolis, and all the kudos before the game for the beautiful stadium and the team that got it built, Irsay and Manning are destroying any kind of good will.
It's to the point that I now believe that the winning years of the past decade were the exception. The Colts are a bad organization that got lucky when they picked Manning. They might get lucky with Andrew Luck as well, but it's increasingly clear it's not something the Irsays deserve.

Links of the Day 2/4/12

Super Bowl Weekend! Indianapolis!

Look at what the Blue Jays did with their bullpen. Just look, Terry Ryan. LOOK.

A look at Purdue's recruiting class.

This... is a real insect.

SCOREBOARD
EPL
Arsenal 7, Blackburn 1 - Horrible game. Blackburn at several times has appeared unlucky, but this time, they were just really, really bad.

NFL Computerized Power Ranks: Conference Championships

The AFC and NFC Championship games seem like ancient history now don't they? I'm not even that mad at Kyle Williams anymore. As both a White Sox and 49ers fan, the Williams family is destroying my fun as a sports fan (Kyle is White Sox GM Kenny Williams son, if you didn't know). Kyle fumbles away a trip to a Super Bowl, Kenny signs Adam Dunn to a long term contract. Fun, huh?

Anyway, I couldn't hate this Super Bowl matchup more. New York vs. Boston? Great. Plus we are dealing with an unbelievable amount of hate-ability and arrogance here. I don't even need to talk about Brady and the Patriots, and the Giants have got to be the most overconfident 9-7 team of all time, don't they? Plus, Eli Manning is technically the good guy here, but let's not forget that he and his dad threw a tantrum when the Chargers drafted him #1 over all, and his dad specifically wanted him to play for the Gaaaaahhhnts (stretch it out with a Mississippi accent). So yeah, Eli Manning is a douche too. But you know what, I'll watch it, because it's the Super Bowl. I've avoided as much of the hype as possible on TV, and it's felt great.

So let's just do the Power Rank picks right now. Last week, the ranks got the Patriots right but missed the 49ers, making the ranks a very average 6-4 in the playoffs. My 4 month old son also went 1-1 in the conference championships, so he is 6-4, and my dog went 0-2, so he is also 6-4. This week, my son picked the Giants and my dog picked the Patriots. The ranks pick...

#1 Patriots over #4 Giants

Not much of a surprise right?

Here are the full ranks:

Links of the Day 2/3/12

February 3rd. Only a few more days to the Super Bowl. Then.... nothing.

The Wild have acquired a center from the Rangers, Erik Christensen.

Maybe the best signing day announcement?

Edwin Jackson's career has been... unstable.

SCOREBOARD
NCAAB
North Dakota State 85, Southern Utah 64 - Ah yes, an historic rivalry.
NHL
Minnesota 1, Colorado 0 - What a fantastic outing from Nicklas Backstrom. IT would be nice if the Wild could score, though.

A Super Bowl prediction

First off, I am never picking a game to be bad again. They never are, no matter how much it seems they should be. I think the Giants will win, because that is the most annoying result possible, but also because the Patriots haven’t played any tough teams on the road or at a neutral site this season. 
Their offense goes through tight ends and is easily disrupted by a good D-Line and coverage LBs and a well played zone. Oh right, that’s what the Giants have. There isn't really a thing the Patriots should do about it either. Keep an extra guy into to block the active Giants line? Well, then that's fewer people to cover for the Giants secondary, and more attention can be paid to Hernandez and Gronkowski. It's going to be a tough matchup for New England on the offensive side of the ball. Also, the Giants have been playing better through the postseason, and I am inclined to go with the hot hand.

Despite what I said about the offense struggling against New York, the Pats will put points up. I am expecting a score in the neighborhood of 38-35.

Links of the Day 2/2/12

Out with the dog last night, I encountered coyotes. FREAKING COYOTES. We went back inside.

Matt Garza has been robbed.

The Baltimore Orioles are pissing off Korea. Interesting read about the Korean Baseball League, and players coming to America.

There is no such thing as a pitching prospect.

SCOREBOARD
EPL
Newcastle 2, Blackburn 0 - After the transfer window, the Rovers aren't much better, and other bottom feeders are. Going to be trouble staying afloat this year.
NCAAB
Iowa 63, Minnesota 59 - The Gophers desperately need to beat Nebraska later this week.
Kansas 84, Oklahoma 62 - The Sooners would really like it if Blake Griffin were still there.