By Chris Mottram

Chris will be blogging from somewhere in Arizona all week where apparently a game is happening. He promises to not once mention anything that might actually occur on the field of play.

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Previously: I'm a Stalker at Media Day and I'm a Stalker on Radio Row

(All images by Shawn Schrager, SportingNews.com)

By Chris Mottram

Chris will be blogging from somewhere in Arizona all week where apparently a game is happening. He promises to not once mention anything that might actually occur on the field of play.

For unknown reasons, an invite was required in order to enter the "athlete and talent gift room." Because we are neither athletic nor talented, we did not have an invite. Nevertheless, we were able to finagle our way in. Probably due mostly to my good looks and the fact that my compadre ("The Bulldog") told the doorman I'm from One Tree Hill.

Once inside, I was incredibly disappointed with the free stuff they're giving to the more fortunate this week. This isn't a comprehensive list, but basically there was age defying lotion, a Garner Fructis hair salon area, some cubic zirconia diamonds, a few watches that Larry Johnson would be ashamed just to look at, and Uggs.

And by "Uggs," I mean huge massive, size 18 Uggs (as modeled by Kristen -- Ugg's PR manager -- who was a lovely person and probably the highlight of the swag tour ... call me):

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For whatever reason, I was fascinated with the idea of men wearing Uggs. Mostly because I had no clue they made them for the male sex. But then again, up until yesterday I had no idea you could make $100,000 a week dealing crack rock, so I'm learning a lot out here.

By Chris Mottram

Chris will be blogging from somewhere in Arizona all week where apparently a game is happening. He promises to not once mention anything that might actually occur on the field of play.

It’s no secret that members of the sports media are not exactly physical specimens (with the obvious except of yours truly, although I’m not really part of the media). But being at my first major sporting event with credentials around my neck has helped me realize why many of these guys are at risk for heart disease: There is free food everywhere.

You can try to avoid it all you want, but you will inevitably fail.

You are welcomed by a table full of danishes and muffins upon walking into the media center in the morning. They couldn’t offer, say, a bagel or perhaps an English muffin. No, they had to go with the puff pastry product topped with some sort of colored sugar.

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Some time around 11 AM, this spread is replaced with an assortment of trail mix, chips, various Frito-Lay products and two choices of dip: Spinach and French Onion. If your arteries aren’t completely clogged yet, you can move about 50 feet to the popcorn cart which is conveniently placed near the entrance to Radio Row (sidenote: this is also the area where I had my first Colin Cowherd spotting. He even eats annoyingly).

Once in Radio Row, you can feel free to help yourself to about 2,000 tiny cups of Cold Stone ice cream. But now you’ve had desert before eating lunch, so you’re gonna want to hang a U-turn, and head back upstairs to get some of that free pizza.

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This, of course, creates a problem because now you have to come back down the escalator (don’t you DARE take the stairs). And you know what’s at the bottom of said escalator? That chips and dips table. And the popcorn cart. Followed by the ice cream.

So you get the idea. This, mixed with sitting on your butt for about 10 hours a day, is a devastating combo.

But there is hope. I totally saw Miss Nevada grubbin’ on some of that free pizza today. And she’s neither fat nor ugly.

By Brian Powell

How much is the Super Bowl worth to the network that covers it? Well, according to various sources, the ads alone for this year's telecast on FOX have generated more than $260 million in revenue for the network. The total for the national broadcast is expected to reach (only) about $225 million, but when you add in the local sales from all of FOX's affiliates that puts that number near the $260 million mentioned above.

So what can you expect from this year's advertising? Well, much like last year, that ads will seem to be toned down in nature. Since the Janet Jackson incident the quality of the commercials has drastically gone downhill, but maybe that's because my sense of humor doesn't mirror that of much of the viewing public. Ads in the past have been referred to as "crude and classless" and, quite frankly, those are the ones that made me laugh the most. Alas, it doesn't appear that we will get many like that this year.

Some of the highlights to look for:

- An E-Trade ad where a baby talks into a webcam (exciting)
- A Dell Computers ad where they are raising money for AIDS in Africa (heartstrings)
- A Planters Peanuts ad featuring a redheaded woman with a unibrow (I'm not kidding)
- A Pepsi ad with Justin Timberlake (of course)
- And one of the first ads released to the public, a Garmin ad in which Napolean uses the technology to travel the crowded streets of Paris ...



With commercials like that I may just have to pay attention to the entire game. That's no fun.

By Chris Mottram

Chris will be blogging from somewhere in Arizona all week where apparently a game is happening. He promises to not once mention anything that might actually occur on the field of play.

Yesterday, Larry Johnson informed me that his watch cost $300,000 dollars (and told me to sell crack if I'd like a similar watch). Today, I bumped into Dwayne Bowe (no big deal), and was blinded by his jewelry. Seriously, he was so iced out, his neck, ears, and both wrists all had chillbumps. I'd also imagine he eats so much shrimp, he got iodine poisoning. But that's neither here nor there. Observe the extravagance:

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And yes, I asked him how much all them jewels cost. The grand total was only $100,000. Ew, he's sooo poor.