Song of the week: Pats get physical in victory over Steelers

So, for this week’s Song of the Week, I’m going the cheesy route. Sure, many know Olivia Newton John’s “Let’s Get Physical” as the ultra-peppy workout song that so many sweated to while burning calories back in the day.

But believe it or not, the tune is the perfect theme for describing the Patriots’ impressive 39-26 victory over the favored Steelers in Pittsburgh this past Sunday. The Steelers have always been known for being a physically imposing team, but not against the Pats.

To the surprise of many, the much-maligned Patriots defense came to play against Big Ben and company, making their physical presence felt throughout the game, especially when they knocked out WR Hines Ward from the game and when safety Patrick Chung delivered an especially-physical blow to WR Mike Wallace in the first half.

Not to be outdone, the Patriots offense got a little physical themselves. The unit had over 100 rushing yards against a Pittsburgh D that’s always stout against the run, and the offensive line kept Tom Brady upright all night. Their physical play was so impressive that the famous Blitzburgh defense didn’t register a single sack against Brady.

There’s no doubt that a big reason the Pats won on Sunday was their physicality, which was nice to see, given that the prior week they were “thunderstruck” by a physical Cleveland Browns offense.

And in today’s NFL chock-full of high-flying offense and scores that rival basketball games, it’s refreshing to know that you can still beat an opponent by flat out hitting them in the mouth.

Hold the salt: Followill judges on Iron Chef America

Can somebody please explain to me why Caleb Followill was recently a judge on “Iron Chef America”? I heard the Kings of Leon frontman liked to cook, so that was probably the biggest reason.

But so what? Lots of people like to cook. But lots of people aren’t the lead singer of one of the most popular rock bands on the planet, so it’s understandable why the Food Network went the celebrity judge route.

He actually did a pretty decent job judging the dishes of the two contestants, considering his culinary background (or lack thereof). He offered some pretty valid praises and criticisms of several of the dishes, although he seemed to have an obsession with salt on two of the highlighted meals.

Iron Chef Michael Symon tried his best to be respectful during Followill’s remarks, saying “I would never leave halfway through one of your shows.” Well, considering the mediocrity that runs rampant on KOL’s newest album Come Around Sundown, I wouldn’t blame Symon if he did.

Song of the Week: Hillis leaves Pats thunderstruck

I’ve decided to create a new blog segment called the Song of the Week. The song I choose will be based on either something going on in the world that has gotten my attention, or it will simply highlight a song that I can’t get out of my head at the moment. So without further ado, here’s the first song.

Going into this past Sunday’s game, the Patriots were riding high, and they had every right to be. After all, they had the NFL’s best record at 6-1. All that was standing in the way of 7-1 was the lowly Browns.

Little did the Pats know, the Browns had a secret weapon up their sleeves in the form of a 260-pound tank of a running back named Peyton Hillis. It’s safe to say he’s not a secret anymore after punishing the New England defense to the tune of over 180 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in a startling 34-14 butt-kicking.

Even as the Patriot defense was putting nine and 10 men in the box to try to stop Hillis, it was all for not. There’s nothing worse in football than knowing you can’t stop someone, no matter how hard you try. And there’s no doubt that the Pats defense had no answer for Hillis at all, as he left them thunderstruck.

Brady vs. Manning: it never ends

Photos: bostonherald.com and indyposted.com

I was watching some of the NFL Network’s special series on the 100 greatest NFL players of all-time, and I’ve got a bit of a bone to pick with whoever selected Peyton Manning (#8) ahead of Tom Brady (#21) on this list. I have nothing against Manning, other than whenever he beats my Patriots in a big game. He definitely deserves to be in the top 10 of the list. I mean the guy’s won four league MVPs, a feat that no player has ever accomplished.
And being a Pats fan, I’m going to come across as really biased echoing the tired slogan of “Brady’s better.” But let’s just look at a few of his biggest accomplishments. Brady has one league MVP title, he broke Manning’s record for TD passes in a season (50 in 2007), has gone 4-1 in the AFC title game, and 3-1 in the Super Bowl. And for good measure, throw in the fact that he’s a two-time Super Bowl MVP.
But arguably the biggest stat Brady has working in his favor is 10-0. He won his first 10 playoff games before registering a loss. No QB before him did that, and maybe no QB after him will ever do that. By comparison, Manning has gone 2-1 in the AFC title game, 1-1 in the Super Bowl, and went a few playoff appearances before winning his first game. These stats alone put Brady ahead of Manning on the list, in my humble opinion.
Then again, both are still behind Joe Montana for the title of greatest QB ever. Montana went 4-for-4 in the Super Bowl, throwing 11 TDs and 0 interceptions. And he’s still the only three-time Super Bowl MVP. Brady’s winning may not be done yet, but he can’t say he’s never lost a Super Bowl; Cool Joe can.

Hold the brown M&M's, please

Music stars can be a little picky, especially when touring. A band’s tour rider is a great way to see the excess in all of its glory. Basically, a tour rider is a document detailing all of the on-stage and backstage demands of musicians the organizers must adhere to the day of the concert.

From taking a gander at some tour riders on the Backstage Rider section of The Smoking Gun’s website, viewers can see some pretty outrageous requests, including Van Halen’s infamous request that all brown M&M’s be removed from their dressing room candy dishes.

In all fairness to Van Halen, this request was just a test device used to measure how thoroughly concert organizers read through the band’s rider. Here are a few other tidbits I got by scanning through some of the site’s listed tour riders.

Aerosmith wanted their VIP guest room decorated in an “East Indian style.”
Backstage at her performance of the national anthem at the 2004 Super Bowl in Houston, Beyonce wanted baked chicken, with “fresh garlic, season salt, black pepper, and Cayenne pepper HEAVILY SEASONED!”
Blink 182 wanted an “X rated lesbian-themed magazine” and boxer shorts that were “J. CREW BRAND ONLY—NO SUBSTITUTES.”
For Mariah Carey’s tea, brewers “must use Poland Springs water.” She probably downed the tea with the box of bendy straws she requested.

Mark Hoppus: don't quit your day job

Photo: fitceleb.com
Mark Hoppus should be in the recording studio, not the TV studio.

During my pregame festivities for Thirsty Thursday, I kept myself entertained by watching Blink 182 bassist Mark Hoppus’s new talk show A Different Spin on Fuse. Hoppus should stop wasting his time in the television studio and get back in the recording studio to bang out the rest of the highly-anticipated next Blink album. A Different Spin is a show that would be hard-pressed to make it on the local high school cable access channel, yet it’s on Fuse in primetime. (I’m not guessing many people watch Fuse if this is one of their original shows).

For one, Hoppus struggles with his lines, and the forced banter between he and Amy Schumer (she was a contestant on one of the 69 seasons of Last Comic Standing) makes for a pretty awkward atmosphere. And the studio audience is dead; every time Hoppus or Schumer made a pretty decent joke, there was almost zero laughter from the deadpans. Either the jokes weren’t funny, or a Fuse producer stopped a bunch of teenage stoners on the streets of Manhattan, asking them “hey, you want to watch a tv show starring Mark Hoppus?!” I’m guessing the latter here.

To top it all off, Different Spin featured some awesome guests, including Nelly (he’s still around?), and musical guests Far East Movement performed their annoying song “Fly Like a G6.” A few weeks ago, a girl actually told me I was fly like a G6. I just nodded and walked away, guessing it was a compliment.

2010 Dallas Cowboys finished

Photo: mkrob.com
Surely this wasn't how Jerry Jones envisioned the season playing out for his Cowboys.

How ‘bout them Cowboys? Dallas owner Jerry Jones had aspirations that his team would end their season in the friendly home confines of his magnificent Cowboys Stadium, the home of Super Bowl XLV this February.

Well, he sort of gets his wish. But the problem for him is that the Cowboys’ season is ending after only six weeks. Thanks to a miserable 1-5 start, capped off by the Monday night loss to the rival Giants and losing star QB Tony Romo to a broken collar bone, it’s officially time to pronounce the much-hyped 2010 Dallas Cowboys DOA.

So what went wrong in this bust of a season for America’s Team? On paper they have arguably the most talent-laden roster in the game. Therefore, the onus lies solely on the broad shoulders of the coaching staff, led by the buffoon Wade Phillips.

Watching the Cowboys against the Giants tonight, I saw a team in disarray-especially on defense. On a few occasions, Big D’s D was caught with its pants down, as safeties were left to singlehandedly cover the lethal Giants receivers on a few of Eli Manning’s TD passes. All in all, the Giants torched Dallas for 500 yards of offense en route to the win. This is unacceptable coaching for a team that had such high hopes entering this season.

With this much talent, Jones has to realize that at the very least a competent coach would be all his squad needs to fulfill his Super Bowl hopes. But he doesn’t have to worry about the coaching situation until next year, because for a 1-5 Dallas team, this season is already over.