Vladimir Putin pocketed Patriots Super Bowl ring

Vladimir Putin is back on the market fresh off his divorce, but now it looks like New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has some beef with him too. Kraft was honored at Carnegie Hall’s Medal of Excellence gala at the Waldorf-Astoria last Thursday when he told the audience that Putin took his Super Bowl XXXIX ring after a 2005 visit to St. Petersburg. “I took out the ring and showed it to [Putin], and he put it on and he goes, ‘I can kill someone in this ring,’” Kraft told the crowd. “I put my hand out and he put it in his pocket, and three KGB guys got around him and walked out.” After…

Tim Tebow to New England Patriots – fail or leap of faith?

Tim Tebow’s career in the NFL isn’t quite over yet, as Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots plan to sign him on Tuesday if he passes a physical.   The Patriots will sign Tebow because their offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel still believes he made the correct call when he drafted Tebow in the first round of the NFL draft in 2010, when he was the head coach for the Denver Broncos. It appears like Tebow could be Coach Belichick’s latest reclamation project. Some, like Randy Moss, work while others, like butt-slapping Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson, fail. Belichick also seems to really like messing with NY Jets Coach Rex Ryan. Ryan and the Jets cut Tebow…

Super Bowl 2012: Giants top Patriots 21-17

Eli Manning led the New York Giants to a 4th quarter come-from-behind victory over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI, the second time the Giants have upset the Patriots in the Super Bowl in four years. In a rematch of 2008’s Super Bowl XLII, Giants coach Tom Coughlin beat his friend and former colleague, Patriots coach Bill Belichick. Giants quarterback Eli Manning was named Super Bowl MPV for the second time. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady staked New England to a 10-9 lead at the end of the first half with Super Bowl record-breaking 96-yard touchdown drive. Brady broke Joe Montana’s Super Bowl record for consecutive completions and Kurt Warner’s record…

Eli Manning or Tom Brady: pick the elite Super Bowl QB

When Tom Brady and the New England Patriots face Eli Manning and the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, more will be decided than just which team is the best in the NFL. The game should also show who is the true elite quarterback. The controversy began last summer when Eli, answering a question posed by ESPN New York Radio host Michael Kay about his place among the league’s QBs, said he was in the same class as Brady. He took heat for the comment, considering he finished the 2010 season with a league-high 25 interceptions. But now Eli is making his critics eat their words, having led his injury-plagued 2011 Giants team from…

Super Bowl 2012 commercials: how to shoot a viral ad

The Vince Lombardi trophy isn’t the only thing at stake when the New England Patriots face the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI. This year, like every year, advertisers will be vying for the hearts and smiles of the big game’s equally big television audience with a slew of big-budget commercials. The ever-growing average cost of a 30-second spot during this year’s Super Bowl is valued at $3.5 million, and viewers have come to demand a commensurate entertainment experience. Product-makers haven’t let them down much in the past, what with talking frogs from Budweiser, a talking baby from E*trade, and of course a little old lady who couldn’t seem to find the beef, courtesy…

Super Bowl 2012: Patriots, Giants meet again

Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5 pits the New York Giants against the New England Patriots in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII in 2008, when the wild-card Giants stunned the previously undefeated Patriots 17-14 in one of the biggest upsets in the history of American sports. The Giants entered Super Bowl XLII as 12-point underdogs against the Patriots, the first NFL team to post a perfect regular-season record since the 1972 Miami Dolphins. But Eli Manning out-dueled Tom Brady and became the first quarterback to throw two go-ahead touchdowns in the 4th quarter of a Super Bowl. This year the teams are more evenly matched, with the Patriots opening as 3.5-point favorites. New York…