Hank Williams Jr. is, as they say, so last year. His song “Are You Ready for Some Football” has riled up Monday night gridiron fans since 1989. But now he’s out.
In his place, with the focus on Sunday night football on NBC, is teen-popstress Pink, whose song “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” (sung to the tune of “I Hate Myself for Loving You” by Joan Jett) will now open the national broadcast.
The only reason any of this is important is to illustrate that this definitely isn’t your grandfather’s game of football.
But when did this country go stone-cold crazy for football? The sport has always been popular, but only recently has the overwhelming pop culture barrage taken over the collective attention of everyone from hard-core sports fans to teeny-bopper mallrats to kindly old grandmas.
Let us measure the current infatuation with football.
MTV continues to show “Two-A-Days,” a seedy “reality” show about the Hoover High School Buccaneers football team in Hoover, Ala., while NBC readies “Friday Night Lights,” a one-hour drama airing on, um, Tuesdays, at 7 p.m. beginning Oct. 3.
Then there’s “Gridiron Gang” a “Longest Yard”-type movie starring The Rock and Xzibit based on a true story about a ragtag bunch of kids at juvie forming a team. And “Invincible,” with “Marky” Mark Wahlberg, about the rags-to-pads story of Vincent Papale, a bartender turned wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Not to mention: People now refer to the cover subject of “Madden NFL ’07” as the new jinx instead of Sports Illustrated, as if the Seattle Seahawks’ Shaun Alexander making the cover of a video game box might doom his season.
And really, will the guy sitting next to you fretting about whether to cut Kurt Warner or David Carr from his fantasy football team please pipe down? The other 14 million of us already have our rosters set.
Check out the real thing this weekend when Colorado and Colorado State face off at Mile High at 3 p.m. on Saturday, with the game broadcasting on OLN. Also on Saturday, Air Force takes on No. 11 Tennessee at 5 p.m.
On Sunday, the NFL game starts in full, with the Broncos taking on the St. Louis Rams at 11 a.m. on KCNC-4. And NBC’s Sunday night broadcast starts with the Manning brothers, as Peyton and the Indianapolis Colts take on Eli and the New York football Giants at 6 p.m. on KUSA-9.
What we’d like to see
The U.S. basketball team failed to win gold in another international competition. Alarming news for stateside sports fans. But worse yet were the dorky talking heads regurgitating the tired line about how American basketball players don’t know the “fundamentals of the game.” That’s all bull. Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, etc., all know the game. The problem with the U.S. at the world championships: No one could consistently, and under pressure, shoot the 3. Hello, Nuggets management: There’s a lesson here somewhere.
The couch
On: Now that the Andre Agassi storyline has faded from view, more drama is kicking in at the U.S. Open. Roger Federer, who quietly has not lost a set at the Open this year, is so good his last name should become a verb, as in, “Whoa, the gentleman from France was just Federered by that forehand volley.” Federer was to play James Blake in a late match on Thursday night. And Russia’s Maria Sharapova, who on Wednesday got by France’s Tatiana Golovin in a quarterfinal match, was criticized by her opponent for grunting too loudly and generally being rude (jealous much, Tatiana?). The women’s semifinals air on KCNC-4 today at 9 a.m., the men’s semis Saturday at 10 a.m.
Off: Want a competitive mountain bike ride this weekend, but can’t decide on the discipline? Head to Red Feather Lakes on Saturday and Sunday for the 11th Beaver Meadows MTB Festival at Beaver Meadows Resort. Races in three disciplines are offered – cross country, short track and downhill, for beginners to pros. Check www.ramscycling.com for more information. Or try two Bolder Boulder-qualifying races on Sunday: Arvada’s DDRC Harvest Festival 5-mile and 3-mile run/walk (www.ddrcco.com) or the Fort Lupton Trapper Days 5K run/walk predict race (fortlupton.org).
Around town
Do not read the following as an apology for the Rockies. The team’s perpetual three-year plan is now in something like its 12th year, and the “we’ll get ’em next season” mantra started after they faded prematurely in a very winnable NL West division. The roster being showcased this weekend in a quickie four-game homestand at Coors Field is a good one. Jason Jennings, Jeff Francis, Matt Holliday, Garrett Atkins, Chris Iannetta, Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton: that’s an awesome lineup. Well, it might be, eventually. Check the Rox tonight at 7 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m., and on Sunday at 1 p.m. when Francis (11-11, 3.79 ERA) takes on former Rockies hurler Pedro Astacio (3-5, 5.83).
Weak in review
Stop the reels! Alert the Emmy committee! After the Montana State-CU game Saturday, CBS4 ran a thrilling exposé explaining that the Buffs paid the Bobcats $285,000 to play in Boulder. Of course, this is about as common in college football as a touchdown. And never mind that Air Force will be paid $850,000 to play at Tennessee on Saturday. Perhaps that scandal-hungry TV crew can do a follow-up on Montana State paying Division II Chadron State $40,000 to play in Bozeman this weekend.
