Category Archives: Sports

Super Bowl XLVII: the not quite record ratings and the commercials

Hilarity, Sports, Television, Video, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Power outage and all, Super Bowl XLVII proved to be an exciting game after all. Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens dominated the game early on and the San Fransisco 49ers used the approximately 35 minutes of dark downtime to reenergize and make an unexpected comeback that nearly ended the game in their favor. When the fourth quarter came to a close, however, it was the domineering Ravens and MVP Flacco on top besting the 49ers 34 to 31.

Unlike previous years, last night’s Super Bowl did not break ratings records to become the most watched telecast in history. 108.41 million people tuned into the big game making it the third most watched TV program behind Super Bowl XLVI (111.3 million) and Super Bowl XLV (111 million). (And if you’re curious, the hyped post-Super Bowl episode of Elementary attracted 20.8 million viewers with a 7.8 rating in the 18-49 demo. These numbers are huge for the CBS freshman procedural, but they do not match the 37.6 million viewers that tuned into The Voice‘s post-game telecast last year.) Maybe we’ll see another record-breaking explosion in eyeballs next year?

Moving onto the ‘mericals. This year companies had to fork over a whopping four million dollars for a 30-second spot. I’ve posted a bunch of my personal favorites after the break, including those from Volkswagon, Oreos, Doritos, and Taco Bell and trailers for anticipated movies like Iron Man 3 (see the extended cut!), Star Trek, and Fast and Furious 6. You can rewatch nearly all of them at YouTube’s Ad Blitz center. Which are your favorites? Continue reading Super Bowl XLVII: the not quite record ratings and the commercials →

Video games invade our world again in “Gnarcade”

Sports, Technology, Video, , , ,

Check out Mike Benson’s “Gnarcade”, a world where classic video game characters and obstacles interact with pro athletes.  Pacman, Frogger, and baddies from Super Mario make memorable appearences.  But it’s the Portal effect at 2:21 that gets me every time.  Beats are provided by Ground Up.  Enjoy!  (I say “again” in the post title in reference to the awesome NYC pixel takeover.)

Explore the Olympic Games mountains with Street View

News, Sports, Technology, Video, , , , ,

In anticipation of the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Team Google brings us to Whistler Mountain with Street View.  Just like you’d map out how to find a restaurant on Google Maps using Street View to precisely pick out the location, now you can search and explore the icy mountains where this month’s Winter Olympics will take place.  Explore the mountains or “get inside the games” with a constantly updating menu system that features Olympic events, medals, venues, and news.  Google’s got you covered.

[Via GoogleBlog]

Super Bowl XLIV commercials

Sports, Television, Video, , , , ,

Overall I found this year’s collection of Super Bowl commercials to be stale.  Super Bowl commercials are supposed to be top notch, big budget, and make you fall over laughing by surprise.  In fact, there are some people out there who watch the Bowl just for the commercials.  The smorgasbord of reusable ads from GoDaddy and the beer companies simply didn’t cut it this year.  Anyhow, I’ve collected this year’s favorite ads and pasted them below.  At least Megan Fox was featured in one of them!

Motorola, featuring the Motorola Devour with MOTOBLUR w/ Megan Fox

Bud Light, autotune with T-Pain

Look after the break for more Super Bowl commercials, including those from Vizio, Bud Light, Snickers, Doritos, Audi, Coke, FLO TV, Cars.com, Intel, and Google. Continue reading Super Bowl XLIV commercials →

ESPN may stream live sporting events to an Xbox 360 near you

News, Sports, Technology, , , , , , , ,

According to the NY Times, Disney is in talks with Microsoft to bring ESPN to Xbox Live.  Sure, Live subscribers already have access to the large Netflix library to rent the latest movies and TV shows, but streaming live sporting events takes things to a whole new level.  ESPN on Xbox Live would be set up in a similar fashion to the ESPN 360 service that’s been widely available from a number of ISPs.  The Times reports that it would be based on a per-subscriber fee and include access to live sporting events and interactive games labeled with the ESPN brand.  Hulu on the PC, Netflix and ESPN on Xbox Live; this tidbit of news gives us yet another reason to cut the cord that is cable.

[Via NY Times; Gizmodo]

The game of ping pong is about to change

Design, Image cache, Sports,

Brodmann Blades

If these Brodmann Blades catch on, you can bet that the game of ping pong will change dramatically.  “By moving the front and back of the paddle away from each other and removing the grip altogether, the Blades are able to offer a glove-like fit, and promise a faster and more intuitive game, more spin on the ball, and superior control.”  I’m going to have to try these paddles on for size before I make further commentary about them.  Price at $100, we may have to rely on the hard-core amateurs to give ’em a spin.  (Mind you, $100 buys you a set of two paddles, with four logo-adorned balls, terrycloth wristbands, and a zip-up carrying case.)

[Via Gizmodo; Uncrate]