I'm very pleased that this show was picked up for 2 more seasons. Season 3 was better than season 2, it was less rushed and less forced. And now, think of the drama available now that loyalties have been split.

Bonus Linkb: Here's the Friday Night Lights creator, Peter Berg, on the BS Report with Bill Simmons.

Michael Lewis comments here and here in the Baltimore Sun on the draft of Michael Oher by the Balitmore Ravens in the first round. Lewis' book, The Blind Side, tells the tale of Oher who was earmarked at 16 to be a first round pick at offensive tackle. "It's so seldom that things work out the way they're supposed to work."

I missed this great news yesterday, but Friday Night Lights will be on for 2 more seasons. They're going to shoot the seasons together, which means even if next year's ratings go down, they'll have another season to show anyway. 13 episodes per season is a little light, but I like Friday Night Lights a lot and you should too.

The new pact covers the show's fourth and fifth seasons, which will consist of 13 segs apiece. It continues the innovative partnership between the Peacock and the satcaster that saved "FNL" from cancellation this season, the third for the Peabody-winning series.

Obviously.

For many people (not from Pittsburgh), The Boss sliding across the stage crunching his nuts on a camera will be one of the things they remember most about Super Bowl 44. The face he makes while getting up, surprise crossed with delight crossed with 'I'm the Boss', is excellent. Click the photo for a gif of the action.


(Thanks, Brian and Seth)

Ooops! (Thanks, Agent M Loves Tacos)

Portfolio's Jeff Bercovici gets catty while commenting on a WSJ.com article on today's Super Bowl color commentator John Madden.

Of course, Futterman can't come right out and say that it's time Madden confined his ramblings to the day room of a retirement home, lest the AARP feast on his flesh, so I've included translations from the newspaperese into English.

Of course, Bercovici can't come right out and say that he hates John Madden because...well, I don't know why, but instead he does the, "Here's what Futterman said, and here's what I think it means," gimmick. As a media critic Bercovici is empowered to just go right after Madden himself so I don't know why he doesn't.

In my opinion, there's one announcer, above all else, that needs regular media flayings, and that's Joe Morgan. Go get him, Berovici.

If you had to choose one announcer to do a commentary of your life that only you could hear, would it be Madden or Morgan? I'd choose Madden because Morgan is so pompous in his incorrect opinions. Plus, Madden would make it seem like a comic book. BAM!

This is a dirty play. We're not talking about the NFL, college, or even high school, this looks like Pop Warner. And it requires the coach to be part of the ruse. What's interesting to me are the different versions of it on Youtube, and how there are a few kids who sell the play really well, and a few who start running too early. In this example, the QB stone sells it, which makes the play work better.

Adding: I meant to mention that just because it's dirty doesn't mean it's not funny as hell.

ESPN The Magazine has a maddeningly uninformative feature on the high school football team Buzz Bissinger followed around for a year to write his instant classic 'Friday Night Lights'. Unfortunately, they were only able to get information on 4 or 5 players and a couple coaches. If you're going to do a where are they now, you have to give me a little bit more than this. Thanks for nothing, ESPN The Magazine.

Late last week, Bill Simmons put out another mailbag. One of the questions got him to riff on the best sports journalism he's ever read. I thought it would be a neat post to find all of those articles online (since everything is online these days). I spent about an hour and a half finding most of the articles, except for a few which were more tricky. Imagine my disappointment and frustration this morning when I saw (via kottke, obviously) that The Millions had done it faster, and, well, better. They found two I couldn't, but didn't link to the abstracts of the New Yorker articles. I should also mention how great the SI Vault is. They've taken 54 years of articles and put them online. For free. Any other magazine that's been publishing that long and does not have their archives online is living in the past.

Here's what I found, click over to The Millions to see what books they're in. (Note also, I starred the links that The Millions found that I couldn't, just to show how much more bad ass they are than me).

"Federer as Religious Experience" (Roger Federer) and "Tennis Player Michael Joyce's Professional Artistry as a Paradigm for Certain Stuff about Choice, Freedom, Discipline, Joy, Grotesquerie, and Human Completeness" (Michael Joyce) - David Foster Wallace (Plus "Consider the Lobster" as mentioned by the reader in the mailbag.


"Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu" (Ted Williams) - John Updike

(Abstract only) "Down the Drain" (Steve Blass) - Roger Angell (Not sure if this is the 'Gone for Good' mentioned in Simmons' post, but both are about Steve Blass.) Still looking for full text.

"What Do You Think of Ted Williams Now?" (Ted Williams) - Richard Ben Cramer*

"Lawdy, Lawdy, He's Great" (Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali) - Mark Kram

"The Silent Season of a Hero" (Joe Dimaggio) - Gay Talese*

"Ego" (Muhammad Ali) - Norman Mailer. From March, 1971 Life Magazine. Still looking for full text.

"Pure Heart" (Secretariat) - William Nack

"The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved" (The Kentucky Derby) - Hunter S. Thompson

"Medora Goes to the Game" (Going to a ballgame with daughter) - George Plimpton

"Agincourt and After" (Look back at 1975 baseball season) - Roger Angell. Still looking for full text.

"Distance" (Bob Gibson) - Roger Angell. Still looking for full text.

"Magic Act" (Magic Johnson) - Charlie Pierce. From GQ, still looking for full text.

"Holy Ground" (Agusta National) - Wright Thompson

"Center Court" - (Wimbeldon) - John McPhee. Still searching for full text.

"Raised By Women To Conquer Men" (Jimmy Connors) - Frank DeFord

"The Loser" (Floyd Patterson) - Gay Talese

"A Voice Crying In The Wildernesst" (Rick Barry) - Tony Kornheiser

"Jordan’s Moment" (Michael Jordan) - David Halberstam. The Millions linked to a different piece, but I think this is it.

"The Mourning Anchor" (Bryant Gumble) - Rick Reilly

"Ali and His Entourage" (Muhammad Ali) - Gary Smith

"As Time Runs Out" (Jim Valvano) - Gary Smith

And here's my favorite: "A Name on the Wall" (Bob Kalsu) - William Knack

Anybody else have any nominations?