Newsweek - National News, World News, Health, Technology, Entertainment and more... | Newsweek.com

The All Starr Blog

RSS
SPONSORED BY

Author

Mark Starr

Categories




Links

Featured Postings

My Ohio State Nightmare

11:28 AM, September 2, 2008 | Comments (6)
After just one weekend of college football my Ohio State nightmares have begun. I don't believe that the BCS has yet figured out a way to factor in the perennial weakness of the the Big Ten. That once-mighty conference opened up in typical fashion, beating...

The Belmont Stakes: I'm Rooting for 'Big Red'

10:58 AM, June 6, 2008 | Comments (7)

Starr Gazing: My Baseball Fantasy

11:50 AM, April 4, 2008 | Comments (0)

Archives

See All from February
Previous
February 2008
Next
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
242526272829 
       

  • Mano A Mano: Our Pats-Giants Showdown

    Mark Starr | Feb 1, 2008 06:01 AM
    As a Bostonian (and longtime Pats season ticket-holder), I have spent the entire season "talking" NFL with senior editor Devin Gordon, a New Yorker and football diehard. Two days before the big game, we go public with our latest e-mail exchange:

    Mark: When last you and and I conversed publicly, so to speak, it was in Newsweek's year-end issue, where we discussed the divergent paths of our hometown teams. Mine: up, up, up. Yours: down, down, down. The Giants had just been spanked at home by the Redskins and I'm guessing you thought their chances of making it to the Super Bowl were about as slim as the chances of your beloved Mets landing Johan Santana. What in tarnation happened? It had to be something more than Jessica Simpson and Mexico.

    Devin: We're back, baby! No matter what happens on Sunday (and let's just say I don't expect good things for Big Blue down in Arizona) at the very least, the events of the past two weeks have given me the strength to remove the brown paper bag from my head. As a lifelong Mets fan, I feel like I've got a baseball-specific brand of Tourette's syndrome: every hour or two, for no reason at all, I blurt out "Johan Santana!" and then giggle nervously for about 30 seconds. I'm so excited about Johan that I've actually had trouble focusing on the Super Bowl this year, though another explanation could be that I'm a Jets fan, not a Giants fan. Ordinarily it would churn my stomach to root for the G-Men, but this game is about more than football, more than sports. My wife is from Boston, so I'm partial to your lovely little town--how's that for condescending?--but this newfangled universe in which Boston wins absolutely everything is getting ridiculous. Enough already. Order must be restored. In the name of New York pride, I'm crossing party lines just this once and pulling for the Giants. Not that it'll do any good, of course. I smell a blowout.

    Mark: This is supposed to be football, but I've got to get my "oye como va" moment. I think the Red Sox simply outmaneuvered the Yankees, a team that really could have used Santana at the top of the rotation, until young Steinbrenner got his back up--and the Mets were the ultimate beneficiaries. I know this "Boston rules" thing must be tough to take from afar, especially from close afar in New York. But even though you are a young and callow man, you know your football history. And you know what we in Boston have endured. I went to the very first Pats game in 1960 and let me tell you, there is a reason they were known as the Patsies. When they went to their one AFL Championship Game, they went with a 7-6-1 record and lost to San Diego 51-10 with the Chargers passing for more than 300 yards and rushing for more than 200. Since the NFL-AFL merger, 38 seasons now, do you know how many times the Patriots have had the worst record in the league? Should average out to about one time per team. We've been number one worst four times (and drafted Jim Plunkett, Ken Sims, Irving Fryar and Drew Bledsoe for our troubles). We've suffered.

    There are about 30 of us who ride a bus to Foxborough for every game. During certain seasons, it was me and my cousin Jack and empty seats on the bus and in the stadium. We'd get on the phone Friday and start begging folks to come--50 yard line seats, 20 rows up--and come up empty. We've suffered plenty. I'd say Sunday is a day for Giants fans to suffer except I think they are in the "just happy to be there" mode. I am already on record in my column saying I expect the Patriots to dominate. Now I know there can be funny bounces, lucky breaks, bad calls and upsets. I actually picked the Pats to upset the Rams six years ago because I thought it was a good matchup for New England. (It wasn't just a "homer" pick; I had picked the Steelers to beat the Patriots in the AFC Championship.) But I don't see anywhere that the Giants have the advantage. Is there a plausible upset scenario that doesn't depend on those funny bounces etc.?     More
    Tag(s): ,
    Comments (0) | Blog Tools

  • Paris Hilton Party Brings Out Young NFL Stars

    Editors | Feb 1, 2008 01:42 AM

     Blogger and NEWSWEEK Contributor Robert Cox continues to file from the Super Bowl:

    After a long day running around the Phoenix metro area - checking in at the NFL Media Center, stopping by the ESPN Radio Set (Mike Tarico was interviewing Jerry Rice) and over the Biltmore Hotel looking for wherever it is Mike and the Mad Dog were broadcasting back to New York on WFAN (I never did find them)--I grabbed dinner at small bistro in Scottsdale and then headed over to the 944 Magazine party hosted by Paris Hilton. Some of the NFL's brightest young stars were on hand like Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings, Trent Edwards of the Buffalo Bills and Luis Castillo of the San Diego Chargers. Also there was Colt Brennan from the University of Hawaii. Apparently classes haven't started at UH so he is free to spend a week partying at the Super Bowl. 50 Cent was on hand, but I missed his grand entrance. He was scheduled to perform later that night at the party. Also on hand was Dennis Rodman, Jenny McCarthy, Larry Johnson, Kim Kardashian and many other celebrities that I did not recognize (but caused fans around me to swoon).

    I stood outside on the Red Carpet for a while and jostled my way into position to take some photos which I've uploaded to my Super Bowl XLII Flickr account which is linked here.

     

     More
    Comments (0) | Blog Tools
  • Advertisement