Monday, February 04, 2019

New England Patriots beat Los Angeles Rams 13-3 for record evil sixth win

Sam, Lou, Tom and Inc provided atmosphere like no other for the super bowl and even Sharon agreed ;-)

Super Bowl Gamblers: Here’s Where You Can Bet, How You’ll Be Taxed


Gladys Knight nails potent national anthem at Super Bowl LIII



The praise came in thick during the 2019 Super Bowl Halftime Show for one of the most valuable players in choir.
For many tuning into Super Bowl 53, it’s all about the halftime show festivities, which only got interrupted by a football game where the New England Patriots battled and defeated the Los Angeles Rams in Atlanta.
The spectacle had shirtless Maroon 5’s Adam Levine, Astroworld rapper Travis Scott, and Outkast rapper Big Boi rolling in bedecked in a fur coat in a luxury motor vehicle. Plus SpongeBob, of course.
But the lineup didn’t end there. A gospel choir enrobed in blue made a splash, and the internet latched onto one woman in particular who provided one of the most unexpected and refreshing moments of the evening.
7 wild facts about the lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever
Super Bowl 53: New England Patriots beat Los Angeles Rams 13-3 for record sixth win
BBC Sport 
New England Patriots produce a defensive masterclass to beat the Los Angeles  Rams 13-3 in Super Bowl 53 and equal Pittsburgh Steelers' record of six titles.

Super Bowl: Tom Brady leads New England Patriots to another NFL title 


1 hour ago ... For the rich and 'the real', ageless Brady confirms Super Bowl greatness. ... We could bang on about New England and Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and all the numbers that confirm what we already know: that they’re the greatest football team in NFL history, confirmed by their 13-3 
...
Super Bowl Sunday is the day when the advertising industry is not only tolerated but celebrated
Boston GlobeFollowing up on Sunday's post, Death, Taxes, And The New England Patriots: New York Times op-ed: How I Learned to Love the Patriots (Again), by Russ Douthat:
I became a besotted baseball fan at the age of 6, watching the Boston Red Sox, my mother’s ancestral team, march to the World Series against the New York Mets. My parents woke me up near midnight on Oct. 25, 1986, to come downstairs with them and “watch the Red Sox win” — an eventuality that was, at that moment, just a single out away. It remained one out away through three singles, a devastating wild pitch and an incident that shall not be described involving one William Joseph Buckner. I wept, slept and awoke a gloomy pessimist, forever haunted by the fall of man. 
I became a football fan around the same time, and I figured I should root for the Patriots as well, in New England solidarity. They had recently played (albeit embarrassingly badly) in a Super Bowl, so I was unaware of their long, distinguished legacy of lousy play. But by the time I turned 10 and they were working their way through a 1-15 season, with a 2-14 encore just around the corner, I understood a little better the implications of my choice.
This combination of Red Sox tragedy and Patriot futility defined my relationship to professional sports until adulthood, at which point (as you may have heard) absolutely everything changed for both teams and they became insufferably dominant. And my fandom, forged in suffering and melodrama and “wait ’till next year” rue, never quite recovered from my favorite teams’ success. ...
[T]rying to raise my children to be New England sports fans in an age of constant New England winning has given me real sympathy with the lukewarmly religious, the Christmas-and-Easter sort of believer who wants to impart some measure of piety to their children without really experiencing the flame of faith themselves. ...
 



WaPo's Super Bowl debut


The Super Bowl is known for its iconic commercials.

Apple’s “1984’’-inspired ad. Cindy Crawford drinking Pepsi. Larry Bird and Michael Jordan playing H.O.R.S.E. for a Big Mac.

Now, it’s journalism’s turn. The Washington Post bought a 60-second commercial during Sunday’s Super Bowl. You can view the commercial here.

The ad, narrated by actor Tom Hanks, showed scenes from major news events from World War ll through the present day. Hanks described the role of journalists as eyewitnesses and fact-gatherers. The commercial also showed several slain and missing journalists from the Post and other publications, including Jamal Khashoggi, who is alleged to have been killed at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul last year. The commercial ended with the Post’s logo and slogan: “Democracy Dies in the Darkness.’’

“This was a chance for a broader message about the role journalists play in our everyday lives and the risks they take to bring us the facts,’’ Fred Ryan, publisher and CEO of the paper, told the Post.

It’s not known how much the Post paid for the ad, but CNBC reported that CBS was getting $5.25 million for a 30-second slot. The fact that the Post might have paid upwards of $10 million for the ad did not go over well with Fredrick Kunkle, a Post staff writer who is co-chair of the Washington-Baltimore News Guild.

In a series of tweets, Kunkle wrote:

“The Post is now paying, say, $5M/30 seconds to tout journalistic freedom during one of the glitziest and -- given the NFL’s knee-taking protests and concussions -- more controversial sporting events in our country.’’

“While I too am extremely proud of the Post and its legacy, this seems like an especially infuriating expense for a company that has a) tried to take away health care insurance from part-time employees b) moved everyone toward riskier forms of health insurance

“c) made it easier to lay people off d) cut their severance e) frozen their pensions and resisted the smallest enhancements to remaining retirement benefits until Sen. Bernie Sanders shamed it into doing so.

“f) refused to add a single day of paid parental leave to its measly four weeks and g) must know that other media companies, sensing trouble ahead, have been trimming staff.’’

The commercial, however, was powerful, especially for journalists and those who support journalism’s role in society.

Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, was unmoved. He tweeted:

“You know how MSM journalists could avoid having to spend millions on a #superbowl commercial to gain some undeserved credibility? How about report the news and not their leftist BS for a change.’’

Right after the commercial aired, Post owner Jeff Bezos tweeted:

“Grateful for the journalists at the @washingtonpost and around the world who do the work, no matter the risk or dangers they face.’’

AP assists local journalism with data


With media companies across the country slashing jobs and budgets, local journalism is getting harder and harder. But The Associated Press is lending a hand. Poynter’s Kristen Hare writes about how AP is sharing data with local newsrooms.

“Given the crisis in local news, I think it’s something really notable,” AP managing editor Brian Carovillano said. “We’re enabling local news coverage on hard-hitting topics at a really massive scale.”

The project started three years ago to get localized data to newsrooms and help journalists find the best use for it. In 2018, for example, the AP saw 1,400 downloads from 300 local newsrooms on its data.world platform.

Trump: 'I hate to say it because I love to watch football' 


Funny thing about presidential interviews before the Super Bowl. They are usually a perfect time for a network to ask important policy questions of the president, knowing that 100 million people are watching. But Sunday, it was more interesting to hear President Donald Trump’s thoughts on football than anything else.

Yes, there were plenty of noteworthy moments from Margaret Brennan’s Super Bowl Sunday interview with Trump on CBS. Part of the interview aired on “Face The Nation’’ and excerpts were shown during the Super Bowl pregame show. Brennan pushed Trump on international and domestic affairs, asked his thoughts about Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and brought up subjects such as race and national security.

But Trump’s most human moment was when Brennan asked if he would let his 12-year-old son, Barron, play football. Trump said he would let his son play if that’s what he wanted, but would not steer him towards football.

“He actually plays a lot of soccer,’’ Trump said. “He’s liking soccer. And a lot of people, including me, thought soccer would probably never make it in this country, but it really is moving forward rapidly. I just don’t like the reports that I see coming out having to do with football. I mean, it’s a dangerous sport. … I thought the equipment would get better, and it has. The helmets have gotten far better but it hasn’t solved the problem. I hate to say it because I love to watch football. I think the NFL is a great product, but I really think that as far as my son — well, I’ve heard NFL players saying they wouldn’t let their sons play football. So it’s not totally unique, but I would have a hard time with it.’’
The national anthem performance at sporting events is often maligned but Gladys Knight produced a showstopping rendition of the Star Spangled Banner at the Super Bowl.
However, the performance was also engulfed in controversy with betting agencies taking cash on the length of time the anthem would take to sing. 
The 74-year-old soul legend brought the house down with a stirring performance some called one of the best Super Bowl anthems ever as plenty on social media raved about Knight’s rendition.
But for punters, there was a huge plunge on the time Knight would take to sing the anthem after Las Vegas insider and Fox Sports radio host RJ Bell tweeted the rehearsal times had taken “about 1:59 and two minutes” to complete.
The length of the anthem has become a popular Super Bowl prop bet but caused a stir on Monday (AEDT).
The controversy kicked off when Knight finished singing at about 1:49, with many agencies setting the over/under at 1:50. That is, you could bet on the anthem going for longer or shorter than one minute and 50 seconds.
But the soul singer wasn’t done at the 1:49 mark, winding up for a repeat of the word “brave” to finish the anthem, which took the length just past the two minute mark.

Sports betting reporter Darren Rovell said it’s not the first time this has happened, with Christina Aguilera singing “brave” twice in the 2011 anthem.
The American anthem ends with the line “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave” and betting agencies are supposed to use the end of the final “brave” as the cut off point for the tune finishing.
Whatever the decision, fans were sure she crushed the performance.
Whatever the decision, fans were sure she crushed the performance.Source:AFP
However, Knight’s repetition of the final word led to widespread confusion. Reports have come through that some agencies are paying out both over and under.
The New York Post had a list of some the best prop bets including coin toss, with the coaching age gap be mentioned through the broadcast, winner of the Puppy Bowl, will any player kneel for the national anthem or will the line “Greatest of All Time” be mentioned in the broadcast to name just a few.
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Super Bowl LIII: Battle of the quarterbacks

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