Top 10 Super Bowl XLVII Commercials

Last night the Baltimore Ravens hung on to win Super Bowl XLVII, a game that featured brothers as coaches, a 34 minute power outage, and a rockin halftime performance by Beyonce.  But one of the things that makes the Super Bowl so special is what happened between the action in the Baltimore Ravens' 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.  This special (and sometimes crazy) thing that sets the Super Bowl apart from the rest is the commercials.  You know it's the Super Bowl when a 30 second add space goes for over 4 million dollars. Whether you saw all of the commercials, missed some, or didn't see any at all, I'm here to fill you in.  Here is the official Straight Up Sports Top 10 Commercials of Super Bowl XLVII:

Number 10: Volkswagen - Get In. Get Happy.
Thanks to the 2013 Volkswagen Beetle, Dave has a sunny disposition and a happy attitude on a gloomy Monday:

Number 9: Oreo - Whisper Fight

People in a library fight over which part of an Oreo is the best: the cream, or the cookie: 

Number 8: Gildan - Getaway

When a man is trying to sneak out after a one night stand he realizes he is missing something: 

Number 7: Tide - Miracle Stain
We all have our superstitions for the big game: handshakes, chairs, stains... wait, stains?

Number 6: Audi - Prom

What happens when a teenager goes to Senior Prom without a date: 

Number 5: Taco Bell - Viva Young
Bernie Goldblatt is just another unassuming man at The Glencobrooke Retirement Home... or so we thought:

Number 4: Mercedes - Soul

A young man contemplates selling his soul to the devil (Willem Dafoe) for a Mercedes and everything that comes with it: 

Number 3: Jeep - Whole Again
A great message narrated by Oprah.  When our troops are home, we are more than a family. We are a nation that is whole again:

Number 2: Budweiser - Brotherhood
You can't deny that the Clydesdale commercials that Budweiser airs are some of the best of all time, and this one is right up there with all of the rest:

Number 1: Ram Trucks - Farmer

I absolutely love the Clydesdales.  After I saw that commercial I thought that I had seen the winner, and nothing could top that.  After the next timeout I heard the voice of the late Paul Harvey come on the TV.  I turned around and for the next two minutes was amazed as Harvey's 1978 "So God Made a Farmer" speech was played over pictures that represented farm life in America.  Ram commissioned ten of the top photographers in the world to travel the American Midwest and capture these photos over the past year. Here is the commercial: 

"And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker." So God made a farmer."

This was by far one of the most fun posts to make (I got to spend a lot of time re-watching commercials), and I hope to make many more like it in the coming weeks.  Sadly this post means that there are no more NFL games until September.  If you really can't live without it though, the draft is coming up in a few weeks, and college signing day is in a week or so as well. This is about as good as it gets for off-season football! 'Til next time.

Hello Again, Spurs, and Mobile QBs

Well, I have to say, it's been awhile.  I have been very busy, and this has been one of the first times I've actually had to sit down and write out a post.  Even though I haven't been posting, the sports world has moved on without me.  There is just too much stuff to go back and cover or summarize it all, so I'm just going to approach this now moving forward.  I'll be posting more, hopefully every 2 or 3 days, but never longer than a week between posts. I'm going to still do the mailbag, so send anything and everything to straightupsports1@gmail.com

Now that I got all of the necessities out of the way, LET'S TALK SOME SPORTS!!!  This is my favorite time of year.  College football is down to crunch time, and college basketball is starting to heat up.  The NFL is in high gear, and the NBA is starting to roll.  The only thing that would make this any better would be some NHL, but they are locked out, and it doesn't seem like anything is happening on that front any time soon.

Resting Spurs: So far in the NBA season all that had really caught my eye was this very odd blocking call, and Stephen A. Smith ranting.  But arguably the biggest news of the season broke today when the NBA fined the San Antonio Spurs a whopping $250,000. On Thursday November 29 the Spurs were playing a nationally televised game at Miami when their coach Gregg Popovich decided to send four of their biggest players home to rest after a brutal road trip, playing 6 games in 9 days.  Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, Tony Parker, and Danny Green were the players sent home.  The NBA said in an official statement that the Spurs acted in a way that was "contrary to the best interests of the NBA."  The Miami Heat ended up pulling the game out 105-100, needing a big run late to seal the win on their home court.

There is turmoil in The City by the Bay: Alex Smith went into this year cemented as the San Fransisco 49ers starting quarterback, but after a hard hit knocked him out the the 49ers week 10 contest against the Saint Louis Rams, Colin Kaepernick stepped into his place. In a 14-0 hole, Kaepernick brought the 49ers back to send the game to overtime, where it would eventually result in a tie.  After Smith was unable to start the next week, Kaepernick took the reins of the team, and drove them to two consecutive victories over tough Chicago and New Orleans teams.  Alex Smith meanwhile has passed his tests to get back on the field, but has found himself behind one of the hottest QBs in the league right now.  Kaepernick has displayed himself as an accurate passer, but is able to escape the pocket and run.  The 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh has said that he is going to go with the "hot hand" and make a decision every week. It looks like Kaepernick will start this Sunday against the Rams, but it will be interesting to see how this situation plays out as the 49ers (8-2-1) try to make a push for a playoff berth and home field advantage.

What to Watch: The SEC Championship Game, which pits #3 Georgia against #2 Alabama, kicks off in the Georgia Dome at 4:00PM EST on Saturday.  The winner of this game most probably plays for the National Championship against Notre Dame.

The And-One: The Golden State Warriors' Harrison Barnes had this ridiculous dunk over Nikola Pekovic:

Thanks for reading, and comeback sometime next week to check out my college hoops November recap.  Enjoy the football! Til' next time.

Super Bowl and Some Upsets

This has been the craziest last few days in sports. Good thing I am here to straighten it out.

Today, Sunday January 22nd, former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno passed away at the age of 85 due to complications with lung cancer.  Paterno won 409 career games as a head coach, all of them with Penn State. He is the all time winningest coach in college football history.  He took the Nittany Lions to 37 bowl games and two national championships, and over 250 of his players would go on to the NFL. "He will go down as the greatest football coach in the history of the game," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said today.  The circumstances surrounding his death are extremely sad. 

How do I describe this week in college basketball? Exciting? Crazy? Unstable? How ever you say it, it was awesome for any hoops fan, or anyone that loves to watch a good upset.  The first team I would like to highlight is Baylor.  The Bears came into this week 17-0 and ranked #3 with two top ten matchups within  the Big 12. They lost them both. First, an 18 point whooping at #7 Kansas, followed by a 1 point 89-88 loss at home to #5 Missouri.  This gives Kansas 16-3(6-0) the lead in the Big 12, but with a very tough schedule to come, that includes Missouri twice, and Baylor one more. Looks like a great race in the Big 12.  

Duke came into the week with a 45 home court winning streak. That streak is no more.  Thanks to the giant killer Florida State, Duke suffered their first ACC loss at the hands of the Seminoles.  Junior guard Michael Snaer hit a game winning three as time expired to upset the #4 Blue Devils 76-73. A week earlier the 'Noles upset #5 North Carolina 90-57. This is coming from a team that lost to Harvard and Princeton, and lost their first ACC game by 20 to a inconsistent rebuilding Clemson team. But Florida State is 4-1 in the ACC, and might be the hottest team in college hoops right now.  

After Baylor went down, there were two undefeated teams left: number 1 ranked Syracuse and Murray State. Then Syracuse lost.  Playing in a very hostile environment at Notre Dame, the Irish were in control of the game from the start, out hustling Syracuse the whole game. The Orange, playing without their starting center Fab Melo, who was unable to make the trip due to academic issues, were outmatched in the post. Notre Dame is now 12-8 (4-3 in the Big East), and has suffered this year after losing star forward Tim Abromaitis early in the season to an injury.  But this win could spark the Irish, who definitely have to ability to step up this year in the Big East. Syracuse still leads the Big East, however, leaving Murray State as the only undefeated team left in college basketball.

The Super Bowl matchup is set, and I can't wait.  Patriots vs. Giants. The New England Patriots, defeated the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 thanks to a Billy Cundiff missed 32 yard field goal with 11 seconds left to send the game into overtime. This will be Tom Brady's fifth career trip to the Super Bowl.  

It is very difficult to win games when you go 0-12 on 3rd down conversions. The San Francisco 49ers learned this, losing to the red hot New York Giants 20-17 in overtime. Two fumbles on punt returns for the normally turnover free 49ers led to a crucial touchdown and the game winning Lawrence Tynes field goal in overtime. Tynes also kicked a game winning overtime field goal in 2007 to put the Giants in the Super Bowl against the Patriots, which the Giants won. The stage is set for a great, deja-vu, Super Bowl!

The Super Bowl is set, college basketball is on fire, the NBA and the NHL are getting exciting, and I think I can almost smell spring training! 'Til Next Time.