nowandlater

I can understand the appeal of Tony Romo. But I also can understand the hatred. Troy Aikman is dull as doornails, but he just blends in with the action. He's innocuous. And Joe Buck has improved a lot as a broadcaster since the terrible Giants call 10 years ago. So I don't mind him. Romo actually brings the entertainment factor. But it just seems like he's trying too hard. Maybe he could tone it down???

I live in Hollywood, and I recently learned that Bill Simmons and his The Ringer staff are headquartered nearby me (at the Sunset Gower Studios, fyi), and I'm pretty sure all of them are pro-Patriots (whether they are actually pro-Patriots or not).

There was a lot of complaints about the brother-vs.-brother angle, but, really, that was really crazy that that would happen. (Too bad Steve Sabol didn't live to see that.) Also, the blackout and Beyonce. That was a really great Super Bowl, even though I was rooting for Jim Harbaugh as a person. But then again, I hate the 49ers, so I'm glad they lost. Also, this is a great video to show which TV hosts reacted crazily to the Vikings win, and which didn't.

Ravens?

It's been 5 years since our last Peyton Manning- or Tom Brady-free Super Bowl. In fact, 13 of the last 14 Super Bowls have featured Peyton, Brady or Roethlisberger. (Or 14 of the last 16.) Geez.

It's really annoying.

Ha! I fell asleep, too, at halftime. Geez, that was terrible, I'm glad I missed the second half.

The Rams were 3-4 this year at the Coliseum (3-5, counting the playoff loss). And 8-1 away from the coliseum. I think this team is better on the road, even in the cold of Philadelphia. (I have no idea how "California kid" Goff will do in bad weather, but the Rams worked him out in the pouring rain before he was drafted.) Or maybe they are distracted by all the celebrities, like "diehard"* Rams fans Rob Lowe and Snoop Dogg. (*In case you missed the joke, Lowe and Snoop are diehard fans of many NFL teams. Lowe is big on the Cowboys and Colts, too.)

I read an interesting observation recently about Gruden. Anybody agree? (I think McDonough has just an utterly terribly boring voice.) As for Rodgers, one of the main reasons NFL teams were scared of him was because he was a Jeff Tedford QB. Think back to April 2005. Tedford had had a number of QBs he coached end up getting picked in the first round. And all were a disappointment. (Trent Dilfer, David Carr, Joey Harrington, Akili Smith and Kyle Boller). So "Tedford" became a bad name in NFL coaching circles. Interestingly, Tedford, now the head coach at Fresno State, has known Derek Carr for two decades via his older brother. Tedford also recruited Jared Goff, who enrolled at Cal a few weeks after Tedford was fired.

I've seen quite a few people defend Gruden's post-Super Bowl record by saying he never had a good QB. Yet this is what I think about when I think about Jon Gruden. This article from April 2005: https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2005/04/10/rodgers-performs-for-gruden/

Yeah, it's odd that Kimmel doesn't get enough credit for his interviewing skills. (Actually, many years ago, Entertainment Weekly's top TV critic said he's surprisingly great at interviewing female guests. What I really like about Kimmel is that he gets a really substantial interview out of his guests, especially with the second guests. Other late-night hosts aren't really that great. Conan, who's been doing it the longest, seems to set up his interview for a viral YouTube clip quote thing. Re: Jake Byrd. I love him. As long as he does it a few times a year, I don't mind. Kimmel isn't overdoing him like James Corden has overdone Carpool Karaoke, which is why reporters always fall for it a decade and a half later.

Holy shit! I looked it up. The Steelers have had a primetime game in 5 of the last 6 weeks. That's not as bad as 3 straight weeks of Dolphins primetime games, but why the hell does the NFL do this with the schedule. It gets tiring.

Harry turns 14 next month.

The annoying thing to me is when the media implies that Kimmel has never really tackled politics until recently...he's always tackled politics...he's made fun of Trump in subversive ways ...even in the summer of 2015...he's just doesn't do it on the level that Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers....But he ain't no Jimmy Fallon. He's always talked politics. Every night. But probably more in a Johnny Carson way. --The funny thing is that Kimmel's detractors (and his detractors are so pissed off at him) keep saying that as a celebrity, he should stay in his lane...the irony is rich. --In Kimmel's first year of his talk show, in 2003, John Ritter (who was starring on ABC's 8 Simple Rules and who was supportive of Kimmel) suddenly died. And Kimmel talked about him passing, and he cried. I wish that clip was online. But whenever Kimmel would go on his good friend Stern's show, Howard would play that clip to make fun of him. So this past week, a conservative street artist put up these posters of Kimmel crying...so he's essentially making fun of Kimmel on the same level that Kimmel's good friend Howard Stern made fun of him...

I also posted this on the Lawrence thread...Howard Stern and Jerry Seinfeld talked Lawrence and Rachel....from September 25...

Jerry Seinfeld was on the Howard Stern show on September 25, and he said the following:

Letterman talked about this visit back when he was on Howard Stern in August. (a great listen, if you can find it). Also, kimmel is close with Paul...they watched the eclipse together after having a meal in NYC.

For the first time in years, I 1) woke up late (9 am, around the time that Gameday ends) and 2) spent 5 hours outside and away from my TV on a college football Saturday). Even though I watched (most of) Gameday at 3 pm PT, which was weird, while simultaneously watching actual football games, I feel like I didn't miss much. My Cal team's kickoff was 7:30 pm PT...which doesn't sound bad (to East Coasters who have 8 pm or later kickoffs their time), but as a West Coaster, I like having games end before 9 pm PT. So that I can do other weekend stuff.

Problem is the coliseum is a big-ass stadium, so it's going to look bad. I was outside yesterday (about 8 miles from the L.A. Coliseum) and it was hot, hot, hot. I couldn't imagine sitting in that old-ass stadium. (I DVR'd the game.) Also, they charge $80 to $100 for parking. There is an above-ground metro subway that goes by the stadium, but it's tiny. USC attendance looked terrible during the down years. (But playing in primetime helps a lot with attendance. Also being good helps a lot.) I think the Rams can receover if they are decent. I went to the first practice in the Coliseum last year, and it was crowded as fuck. Then people stopped showing up after last year's shitshow. They just need to not be entertaining. (People are shocked by Jared Goff's play, but his head coach last year was Jeff Fisher, his offensive coordinator first became an offensive coordinator 4 months before Goff was drafted, and his QB coach was never a QB coach prior to the 2015 season. Meanwhile, Goff this year has an actual offended-minded guy with experience -- albeit, he's only 31 years old -- and his QB coach was a QB coach during the 1994 season, when Goff was born.) Meanwhile, the 49ers attendance issues are due to it being in a baking oven and really, really hard to get to from other parts of the Bay Area. Don't know how accurate this is: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2016/attendance.htm

Stern is 63. He has daughters ages 34, 31 and 24. He's sort of a different person nowadays and is known for doing these long, probing interviews that could last from 1 to 2 hours without interruption. He's had these interviews with everybody from Lance Armstrong to Charlize Theron to Scarlett Johansson. His interviews got a great writeup in the New York Times last year. Anyways, here's Rachel's interview with Howard from May 24. (It starts at the 1:56:24 mark, if that link doesn't take you directly there.)

David Letterman was on Howard Stern yesterday for a 94-minute interview and Dave said he's a devoted viewer of MSNBC's primetime lineup, including his old pal Brian Williams. But Letterman and Stern are huge fans of Maddow.

I watched Monday's episode, and it was a "Greatest Hits" episode, like they'd do on '80s sitcoms to fill time. I was wondering if Wednesday's episode was brand new, so I tuned in, and she was talking about Jeb for what seemed like a really long time. And I again wondered if this was a pre-taped bit, which would be odd with all the stuff that was going on in the world. But seeing the reaction to tonight's show made me watch it semi-live for the first time in a while.

Chris Kattan? http://pagesix.com/2017/05/24/chris-kattan-thinks-he-could-play-melania-or-weiner-on-snl/

Technically, SNL has hired part-Asian actors in the past (Rob Schneider, Fred Armisen)...but it would be cool if, after 42 years, SNL hired an Asian person, or somebody known for being of Asian descent. At UC Berkeley, which Chris Pine and I attended at the same time (no, I didn't know him), students of Asian descent have outnumbered whites for decades. In fact, the two actors who have played Sulu are former UC Berkeley students. (George Takei went to UC Berkeley before transferring to UCLA. John Cho graduated in 1996.)