The 'perfect' gift

The Giants may have stunned the world by beating the Patriots in this year's Super Bowl, but the children of Nicaragua don't care, because we all win when one team loses.

Hundreds of shirts and caps proclaiming the victory of the New England Patriots were shipped off to poor Nicaraguan children in the southern city of Diriamba.

"The children are the winners," said Miriam Diaz, of World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization.

So essentially, what would have made a perfect season is making the perfect gift, ehh?

Thanks, Kat Fox!

RELATED LINKS:
Super Bowl XLII: 'Giant' upset
Best (and worst) of the Bowl
BAM - Perfect

IT'S A BIG AD

I ganked this off of an unknowing friend's away message the other day after the Super Bowl, obviously inspired by the lackluster showing of commercials this year.

It made me laugh a lot.

Thanks, Conte!

BAM - Perfect!

I'm sorry. I swear I'll stop talking about the Super Bowl soon, but this commercial is fantastic. I can't believe I missed it.

Best (and worst) of the 'Bowl

*Note: This is the second of two posts regarding the Super Bowl. This is everything but the actual game. For more game coverage, see below!

• Paula Abdul's pre-game performance: No one was more psyched than me to see the "Spellbound" songstress make her comeback, but man oh man...Paula's performance was more of a pantomime than a 'straight up' hit. Lip syncing worse than Britney and moves as bad as, well, Britney on MTV circa six months ago. And what was with the New Years Eve-looking hat? I couldn't have been the only one in American hoping that that weeble-wobble microphone would smack her in the face. [In case you missed it...]

• Paul Brogan's Super Bowl Rap: Soup or bowl? Soup, soup or bowl? This was the greatest part of the pre-game show, in my opinion. This guy is a freaking genius.
  
  

• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers halftime show: I'm all for the 'Freefallin' and the 'American Girl,' but it's no coincidence that my friends and I spent the length of the halftime show in front of our cooled hors d'oeuvres, discussing tax rates and competitive eating. Every year, the halftime show is but a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more (thanks, Shakes). I'm sure some day, when I'm older, I'll enjoy performances from my childhood heroes -cough Spice Girls cough- but for now I'd rather load up on unnecessary cards for the second half than watch the streamers and strumming.

• Bawk, bawwwk: No one did the Chicken Dance in the end zone, so no-go on KFC's charity promise. Guess they were too chicken to pay the fines.
  

• Celebrity sightings: Perhaps Giants fans should be thanking Gisele Bundchen for the Patriots' choke; it's that Tony Romo-Jessica Simpson curse, praise the Lord! There were more blond bombshells in attendance last night too: We got a glimpse of a somewhat shy Pamela Anderson, who covered her face with straggly, bleached hair. And half the room 'aww'd' at the Jenny McCarthy/Jim Carey shot...and the other half said, 'Wait, what?' Yes, they've been together for a year and half - wake up! And of course, we had Mr. Peyton Manning watching over baby bro. Not gonna lie - as a superstitious Giants fan, I was a bit worried.

• Commercials: Of course. What would the big show be without a collection of exorbitant, over-hyped and underwhelming advertisements? This year, there were several forgettable commercials and a few memorable because they were so terrible (yes, I mean you, hideous girl dabbing Planters nuts on your hot spots). Here's a look at my top three:

• Mice like Doritos--Mickey's revenge.

• Chris Kattan might get sick of Diet Pepsi Max--what is love?

• Donkey Lips makes a comeback better than Paula--ahh, push it!
  

Super Bowl XLII: 'Giant' upset

*Note: This is the first of two posts regarding the Super Bowl. This is just about the game. More about commercials, segments and specials to come tomorrow. Stay tuned!

The result might have been an upset, but Super Bowl XLII was the most perfect I'd ever seen.

The New York Giants tonight beat Tom Brady and the undefeated New England Patriots 17-14 --against all odds--to make history.

"Offense wins games; defense wins championships," and the New York defense held the New England "dynasty" to just one touchdown until the last three minutes of the game. They also sacked, hurried and hit Tom Brady all game, forcing a less-than-perfect showing for the 'untouchable' quarterback and leaving the door open for Eli Manning to step up and lead his team to victory.

"That's a position you want to be in. You can't write a better script." - Eli Manning, Super Bowl XLII MVP

The first three quarters--close as the score was--paled in comparison to the last 15 minutes of the game. I'll do the play-by-play no justice, so check out this write-up, but when biggest Super Bowl upsets are discussed in years to come, no doubt you'll see the Eli "Houdini" Manning escape/insane off-the-helmet combo that came in the middle of a 12-play, 83-yard drive. Or the two consecutive long bombs Tom Brady let loose to Randy Moss that looked like they would be completely devastating to Giants fans (and Pats haters) everywhere. [when videos of the game are posted, I will most definitely be linking to them.]

The fate of the Patriots' perfect season on their shoulders. The pressure on Eli to live up to big bro Peyton and show some emotion. The 11-game on-the-road winning streak. Tom Coughlin's job on the line. The need to prove that the more you underestimate a team, the sweeter the win will be.

My emotions are getting the best of me here as I'm writing about this--almost as much as the teary-eyed Plaxico Burress in his post-game interview. But he doesn't deserve the same ridicule T.O. got a few weeks ago because Burress' presence in the end zone during the last minute of the game sealed the deal tonight.

There is an incredible amount to say about this game. And while it might have made for great bragging rights to say that the Giants blew the Pats out of the water 56-3 tonight, I wouldn't have changed a gut-wrenching, edge-of-my-seat, hands shaking, knot in my stomach moment for all the money in the world.

In the words of my brother, "This one's for Tiki."

Don't be chicken, bawk-bawk-bakawwwk!

Just as they hatched a marketing plot on the heels of Stephen Colbert's presidential bid, KFC has set up a Super Bowl marketing campaign centered around the most loathed song and dance of all time: The Chicken Dance.

The fast food restaurant has offered $260,000 to charity in the name of the first Patriots or Giants player to do the damn dance in end zone during next week's Super Bowl showdown.

This could also be made better if KFC offered free sauceless wings during an obscure time frame on some idle Tuesday when the players does the dance, following in Taco Bell's World Series speedy footsteps.

The player would need to do the "flapping part" of the dance for at least three seconds. (And the $260,000 is what it would cost for three seconds of advertising time during the Super Bowl, with the going rate for a 30-second segment at $2.67 mill.)

Click here for instructions on how to do this chicken dance. No, seriously, there really are instructions available.

But leave it to the NFL to not have a sense of humor. Spokesman Brian McCarthy said that players can celebrate as they normally would during the Super Bowl, but if anyone busts out that chicken dance, they will be subjected to fines.

He made some obscure American Idol reference to try to be funny, but really, don't you think they're getting just slightly bent out of shape over this? I mean come on, it's for charity. They're letting freaking Paula Abdul perform during half-time - they must be fans of charity.