We did a post a little earlier today with Super Bowl XLII commercials featuring celebrities. Here are the “best” commercials, according to the ones I watched and influenced by AOL’s top ten list. The verdict is that they weren’t that great this year. When a talking baby is up near the top of the list you know you’re in trouble. You can watch all the Superbowl commercials at AOL or MySpace.

Bridgestone Squirrel

Budweiser Rocky

Doritos Mousetrap

Bud Lite - Breathe Fire

Fedex Super Bowl Ad: Carrier Pigeons Bad Choice for Shipping
NFL.com: “SuperAd”

E-Trade: Baby

Giant Parade Balloons fight over Coke
Pepsi - “Bob’s House” Completely silent pre-game Ad featuring ASL and based on an in-joke in the deaf community

The Giants upset the Patriots 17 to 14 in this year’s Super Bowl in what was described as a riveting game. I’m not a real sports fan and am one of those people who watch for the world class commercials. You can watch all the super bowl ads without any of the sports filler in several locations online. Check them out on MySpace, and Sports.AOL.com. The ads I’ve seen so far are decent and funny, but there’s nothing amazing.

Here are some ads which feature celebrities, many of which are movie trailers. Let me know which ones were your favorites among the other ads and we’ll feature those in another post.

Diet Pepsi Max - Cameos from Busta Rhymes, LL Cool J, Macy Gray, Missy Elliott, Troy Aikman and Joe Buck.

Alice Cooper and Richard Simmons - Bridgestone Tires
Adriana Lima - Victoria’s Secret
Carmen Electra - Icebreakers
Adam Sandler - Don’t Mess with the Zohan Trailer
Republican Bill Frist and Democrat James Carville - Coke
Justin Timberlake for Pepsi

Will Ferrell Semi Pro for Bud Lite
Owen Wilson - Drillbit Taylor Trailer
Angelina Jolie - Wanted Trailer
George Clooney - Leatherheads Trailer

Prison Break Super Bowl tie-in
Update: Sobe Lifewater Thriller featuring Naomi Campbell

Robert Downey Jr.: Iron Man Trailer

On Tuesday, the New York Giants and the New England Patriots arrived to a complete media circus in Arizona, where they will face off this weekend for the Super Bowl. During a press conference, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was fielding and deflecting the usual questions about strategy and his possible ankle injury. Out of the blue, a young woman clad in a wedding dress and veil shouted out a marriage proposal to the flabbergasted star athlete:

Early into Brady’s question-and-answer session, TV Azteca reporter Inés Gómez Mont asked the star quarterback to marry her. Did we mention she was wearing a wedding dress?

“Tom, I’m in love with you!” she howled. “Will you marry me please?”

Brady deflected the proposal about as deftly as he has dodged inquiries about his injured ankle.

And he blushed, just a little.

“Are you really? Wow. I’ve never had a proposal,” Brady said, fumbling for the right words. “What’s your name first?”

[From Arizona Star Daily]

The wannabe bride was actually quite attractive, although probably either a little crazy or a bit desperate for some publicity. Tom gave her his best ‘aw shucks’ grin, and told her he was already taken. “I’m a one-woman man,” he said. Gomez-Mont responded by saying that she was the “Real Mrs. Brady,” to which Tom said, “There have been a few Miss Brady’s in my life,” and then moved on to the next question. The jilted bride later told reporters that she came to the press conference in the wedding gown, which was quite short and showed lacy white garter stockings underneath, “just in case he said yes.”

Brady dated and has a child with model/actress Bridget Moynahan, and is currently involved with Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen. It has been rumored that a Championship ring for Brady could mean an engagement ring for Bündchen. Sorry, Inez.

Note by Celebitchy: Here’s the video, thanks to Shawn for sending it. It only shows Brady’s response and unfortunately we just hear Inez. I have a newfound respect for Brady after seeing how he handled this. What a gentleman he is!

Update: Here’s reporter Inés Gómez Mont in her wedding dress, thanks to The Arizona Daily Star.

Marion Jones, the former-Olympic gold medalist in track and field, was sentenced to six months in prison for obstruction of justice after she lied to two grand juries regarding her use of steroids and knowledge of a bad-check cashing scheme by runner Tim Montgomery, who is the father of her oldest son. Jones had initially said she thought she was just taking flaxseed oil given to her by her trainer. Barry Bonds has said the same thing about his steroid use. Jones said she realized she had been given steroids after her performance improved and then later suddenly dropped off without cause. She claims she then figured out she’d been given tetrahydrogestrinone or THG.

Disgraced Olympian Marion Jones, whose speed and smile made her an international superstar until steroid use led to her downfall, was sentenced Friday to six months in prison for lying to investigators about performance-enhancing drugs and a check-fraud scam.

The judge sentenced Jones despite her plea that he not separate her from two boys, “even for a short period of time. I ask you to be as merciful as a human being can be,” she said. After she was sentenced, said Jones, who cried on the shoulder of her husband after learning her fate.

As she pleaded for mercy, Jones talked at length about her children, including the infant son she is still nursing.

“My passion in life has always been my family,” she said. “I know the day is quickly approaching when my boys ask me about these current events. I intend to be honest and forthright … and guide them into not making the same mistakes.”

[From the Associated Press]

Six months in prison is a surprisingly long sentence. Considering how lightly celebrities get off for DUIs and other crimes that put other people’s lives in danger, it seems a little disproportionate. But lying to a federal grand jury is certainly no petty crime. Several articles point out the Jones lied several times over a three year period, insinuating that she had many opportunities to come forth and be honest, which she failed to do. The judge made it clear that part of why he was giving Jones the maximum sentence is because of the status athletes have in our society.

But the judge said he believed a message needed to be sent to athletes who have abused drugs and as a result, have overlooked the values of “hard work, dedication, teamwork and sportsmanship.”

“Athletes in society have an elevated status, they entertain, they inspire, and perhaps, most important, they serve as role models,” he said.

[From the Associated Press]

Barry Bonds was caught up in the same scandal as Jones, after federal investigators found the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative had provided doping agents to many athletes. They also found records of doping schedules for Bonds, Jones, and others. Bonds case is still under investigation, so it will be interesting to see how his punishment – if any – varies from Jones’. Six months seems like a lot when compared to other crimes, but considering how much Jones profited from her enhanced performance – she had an endorsement deal with Nike, amongst others – half a year for lying in a federal case doesn’t seem that severe.

Picture note by Jaybird: Header of Marion Jones after pleading guilty in federal court on October 7th. Images thanks to Splash Photos.

ESPN’s Morning Sports talk show First Take reported on Wednesday that because of the controversy surrounding Jessica Simpson and boyfriend star quarterback Tony Romo, Simpson will not attend the Cowboy’s Sunday Playoff Game in person. Fans, columnists and sports radio call-in shows have been critical of the two after Simpson attended a Dallas Cowboys home game that ended in a loss for her QB hunk.

The ESPN morning show played a clip of Dallas head coach Wade Phillips, who dismissed questions about the Romo-Simpson relationship being a distraction for the team. However Newsday columnist, Johnette Howard, points out that before Simpson and Romo began dating, the cowboys were an impressive 13-1. And since the quarterback and former Daisy Duke hooked up, the Cowboys have been a pathetic 1-2.

The panel of columnists and former athletes on First Take was also critical of the Cowboys quarterback, despite the fact that the team has made the playoffs and won their division. The panel criticized Romo for a weekend trip with his famous girlfriend to Mexico, where the couple was snapped by TMZ enjoying themselves at an exclusive resort.

Particularly dismissive of Romo and Simpson was First Take contributor and Dallas sports columnist Skip Bayless, who said Romo’s “life is in shambles.” Bayless described Tony Romo as a hick from rural Wisconsin who is ”way in over his head” dating the pop-singer and reality TV star.

Of course a win Sunday will surely quiet critics, but a poor performance by Romo in Sunday’s game against the New York Giants could mean doom for the new romance.

Update: Cara covered this same article, and she noted that Dallas was expected to easily win.

Here’s Cara’s take on it:
Jessica Simpson has officially earned the title of jinx. She has become the Yoko Ono of football thanks to a poor performance by Tony Romo during Sunday night’s game against the Eagles. I believe I saw this coming earlier when Tony dumped Carrie Underwood to focus on his game.

“Sadly, having Jess in the stands was not exactly good luck for Tony, who not only lost the game, but also had his worst day ever as a starting quarterback.”

[Ok Magazine]

She did her girlfriend duty by supporting her newly found man of the month. Jess watched the entire game with looks of distress at every dumped play. She even donned a pink #9 Cowboys jersey. But all the positive juju couldn’t stop Tony and his bruised thumb from loosing the game 10-6.

Dallas was expected to easily overtake Philadelphia. The Cowboys boast a 12-2 season while the Eagles are last in the NFC East with a 6-8 standing. The fans began pointing the finger at Tony’s lack of a touchdown (for the first time this season) at Jessica’s presence. Fans held up signs reading, “Tony, Dump Jessica and Marry Me!” Several members of the Cowboy crowd let Romo know their discontent by shouting, “Worry about the game and not your girlfriend!”

We will have to see if the force field of Jessica’s bosom can hold on to Tony. After getting rid of Carrie due to football, I am sure it is only a matter of time before Jess and her oblivious nature become baggage. As long as she doesn’t feed her football player fetish by latching on to any Chicago Bears, I am kosher.

---

Original article by Celebitchy: I don’t pretend to have more than a passing interest or basic understanding of football. And by passing interest I mean staring at the guys’ asses when a male family member forces me to watch the occasional game after a large meal. From what I understand they’re supposed to take the ball and run to the side that’s guarded by the opposite team. It’s vastly more complicated than that I know, but I’m not really that informed about it and reading the wikipedia explanation of the rules only made my eyes glass over.

But even I can grasp the sheer level of failure that Jessica Simpson inspired her new boyfriend, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, to achieve. The guy played his worst game - ever - the first time Simpson was in attendance. The Cowboys lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 10-6 on Sunday, with Romo receiving the worst statistical rating of his career. Jessica was shown on the jumbotron with her trademark vacant expression and long curly extensions, doing her best to look interested while completely ruining her man’s concentration.

Wearing a pink Cowboys jersey (with Romo’s No. 9 on it) and mouthing his name, Jessica Simpson made a surprise appearance at Texas Stadium Sunday to watch her new Dallas Cowboys quarterback beau play the Philadelphia Eagles.

Not only did his team lose 10-6, the Associated Press reports, Romo’s quarterback rating of 22.2 was also the worst of his career. He completed 13 of 36 passes for 214 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.

Tim MacMahon, who blogs the Cowboys games for the Dallas Morning News, wrote, “No wonder Tony Romo hasn’t completed a pass. Jessica Simpson, wearing a white-and-pink Romo jersey, is sending him bad vibes from a luxury suite.

“Jessica Simpson owes it to her man to leave at halftime, although that would mean sacrificing valuable face time on national TV. Don’t count on it.”

[From US Weekly]

US also had the video below of Jess looking perplexed at the game. This week’s In Touch notes that Romo brought his parents to the airport to meet Jessica when she made a quick stop in Dallaswith her dad. Romo also spent Thanksgiving at Jessica’s family’s house and is said to be a favorite of her protective dad, Joe. He seems to be really into her if he’s introducing her to his family, but after she ruined his game how long is it going to last?

US Weekly mentions that Romo’s second worst performance ever was when his then-girlfriend Carrie Underwood attended one of his games. It seems like a curse for the quarterback. Maybe he just can’t concentrate when he knows that a girlfriend is watching him, and this could doom all his relationships. He probably values his multi-million dollar career more than any relationship, and is more likely to break up than jeopardize all he’s worked for. The best course of action for Romo would be to tell his next girlfriend to stay home. And I’m sorry to word it like it’s inevitable, but Jessica doesn’t exactly have the best track record with keeping a man, and Romo doesn’t seem the super loyal type.

Jessica Simpson is shown at the ACE awards on 11/5/07, thanks to PRPhotos.

Katie Holmes ran the NY City Marathon on Sunday, finishing in just under five and a half hours. She was greeted at the finish line by her husband, Tom Cruise, and their supposedly 18 month-old daughter, Suri. Holmes’ parents and Cruise’s mom were also there to cheer her on. She is quoted as saying she loves running and that it helped her lose weight after she had Suri.

“I have always loved to run,” Holmes told Harper’s Bazaar in March. “It has helped me lose the extra baby weight.”

[From the New Zealand Herald]

This was one rumor that I didn’t believe at first, assuming that Katie was just running for exercise and that some over-eager gossip magazine turned it into training for a marathon.

Splash News reports that Holmes walked at about 17 miles in, but as someone who hasn’t run more than five miles at a stretch in my life, I have to say that’s hardly comment-worthy. Kudos to Katie for going through with it. It’s ironic that Holmes ran the NY City Marathon, considering that people have been urging her to “run” since she got involved with cult-loving Cruise back when she was pregnant. I mean, right before she got pregnant.

Holmes’ next movie, her first since 2005’s Thank You For Smoking, is the female crime caper, Mad Money. The film also stars Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah and is due out on January 18, 2008. It’s a shame they’ll miss Oscar season. Check out the trailer below.

Katie Holmes is next set to star in The Other Side with fellow Scientologist, Jason Lee. Production is set to start sometime this month.

Good job, Katie! Maybe your career will pick up now after the Mad Money bump. Considering that your next film is with the guy who is going to be in the Alvin and The Chipmunks movie, I doubt it.

There are the Nicole Richie-esq moms of the world who drink, smoke, dye their hair and eat as much sushi as they please while pregnant, and then there are the Katie Holmes-esq moms of the world, who manage not to do those things AND just happen to run a major marathon eighteen months after giving birth. Sure it helps that she didn’t exactly have to strap Suri to her back while training (one would assume, though who the hell knows with those crazy Scientologists) but still, running a marathon – especially the New York City one – is running a marathon, and it’s freaking hard! I don’t care how many other luxuries you have in life that make it easier for you – if you run a marathon, I’m going to respect the heck out of you.

Only hours after walking the red carpet at the L.A. premiere of Lions for Lambs, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes hopped an east-bound private plane headed for Manhattan, where sources confirm to OK! that Katie is planning on taking part in Sunday’s New York City Marathon.

As OK! exclusively reported several weeks ago, after months of secretly training in predawn runs in Beverly Hills and Berlin, Suri’s mom is scheduled to make her first-ever marathon run this weekend. The 28-year-old actress, who celebrates her first wedding anniversary to Tom on Nov. 18, will join thousands of other masochist runners, including cyclist Lance Armstrong, in the race that begins at the foot of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in Staten Island and works its way through Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx and then back to Manhattan, where everyone collapses in exhaustion in Central Park.

Assuming Katie makes it all the way, she’ll have quite a welcoming committee at the finish line, as several members of the Holmes family are flying in from Ohio to cheer her on. They’ll join her superstar hubby at the Finish Live Banquet at Tavern on the Green where they can watch the race on monitors, get updates on racers — “Go Katie!” — and be just feet away from the racers as they clock in.”

[From OK! Magazine]

I wasn’t really Katie Holmes’ biggest fan before this – what with the letting-yourself-be-brainwashed-by-Scientologists and the starring-in-Mad-Money-which-we-all-know-is-a-terrible-idea. But I have to say I think she’s pretty awesome right now. I set a goal a few weeks ago that in two years I will run half the New York City marathon. And that’s a freaking huge goal for someone who considers walking on her treadmill for half an hour pretty hardcore. Although I do wish I didn’t just put that out there for all the internet to hold me to, but there it is. So now I have extra respect for Katie Holmes – and the pain she’s about to go through. May the power of Xenu be with you.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Katie and Tom at the “Lions For Lambs” AFI Fest Premiere on Thursday. Images thanks to PR Photos.

In a suburb of Flint, Michigan on October 5, 2007, a 15 year-old sophomore name Eli Florence was named homecoming king through the kindness of his fellow students. He was less than two weeks away from losing a four year battle with acute myelogenous leukemia. A football and baseball player, Eli touched so many people with his brave ongoing fight with a disease that had left him weak and almost unable to speak. Doctors told his mother there was little more they could do and that he had just a few weeks to live. Two stem cell transplants had not helped and he could not find a bone marrow match. He continued to receive blood transfusions, and was able to hold on long enough to be be crowned king.

The five seniors that made up the “homecoming court” at his high school in Lake Fenton, Michigan, decided to honor Eli by declaring him homecoming king. The court was made up of four football players and one member of the golf team who were candidates for king. They made a pact that Eli would get top honors instead and that there would be no open vote that year.

Eli made it to the homecoming festivities during halftime right as they were about to begin. He was almost late, as he was receiving a blood transfusion just before. He thought he would be participating as part of the sophomore court and had no idea he was about to be named king. When the announcement was made that Eli was the new homecoming king, he couldn’t believe it and said, “But I’m not a senior.”

The 2,000 people at the football game witnessing the ceremony stood to honor him, and there were a lot of tears.

There was a problem. Halftime was approaching and the king-to-be was at a local clinic receiving a necessary blood transfusion, getting energy, getting life. He was scheduled to escort his friend, Ashley Look, a member of the sophomore royal court, to midfield. He didn’t have a clue he would be the center of attention.

Barely in the nick of time, Eli, in a wheelchair, and Ashley joined the other members of the court and their parents at midfield, surrounded by the Lake Fenton band, clad in blue and white.

The public-address announcer said: “Your 2007 king, as designated by the five candidates is … is Eli Florence.”

The king was stunned.

“It’s like he heard his name, but it was sort of surreal,” his mother said.

“But I’m not a senior,” Eli told others around him. “I’m not a senior.”

The crowd of 2,000 people, including homecoming queen Brooke Hull, 17, stood. Many cried.

[From ESPN.com via ShareAGoodDeed.com]

Eli was invited to sit on the bench at the University of Michigan’s homecoming game this Saturday, but he was too weak to make it. He lost his battle with leukemia this Sunday. It was just nine days after he was crowned homecoming king by his teammates.

A memorial of sorts was held this Sunday at a benefit to raise money to help pay for his medical expenses. The spaghetti dinner catered from donations by local restaurants was planned ahead of time, and Eli had passed just hours before. Many people heard of his death for the first time at the benefit that night.

The pictures here show Eli a week before homecoming in a hoodie being honored by the football team during halftime. He is walking and wearing a striped sweater during the homecoming festivities.

Thanks to Digg for the heads up on this story and ESPN for the photos. I know this isn’t our usual type of story, but this really touched me and I wanted to cover it.

Tom Brady’s got a lot of complications in his life right now. His baby mama hates him (we assume). His model girlfriend is also a model bitch (we assume… just from general reports about her character over the last several years). He lives and plays football in Boston, but his new baby lives and eats his own feet in Los Angeles. What’s a man to do? Complain about it to People, all while showing the world that you’re rallying, and also a really great father, even if it is from 3,000 miles away.

“Three weeks into fatherhood and two weeks into football season, Tom Brady has a personal problem to tackle: balancing his schedule between playing with the New England Patriots and seeing his infant son, who is home in Los Angeles with his mom, Bridget Moynahan. ‘I kind of cuddled him like a football,’ the 6′4″ triple Super-Bowl-winning quarterback, 30, tells the new issue of Sports Illustrated about John Edward Thomas Moynahan, who was born Aug. 22.

“‘I’d love to be out there all the time, year-round, but it’s hard to make that a reality,’ the Boston-based Brady says about L.A., where the baby’s mom (and Brady’s ex-girlfriend) lives and works. ‘I live here,’ explains the athlete. ‘But I’ll start lobbying for off days throughout the year.’

“And while SI columnist Rick Reilly harps on Brady’s hunky good looks that make him such a babe magnet (who just happens to be dating the $33-million-a-year Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen), the quarterback does confess to the magazine, ‘I was the little sports nerd in high school who hardly had a girlfriend!’”

[From People]

Um, Tom Brady? If you really loved your kid, you’d move to Los Angeles. They have a great team, the Los Angeles Avengers. Never head of them? Me either, but I think that if you really love your kid, you’ll leave the all mighty Patriots and play for them. Let’s see if Gisele sticks around then. I kid, I kid about the moving. I don’t know a thing about the football, or the sports in general - I’m a writer, pasty is my religion. I believe I once heard it involves the skin of pigs, which sounds faintly cult-esq and ritualistic. But I know that Mondays are your high holy days, and your Christmas is some day in February that you think is really super, and you play your game in a giant bowl. If I’m even half right, it’s probably a good thing you’re not around your kid a lot.

Picture note by Celebitchy: Tom Brady and Bridget Moynahan are shown at the Costume Institute Gala in May, 2005 thanks to PRPhotos.