Lucas Oil Presents MavTV’s The Works

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.

admin AMA Racing, Sports AMA Pro Racing, flat track grand national championship, Motorsports

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?

admin Football Colts, Katrina, Miami, Saints, Super Bowl XLIV

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.

admin Women Jay Cataldo, Valentine's Day

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.

admin Sports Betting

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.

admin Football Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, National Signing Day, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, USC

BUSTED!

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This just goes to show that every guy loves to take a break to look at eye candy.

A video that probably would have been ignored by most people has become a viral hit because of a moment when an Australian banker working in the background of a live TV broadcast is caught using his computer to look at topless photos of supermodel Miranda Kerr.

You have to look closely to see it, but he’s there in the background and to the left of a business analyst for Channel 7 doing a broadcast from a Sydney bank office. A co-worker alerts him that there is a TV camera behind him and the oblivious voyeur turns around to realize he’s been busted right before the camera cuts back to the smiling female news anchor.

Classic.

admin Busted!

Hey, master, look at the rack on that one! I'll act real cute while you try to get her digits...

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It’s said dogs are “a man’s best friend.” I’ve always thought of a six pack and the TV remote as my best friends, but yes, I do have a pooch. A yellow lab named Jack who sits at my feet for hours at a time as I write this blog. He is my companion/dish pre-rinser/food disposal/security system.

Somehow that time between cute puppy and rowdy stud slipped up on me, and now I’m faced with the task of getting him sterilized since the female mutt two doors down is in heat and flashing her junk around like a $10 hooker. It was going to happen anyway, but you hate to castrate your “best friend.”

When the wife tells me to get him “fixed,” ie, disable his puppy-maker, I have to act or I’LL soon be the one in the dog-house.

Jack mostly stays indoors and goes outside to do his business in a fenced-in yard, but he hates it when we leave him alone and treats that fence like his own personal Alcatraz to escape. He’s a little too smart and persistent for his own good.  I thought I’d outsmarted him by reinforcing the fence, but it turns out dog teeth and paws are pretty good tools for twisting wire and moving dirt.

Now Jack has grown to the point where the fence can’t contain him and I must break his spirits. At first he was able to latch onto the top with his front paws and pull himself over. Now he’s able to leap right over a chest-high fence like a knife through butter. I’ve been meaning to order the Perfect Dog thing from the infomercials that air on MavTV between 6-9 in the mornings, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

So reluctantly but inevitably, I made an appointment for the vet and Jack is there now presumably getting the big snip-snip. He brought it upon himself with his stubborn persistence and lust for lady dog parts. I’ve been to a strip club. I understand, fella. I get it… But if I can’t get away with humping everything in a skirt without consequence, neither can you!

I think I understand why some people use the neutering thing as a metaphor for what happens to men in marriage or long-term relationships. Admittedly, single guys looking for a good time can act on instinct like Jackie-boy, although I don’t know if I like being compared to a dog anymore than women like hearing themselves referred to with the B-word.

I do wish humans had the ability to smell each other’s butts and know all we need to about intentions. And I wish I had a tail to wag. And I could reach my head all the way to… But I digress…

Eventually, most guys do settle down with one mate and presumably stop roaming the streets looking for sloppy drunk emotionally fragile females in low cut blouses to use for a few hours and never call again.

I hope Jack doesn’t look at me with hate in his eyes when he comes home. I can imagine if reality was like one of those talking animal movies, with Jack would avoid eye contact and say, “You hurt me real bad, boss. Real bad.”

I hope I haven’t totally snuffed out his playful spirit. Like a man craddling a six pack to hang on to his morale once his skirt-chasing days are long gone, I hope I can keep the dog treats coming and Jack and I can still be best buds — just two fixed dogs with our free-range humping days behind us.

admin Laughs

Kobe the awesome.

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Kobe Bryant added to his legacy of awesomeness Monday as he scored 29 points to add to his career-total 25,193 points, becoming the greatest scorer in Lakers history. Ever.

I couldn’t score that many points if I played hoops alone in my driveway for a hundred years. He does it by age 31 with other pro athletes in his face defending the goal and fouling him all night. He passed 25,000 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 21, becoming the youngest player to reach that milestone.

Bryant passed Jerry West’s total after 13 days on the road, scoring 29 points after his team was down 11 points in the second quarter in Memphis.

People throw the word “superstar” around loosely, but this guy continues to amaze. This may be his greatest year ever. He has learned how to finesse the ball in the basket.

Can you imagine what it must be like to go to work every day — yes, this is his job –knowing you’re going to have to give it 150%, that your coworkers are depending on you for their ultimate success or failure? Kobe can’t half-a– it or else his organization suffers and the powers that be start wondering if he’s worth all of those millions.

If more people had his work ethic, wow…

admin Basketball awesome, Basketball, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, NBA, superstar

Do you measure up? Do you care?

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If you look carefully, you can see Madison Avenue trying to transform carefree men into insecure little girls. Yeah, I’m talking about you!

It’s very subtle, but I can see the stealth campaign to expand the ranks of the vanity-obsessed so we feel the need to purchase products to give us a sense that we’re improving our self-worth by improving our appearance. In my case, it isn’t working.

I hope the guy who doesn’t give a crap about how chunky or plain he is doesn’t fade away too soon. The quarterback and the head cheerleaders always end up together to make super babies, but I hope that occasional beautiful woman who can overlook her man’s beer gut and the fact that he isn’t even in the same ballpark as David Beckham doesn’t grow too superficial too fast!

I was in a book store the other day and saw “The Flat Belly Diet for Men” displayed. I instinctively reached for it, wishing I could have a washboard stomach like Matthew McConaughey. Then I thought about my father with his big ole spare tire and how he never concerned himself with such vanity. If he fantasized about dating his era’s equivalent to Penelope Cruz, he never showed it.

Conventional wisdom has held that men are the visual ones and women are attracted by our personalities more than our looks. Conventional wisdom has also held that if a man looks supremely fit and groomed, he’s probably gay. Has that changed or are marketers trying to convince us that we’re not worthy to be loved unless we achieve some level of physical perfection? How else can we explain the trend toward “metrosexuality”? It’s a dude’s effort to become the alpha male in the mating pool!

Listen, it’s clearly in everyone’s self interest to watch how much we eat and to be physically active for our health and well-being. No chick wants to date Pizza the Hut. The ultimate goal of such marketing is to make us spend our money beyond what is necessary to be, well, ordinary.

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons told the BBC that breast reduction for men is the fastest-growing part of the cosmetic surgery industry in Britain for the second year in a row. The organization saw an 80% increase in surgery to reduce the size of “moobs,” from 323 in 2008 to 581 last year.

“Many men are feeling the pressure from men’s magazines that weren’t even being published five or six years ago,” said consultant plastic surgeon Rajiv Grover, a BAAPS official. “In addition, they are just realizing that they can get something done about it. We often say to men to look at their lifestyles before thinking about the scapel.”

How about it, fellas? Did seeing your lady drool over those chiseled warrior abs in “300” make you feel worthless? Do you want to hide in shame whenever Tom Cruise takes his shirt off in a movie? What guy doesn’t want to be younger and in the best shape of his life rather than a run-down has-been who couldn’t snag a college girl if he waved hundred dollar bills in her face? Even a happily married man quietly fancies the idea that he could still get any woman in her prime if he made the effort at seduction.

I’ve been puzzled by how teenage girls attach so much of their self-esteem to how their appearance matches up to Photoshopped, impossibly slender cover girls with big fake boobs –but I’m beginning to understand how they are programmed to attach their self-value to what the opposite sex seems to desire.

admin Laughs appearance, beauty, body image, exercise, fitness, grooming, handsome, looks, male, marketing, perfection, seduction, self-esteem, vanity

Taylor Swift, aka my future second wife.

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That poor Taylor Swift chick can’t get no respect! Well, unless respect comes in the form of awards and accolades.

Winning comes at a price for the beautiful young country/pop singer. First, Kanye West famously stormed the stage at the Video Music Awards (they still make music videos?) to declare that Beyonce deserved to win an award for her “Single Ladies” video instead of Swift.

And at the Grammy Awards Sunday, after Swift won an award for best album of the year, social media like Twitter lit up with vicious comments declaring that Lady Gaga was “robbed” by virtue of not winning instead. One guy said hearing Swift perform was like “sitting through my high school variety show again.” Ouch…

Listen, none of these performers are hurting real bad, with the possible exception of Swift, who may have seen too much success too early on to escape a bit of resentment targeted directly at her pretty face. She’s a talented kid who writes and performs her own stuff, and I feel like I have to defend her (maybe she’ll appreciate it and take her clothes off for me — a boy can dream). If you asked me, Kanye probably did her a favor by making people feel sympathetic.

How Swift is going to top the success she’s had this year is beyond me. Her songs are catchy, yes, but will we still be talking about Lady Gaga in 2020 in a relevant way? Will she be a Madonna or a Vanilla Ice? How long can Beyonce remain totally gorgeous and awesome beyond words?

If you want to talk about overshadowed talent, how about Pink? The something of a has-been chick with the ballsy attitude and drop-dead gorgeous looks could not be missed despite it being a night cater-made for Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift to shine.

Safe to say this was a night for the female performers. Sure, we saw Elton John, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Dave Matthews, Bon Jovi, Green Day, Usher, Kings of Leon, and Smokey Robinson — yet the only male performer to really make the day-after highlight reel, Michael Jackson, is dead, if that tells you anything.

admin Women artist, award, Beyonce, Bon Jovi, Dave Matthews, Elton John, Eminem, Grammy Awards, Grammys, Green Day, Kings of Leon, Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, Madonna, music, Pink, relevance, resentment, Smokey Robinson, success, talent, Taylor Swift, Usher, Vanilla Ice