AMA Racing: American Motorcyclist Association

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AMA Pro Racing and MavTV are pleased to announce a three year agreement for MavTV to televise a select number of the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship events on the MavTV network.

MavTV, in both SD and HD features programming themes targeting men 18 to 54 including sports, gaming, comedy, health and fitness, gadgets and more is a destination channel dedicated to reaching men in an irreverent, humorous and opinionated manner.

Now available in over 35 million homes and carried on most major cable and satellite distribution systems as well as Mobile TV and International distribution, MavTV provides a cross section of access on a variety of platforms. Eight of the 21 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship races will be televised.

The 60-minute broadcasts will feature plenty of racing action, capturing the true essence of this action-packed sport. Program support will also be provided on the MavTV network and the MavTV website.

The AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship season begins March 3rd at the famous Daytona International Speedway’s new ¼-mile flat track and concludes October 10th in Arizona after visiting 12 states across the country during the year. The actual event broadcast schedule will be announced at a later date but with so many historic venues on the AMA Pro Flat Track schedule, it will be difficult to select the eight lucky events for broadcast.

“We are delighted to be able to present this exciting and historic form of motorcycle racing to the many MavTV viewers,” said David Atlas, COO and Managing Member of AMA Pro Racing. ”We feel that AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship racing is an excellent addition to the programming content at MavTV and we have no doubt that the appreciation and reach of this unique and historic form of motorcycle racing will certainly increase.”

Steve Smith, President and COO of MavTV commented, “AMA Pro Flat Track racing is perfect for our male audience and we’re committed to promoting this sport for the long run.”

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines.

Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.

Admit it, you cried.

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The Saints have come marching home!

New Orleans won its first Super Bowl 31-17, coming from a 10-0 deficit to defeat an Indianapolis Colts team they weren’t supposed to beat.

The signature play of this game was that second-half opening on-side kick by the Saints. Ballsy and completely unexpected. If the Colts got the ball, as they nearly did, it might have sealed their fate. Instead, the Saints recovered and the two drives that followed kept Payton Manning off the field for much of the third quarter. The Colts had a chance driving late in the fourth quarter but Tracy Porter’s 74 yard interception return sealed the victory for the Saints with 3:12 left to play. Who would have thought that Manning would be the guy making a game-killing error?

In the French Quarter, partygoers celebrated their team’s first National Football League championship in its 43 year history. Looks like we’ll have an extended Mardi Gras this year! It is a dramatic victory for a city (and Brees, the QB) bouncing back from injury to be even better than before. I found that while a lot of people really like Manning and the Colts, the Saints were the sentimental favorites this time round just because they’d never been to the big show and their come-from-behind win would put some closure on Hurricane Katrina.

Great game, but aside from that a lot of people (chicks mostly) watch the game to catch the uber-expensive TV ads. My favorites were the Snickers ad with Betty White, the Doritos ad where the dog puts his anti-bark shock collar on the douche who taunts him, the Bud Light ad where the guy’s house is made of beer cans, the promo for CBS’ Late Show that had David Letterman sharing a couch with Oprah and Jay Leno, the Google ad that follows a relationship from start to baby, and ad where the little boy slaps some sense into the man not showing respect for his momma or his bowl of Doritos. I also liked the Dodge Charger “Man’s Last Stand” ad where various men are shown in somber-faced closeups describing various things they do (“I will sit through your two hour meeting,” “I will separate the recycleables,” “I will watch your vampire show,” etc.).

As one guy on Twitter put it, “These ads say that men wouldn’t be such pu—-es if they just bought more products.”

Ads I hated: The controversial Tim Tebow ad was meant to be sweet and funny but just looked kinda corny. The Boostmobile Shuffle ad with the Chicago Bears guys (it was painful enough the first time round). And I love hot girls and Danika Patrick as much as the next guy (probably more), but can the GoDaddy folks please find a new ad campaign (preferably still with hot chicks).

What did you guys think of the game? And the commercials?

Ugh, Valentine's Day already?

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Have you guys already made arrangements for Valentine’s Day?

Yeah, I know… lame.

Now there’s an advocate in our corner for making it socially acceptable to ignore the so-called holiday.

New York life coach and relationship expert Jay Cataldo has decided to wage a war against what he calls a “disgraceful holiday.” This year, he plans to single-handedly put an end to Valentine’s Day once and for all.

Is he just bitter over a painful breakup and sad that he has no one to blow his money on?

“Not at all,” Cataldo says. “I’m picking this fight because Valentine’s Day causes more trouble than it’s worth and I’m sick and tired of it. Cupid is on my hit list and I’m about to take him out.”

This “Love Ninja” turned hit man believes that putting an end to Valentine’s Day will actually help strengthen relationships. Maybe he’s right. Probably about a million guys who break up with their girlfriends the week before Christmas or Valentine’s.

Cataldo says no man should have to deal with the pressures of this “pseudo-holiday.”

“Valentine’s Day is nothing more than a competition between a woman and her girlfriends… There’s nothing romantic about it. I say it’s time for men to stop giving in to unrealistic expectations and put an end to this nonsense for good. The fairytale ends now.”

He said men are tired of spending a month’s pay on dinner and gifts only to receive a foul attitude because it just wasn’t good enough.

“There’s no reason why a man should have to accept his girlfriend’s unspoken demands while receiving nothing in return,” Cataldo said. “This wretched day of massive expectation and zero appreciation needs to be destroyed. I’ll be preaching the evils of Valentine’s Day until Hallmark has me banned from every store.”

I think this dude just hit the nail on the head. Commerce. The occasion generates sales for retailers at a time of year when they’ve start to run out of that extra Christmastime money and we’re all tucked away at home in our sweatpants comfortably watching TV instead of blowing our cash out on the town. Valentine’s Day is all about sell cards and jewelry and fancy dinners — all nice things that men AND women should consider giving their special significant other. But such gestures are essentially meaningless when done at the barrel of an emotion gun. Basically, do this or look like a supreme, uncaring jerk.

If you don’t at least go to the florist and spend $40 on dumb roses that are just going to be dead in a week, you’ve failed to do the bare minimum as a boyfriend or husband. Now chicks are conceited enough to dismiss even that as not enough. “I expect him to do something thoughtful and romantic,” they say in that pampered princess tone. Romantic? Ugh. Double Ugh…

Oh, she’ll still take the roses (or some other outrageously priced item she doesn’t really need), but you better go the extra mile and remember that obscure thing she mentioned 7 months ago that she liked if you want her to be impressed. Women really are the smarter sex, you know. They’ve convinced us to stop treating them like our property yet we still pick up the dinner tab. What are you going to do about it, Mr. Man… NOT have sex? Yeah right. If she buys you something for Valentine’s, it’s just gravy — not mandatory.

I wonder if it would even be possible to pull off a boycott of Valentine’s Day? Probably not. There would be guys breaking the strike line and making the rest of us look insensitive, plus I hate to think of the starving jeweler.

Every year I buy my wife roses on Feb. 15 — just to make a point that my feelings aren’t determined by an arbitrary date on a calendar.

Peyton Manning

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Who’s dat going to win the Super Bowl?

The line for the big game opened with the Colts as a -3.5 favorite. You have to figure they will have the upper hand since they recently won the big game, even with the injury to All-Pro defensive end Dwight Freeney. Sportsbook.com’s odds are -4.5 for the Colts to win Super Bowl 2010.

A lot of questions will be answered when these teams meet. Will the Saints’ receivers be able to perform against the Colts’ speedy secondary? And will the Saints defensive line be able to knock Peyton Manning in the grass all night like they did to Kurt Warner and Brett Favre? Will the Colts be able to pressure Drew Brees enough to disrupt his timing?

From Point-Spreads.com:

The Colts are 9-0 straight up and 6-3 against the spread over the last three seasons when playing as a favorite coming off a home win. Indy is 10-0 straight up and 5-3-2 against the spread in their last 10 games as a favorite with a spread of between 4 and 7.5, which includes their playoff wins over Baltimore and New York. The Colts are 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread this season playing as a favorite coming off a win.

The Saints are 7-0 straight up and 3-4 against the spread over the last 3 seasons (Over 6-1) coming off a home win. New Orleans is 4-5 straight up and 7-3 against the spread in its last 10 games as an underdog with a spread between 4 and 7.5. New Orleans is 4-2 straight up and 2-4 against the spread versus top 10 defenses this season (Colts ranked 18th overall during the regular season); the Saints were 11-1 straight up and 8-4 against the spread against the other teams on their schedule.

This full-sized billboard along one of Atlanta's busiest highways is intended for football recruits, suggesting how important this day is for college football fans.

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It’s National Signing Day, the annual ritual of chewing your fingernails while waiting to see which kids intend to help your alma mater make a run for a national championship in college football.

It’s a day when the big dogs, the Texases, the Alabamas and the Floridas — reload, of course, but it’s also when coaches at schools show they have the talent to sell the future of their programs and fill needs.

College football would get rather dull if there weren’t hills and valleys for teams. This is a day when we all get to fantasize about the “what ifs” in our pursuit of braggin’ rights.

Today the months-long courtship ends with the stroke of a pen before the TV cameras and these hot shot high school kids with 4 or 5 stars next to their names get down to proving their actual worth at the next level of play. Some will go on to glory right away. Some will sit on the bench for a year or two waiting for their turn. Some will sadly get injured and never realize their NFL dreams.

According to ESPN, the following schools top recruiting efforts this time ’round:

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. Auburn
5. Oklahoma
6. Penn State
7. LSU
8. Florida State
9. Georgia
10. USC
11. Tennessee
12. Miami (FL)
13. Ohio State
14. Texas A&M
15. Stanford

The top 3 are no surprise. No. 4 is a bit of an exciting development (full disclosure: I went to school at Auburn and take a particular joy in the fact that we’re right up there with cross-state rival Alabama in the same year they win a national championship). No shocker to see Oklahoma, Penn State, LSU, USC, Georgia, Ohio State, and Texas A&M on the list. Wondering if Mark Richt can close the deal of making all that talent pay off in trophies.

I’m personally pleased to see both Florida State and Miami are having good recruiting years (although not terribly surprised because what kid wouldn’t love to go to college so close to the beach?). Both Florida State and Miami were SO good in the 1980s that it’s been a bit sad to see them in the gutter in recent years.

Florida recruits apparently weren’t too scared off by Urban Meyer’s health issues and Florida State recruits may not miss playing for Bobby Bowden after all. I am a bit surprised Tennessee looks to have the 11th best recruiting class (the coach has had 2 weeks to recruit!), and I don’t know whether that is a testament to Lane Kiffin’s recruiting talent or his inability to take those players with him to USC.

Then again, those Volunteer hostesses did lay a lot of groundwork. Take that however you like.