Super Bowl XLV recap, 2011 Royal Rumble recap, and more!!

These four things I know are true…

- Aaron Rodgers is an elite quarterback in the NFL.

- Vince McMahon does fear TNA Wrestling.

- The Black Eyed Peas are now the worst halftime act in Super Bowl history.

- And, I’m Aaron Goins. All my thoughts on those topics and so much more (including yogurt)… in The Highlight Reel!

NEWS and NOTES
**Super Bowl XLV has came and went with a lot of immortal Super Bowl moments (some good and some bad) having occurred before our very eyes. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-25, behind the MVP performance of quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

The game itself was tension-filled and I thought was one of the more entertaining games in recent memory. Green Bay jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead and lead at halftime 21-10. While Aaron Rodgers was accurate, Ben Roethlisberger (known as Rapistberger in some circles) was anything but as he threw two interceptions leading to 14 Packer points. But, injuries to keep Packers cornerback Charles Woodson and wide receiver Donald Driver along with Pittsburgh scoring late gave the Steelers momentum heading into the second half.

Of course, before the second half, the Black Eyed Peas set the “lets have more relevant music at halftime” movement back 100 years with one of the worst halftime shows in the history of the halftime show. Joined awkwardly by Guns-n-Roses guitarist Slash and Usher, the Black Eyed Peas performed a medley of their hits while dressed like extras from Tron. It was God-awful and made me briefly envy the deaf. Of course, Christina Aguilera’s butchered and botched attempt at the national anthem to start the game wasn’t wonderful either.

The Steelers cut the score to 21-17 in the third quarter. Green Bay and Pittsburgh went back and forth on the field before the Packers scored on a Greg Jennings touchdown in the fourth quarter after a Steeler fumble to make the score 28-17. The Steelers connected on a touchdown and two-point conversion to cut the lead to within a field goal late. But, Green Bay tacked on a field goal and the Packers defense stood tall when it mattered most to seal the deal. The Packers won their fourth Super Bowl crown and Aaron Rodgers firmly established himself as one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL.

Super Bowl XLV lived up to the hype for me. Great game that was competitive to the very end and ultimately was a win for the hero over the rapist. Congrats to the Green Bay packers on their victory in Super Bowl XLV. Now, hopefully it won’t be too long before we have new football memories to enjoy as I hope the looming NFL strike never comes to fruition. Surely the players union and owners can make sure they don’t screw up a sure thing and the NFL will be back on schedule this August.

**Oh, and once again, I have evidence to go along with my personal bias in saying that Michelle Beadle is absolute awesomeness on ESPN. When the playoffs began and everybody was talking about the Patriots, Steelers, Falcons, and Eagles, it was Michelle Beadle who said the Packers (and her beloved Jets) would be the team to beat in the Super Bowl.


Michelle Beadle is awesomeness at all levels. Fact. And, even bundled up in frigid downtown Fort Worth for the Super Bowl Week editions of SportsNation, she’s still smoking hot too. Another fact.

**The Royal Rumble came and went last week with a couple of big returns that reeked of desperation and a new star pushed to the moon (way too soon). One prediction I made for the Rumble match seemed to be correct too: the 2011 Royal Rumble match was one of the worst Rumble matches ever.

Alberto Del Rio won the 2011 Royal Rumble match when he eliminated Santino Marella to earn a main event spot at WrestleMania XXVII. Yes, he eliminated Santino Marella last; not John Cena, Randy Orton, or somebody else established as a viable contender. But, Del Rio won and that was a differentiation from the normalcy of WWE main event matches. Of course, will the push of Alberto Del Rio last? I fear that it won’t and it is not necessarily Del Rio’s fault.

WWE is putting all their eggs in the WrestleMania basket again with Del Rio in a main event spot. However, WrestleMania XXVII will ultimately be a bust because of the poor roster and lack of interest in the current product. So, when the event isn’t as successful as Vince McMahon wants, someone will have to be blamed. Rather than blaming The Undertaker (who will also be in a main event match), Randy Orton, John Cena, the booking staff, or himself, McMahon will blame the new guy Alberto Del Rio when things end up being terrible as all other recent WWE events have been. It’s happened recently to Jack Swagger, Vladimir Kozlov, Kofi Kingston, and will happen to Del Rio too.

Of course, the push of Alberto Del Rio was only part of the story at the 2011 Royal Rumble. With TNA days away from revealing the second coming of “They” and opposition for Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Eric Bischoff’s Immortal heel faction, Vince McMahon and WWE showed that they truly view TNA Wrestling as a threat when they swooped in and signed Booker T and Kevin Nash to multi-year multi-million dollar contracts. WWE deemed them both too old and worthless until TNA was about to use them in one of the hottest angles in the entire industry. Then, Vince McMahon couldn’t live without them and used both in epic ways at the Royal Rumble: a 50-second appearance in the Rumble for Booker and three-minute appearance for Nash in the Rumble. The move reeked of desperation and focused TNA to push their younger talent. Instead of a Main Event Mafia reunion and another push of old established names, AJ Styles, Beer Money, and Kazarian joined forces with Kurt Angle. This attempt to sabotage TNA Wrestling may have been the best thing that could have happened to the only professional wrestling company left to battle WWE in America.

**On February 27th, the 83rd annual Academy Awards will be announced in Hollywood. For the first time in recent years, I can safely say that I haven’t a clue as to what should be named Best Picture at the Oscars. Of the ten films nominated for Best Picture, I have seen two: Inception and True Grit. My favorite film of 2010, The Town, did not get a nomination. The two favorites, The Social Network and The King’s Speech, are both films I’d like to see but can not bring myself to actual rent or go to the theaters to see as I’m just not interested in them enough. Ditto for Black Swan, The Kids Are Alright, Toy Story 3, and Winter’s Bone. I’d love to see The Fighter and 127 Hours but haven’t yet gotten around to seeing either of them. While I have no idea which film should get Best Picture, I can say that I firmly know what should win Worst Picture the night before.

The 31st Golden Raspberry Awards will be handed out the night before the Oscars and, in my opinion, there is a clear cut winner for Worst Picture out of the five nominees: Vampires Suck. It is one thing to be a spoof of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (also nominated for Worst Picture). But, to be an unfunny spoof that wastes time and is unable to successfully mock a movie that lends itself to mockery so easily is simply unforgivable and worthy of immortality as the worst film of 2010.

**Washington Redskins’ owner Daniel Snyder is a petty little man who I probably shouldn’t be mocking at this moment. After all, he will sue you. Case in point: Daniel Snyder’s pending lawsuit against the Washington City Paper and sports writer Dave McKenna over an article titled The Cranky Redskin Fan’s Guide to Dan Snyder.

Snyder, a man who can not handle criticism, has taken the once-proud Washington Redskins franchise, and turned it into one of the biggest jokes in the sporting world during his tenure as the owner of the Redskins. In a November issue of the Washington City Paper, McKenna released the article for a circulation of almost 1,000 readers to enjoy. McKenna listed the laundry list of Snyder’s publicly known blunders without a single fabrication or falsehood listed. In turn, Snyder as turned his team of lawyers on this small paper with threats to sue and put the paper out of business over the article.

Daniel Snyder is the worst owner in professional sports. Regardless of how much more inept plenty of owners and general managers are in sports, none have been so petty that they have actually threatened the livelihood of a small newspaper and clamed disparaging remarks made about then like Daniel Snyder has done in Washington. If this case does reach a court of law, I hope whatever judge gets this case presented in front of him laughs Snyder and his lawyers out of the courthouse. Ridiculous.

**Congrats to Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk, Shannon Sharpe, Richard Dent, Chris Hanburger, Les Richter, and Ed Sabol on their upcoming inductions into the NFL Hall of Fame. Announced on Super Bowl Saturday, these men all have receiver the honor that everybody in football someday hopes to achieve as they will be immortalized in the hallowed halls of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio in August.

**I don’t like Justin Bieber. Honestly, I just don’t like this snot-nosed punk one bit. I don’t have a reason either as much as I just really don’t like his smug smile and self-confident attitude. He needs a beating. I really wish this punk would hit maturity and turn off his prepubescent fans sooner rather than later. However, with a new movie, album, and autobiography set to be released within the next weeks, he is going to be appearing all over television in the near future. With that knowledge, I’m already dreading the possible appearances this dweeb is going to be making on my favorite shows. Why this fad couldn’t end as quickly as Homeless Ted Williams Mania did is beyond me.

CHEERS and JEERS
Superstar of the Week: Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers finally broke free of Brett Favre’s shadow in Green Bay with a Super Bowl performance that will never be forgotten by Green Bay Packer Nation. In an MVP winning performance, Rodgers threw for 304 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions during Green Bay’s 31-25 victory. Between winning the Super Bowl, the Super Bowl MVP honor, and finally establishing himself firmly as one of the elite quarterbacks in all of the NFL, Aaron Rodgers earned the replica World Heavyweight Championship title he draped over his shoulder at the end of the Super Bowl. Aaron Rodgers is truly on top of the world right now.

Jerk of the Week: Kevin Nash

We all know how I feel about liars and hypocrites. Even though I met the man once and he was a nice guy, I feel justified in my mockery of his fragility physically after the actions last week of Kevin Nash. Since he debuted with TNA Wrestling in 2005, Kevin Nash took every opportunity he could to bash Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment. Nash said repeatedly how much he despised McMahon and (justly) criticized the company’s decisions when it came to personnel and booking moves. So, on January 29th, Kevin Nash looked like one of the biggest hypocrites in the history of the wrestling business when signed with World Wrestling Entertainment at the age of 51 for “one last run.”

Kevin Nash has came out this week praising WWE and Vince McMahon on Twitter and in interviews all over the internet. Nash bashed his former employer, TNA Wrestling, and said he was looking forward to his “last run” in WWE. His “last run” has gotten off to an amazing start thus far: a three-minute entrance in the Royal Rumble match and not so much as a whisper of his name since then. Meanwhile, TNA was rumored to have been bringing Nash in for a role in the main event storyline. Wouldn’t that have been the better way to go out with your “last run”?

Kevin Nash left TNA in the same vein LeBron James left Cleveland. He didn’t tell his boss, Dixie Carter, he was following the money when he signed with Vince McMahon. Then, like LeBron, he’s used Twitter and the media to bash the place he once claimed to love so much. Kevin Nash has acted this week like the scumbag that many in the business have said Nash was for over a decade. Frankly, I hope that Nash has another “Down goes Nash” moment complete with another blown quad because that would be karma striking down a seven-foot hypocrite.

POWER RANKINGS - Favorite Super Bowl Lead-Out Programs
5. The Simpsons / American Dad - 2005
4. House - 2008
3. Glee - 2011
2. Friends - 1996
1. The Office - 2009

BIG A RECOMMENDS…
Breyers YoCrunch Fruit Parfaits - available in grocery stores everywhere


These are wicked awesome. Thanks to some coupons, I recently tried these and can safely say that I am hooked. The strawberry and peach ones are the best.

WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK…
I didn’t learn anything really. Not going to lie. Maybe I’ll learn something between now and next time… maybe.

- Aaron Goins