Breast cancer awareness month has officially ended, but the long-standing affects from league efforts are still kicking.
I hate to use the word trendy in relation to breast cancer, but the pink ribbon phenomenon and proceeds from product XYZ benefiting breast cancer charity XYZ are compelling. So much so, the NFL and a handful of elite players have taken it to another level with the league’s campaign, “A Crucial Catch,” which ran through the month of October. A Victoria’s Secret-esque tinted campaign no less; “A Crucial Catch” is currently in its second year. The campaign partners with the American Cancer Society and various local team charities. The NFL has emphatically committed to the cause stating, “This is an issue that has directly touched the lives of so many in the NFL family, and we are committed to helping make a difference in breast-cancer prevention.” Touching the lives of so many in the NFL is a grossly accurate statement. Just to name a few in recent media:
–Derrick Dockery (Washington Redskins) – his wife Emma lost her mother to cancer four years ago
–Chris Cooley (Washington Redskins) – his mother Nancy is a survivor
–Ryan Denney (Houston Texans) – his wife Sheri is a survivor
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I know exactly when it happened. The day I became a real, big-time Dallas Hater. I was 11 months old, sitting on my mom’s lap wearing a onesie that read, “This is your brain [Redskins helmet]. This is your brain on drugs [Cowboys star].” I knew from then on that to get anywhere in life I had to be a Dallas Hater.
I’ll be the first to admit I started this season with an uneasy feeling that the Cowboys, unfathomably dubbed America’s Team, would be good this year — maybe even Super Bowl-bound. This had nothing to do with their roster or the fact that Tony Romo wears that gay fedora in every single press conference. My suspicion stemmed from the Kardashian Bang Theory, or KBT if you will.
Let’s face it — odds are pretty good that when you bang a Kardashian your team will start playing better and winning championships. Case in point:
Reggie Bush: Long-time banger of Kim Kardashian; 2010 Super Bowl champ w/ the Saints
Lamar Odom: Bangs/marries Khloe Kardashian; back-to-back NBA champ w/ the Lakers
Miles Austin: Current banger of Kim Kardashian; TBD
https://theblondeside.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/JLAMM_DallasHater_sm1.jpg365291Jaymehttps://theblondeside.com//wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1526998321020-300x192.pngJayme2010-10-03 19:40:532011-06-08 01:04:26If the Cowboys are America’s Team, I don’t want to be American
Let’s be honest. If there’s one thing worse than Heidi Montag’s 19-surgery day, it’s the Chicago Cubs. They are the epitome of the laugh factor inside the MLB and have been since their last championship in 1908. Yes, 1908 – twenty-two years after Henry Ford invented his first horseless carriage, aka car. So a long ass time ago.
Rather than dwell on the negativity of all things Cubs, because Lord knows that’s been done in overabundance, I’ve decided to take the high road or positive approach if you will, and talk about the lone admirable part of the franchise – Wrigley Field. It’s not like fans can boast about a recent pennant chase but they can sure as hell boast about their ballpark. I’ve been to my fair share of ballparks, but none do I love more than Wrigley. There’s a funny thing about Wrigley – it’s all about baseball. I hate to state the obvious, but not all ballparks are created equal. Not by any means. And it seems this one, which spews history off every baseline, was created for the truest of baseball fans.
https://theblondeside.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/JLAMM_CUBBIEgirl.jpg365291Jaymehttps://theblondeside.com//wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1526998321020-300x192.pngJayme2010-09-22 16:19:262016-10-26 10:34:51The One Thing Cubs Fans Have to Brag About
Fantasies come in all shapes and sizes. Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston in one bed for example. Most chicks don’t fantasize about sports unless of course it includes a raunchy affair with a steroid-stiff athlete, but since when I have been most chicks? Growing up I was never that kid that wanted to be an astronaut or ballerina. I simply wanted to own my own football team – presumably the Philadelphia Eagles so I could hang out with Randall Cunningham everyday.
Right now my current fantasy lies with the nationally esteemed M.O.F.F. (man of fantasy football), Matthew Berry, and Lance Zierlein, one of the most respected fantasy football experts in Houston. I picked their brains on sleepers, trade secrets, and why on earth fantasy football has become a bigger trend than a professional athlete dating a Kardashian.
https://theblondeside.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/JLAMM_fantasy-illus1.jpg365291Jaymehttps://theblondeside.com//wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1526998321020-300x192.pngJayme2010-09-02 14:29:162011-05-05 14:55:19My fantasy…with a football. And Matthew Berry and Lance Zierlein.
Last week I went to an Astros game and my seats were behind this cute little suburbia-esque family. The dad was sporting his bright white Reebok high-tops, Lance Berkman jersey and jean shorts, and the mom had her Ralph Lauren nautical themed polo neatly tucked into her pleated khaki slacks with their son and daughter sitting between the two of them. The little girl asked, “Daddy, when is halftime? I have to go potty!” It was kind of cute and funny until the reality of what she said sank in and I felt a pit in my stomach. It was cute and innocent that she asked when halftime was AT A BASEBALL GAME, but her dad’s response was anything but cute and innocent.
Soccer recently entered my world in the form of bright colored jerseys worn mostly by my cultural influences in Houston demanding that The Blonde Side take notice of one of the greatest, most powerful sports of all time. To find a collective group of athletes that could respectively take their shirts off and give 28 year-olds hot flashes is a laborious chore, unless of course you look at the anatomy of soccer players across the world. It gives new meaning to “The Beautiful Game”. Beautiful men using their beautiful legs to kick a beautiful ball around in well, a beautiful game.
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I was born with two HUGE assets. I guess you could say some call me lucky. My mother likes to refer to those assets as my ‘Heart and Soul’. (Really, what were you thinking?)
Luckily this heart and soul of mine is a well-balanced addiction between an undying love for football and charity work. So you can only imagine how jazzed I was when I was asked to play in a girls-only football game benefiting a charity I wholeheartedly support.
For the fifth straight year, The Alzies, the young committee supporting The Alzheimer’s Association Houston and Southeast Texas Chapter, are bringing back the Blondes vs. Brunettes (BvB) Powder Puff Football Game as a delightfully entertaining rough and tumble fundraiser. Read more
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We all start baseball season as loyal, excited fans with the highest of hopes. Kind of like a virgin on prom night. You never know what’s going to happen, but boy you’re hoping for the best and you’re prepared, condom and all.
As Astros fans in recent years, the leading up to baseball season has been THE peak of excitement for us because lets face it – the truth hurts – it’s always downhill from there folks. And so we ask the same question Peter Gammons, John Kruk, Eric Young, Buster Olney and many other MLB analysts have asked; what’s in store for this year’s team of Good Guys?
We’ve resigned to the unfortunate fact that after the first couple of home stands the team starts to show their less than tolerable true colors quickly followed by a less than packed ballpark, a decline in hotdog and beer sales (the beer part is debatable) and “fans” resorting to using those 9 innings as a texting/facebook tirade or making business deals on their newest oil rigs. Baseball and the hunt for October are forgotten early on…but how long are we supposed to go on like this?
https://theblondeside.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/JAYMELAMM_HL-APR10-OUTLINE-1.png12881251Jaymehttps://theblondeside.com//wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1526998321020-300x192.pngJayme2010-03-19 12:12:252011-05-25 11:07:23Tom Hanks said it best…”There’s no crying in baseball”
Let’s get this out of the way – I’m a girl AND I love sports. If you’re a girl you’re probably feeling the urge to call me a traitor and if you’re a guy you’re more than likely seemingly amused thinking, “what the hell does a chick know about sports?”
Probably more than you think.
But in all honesty, I don’t claim to know it all nor do I want to. When it comes to sports, I have one thing most girls lack…interest. My interest doesn’t stem from trying to impress guys or from a super inflated tomboyish obsession gone awry. To aid in my sports proficiency (and I say this in jest) I’ve got one of those television thingys to actually watch games (I’m a chick with an HDTV without the HD service, don’t judge), the Internet to keep up with trending topics, and my good ole boys at 1560 The Game as I see fit.
Not only do I love sports, but I know sports. Not in a Pam ‘I may actually be a man’ Ward kind of way, but in a Jayme ‘I grew up playing and watching sports and my dad really wanted a son’ Lamm kind of way. I know I don’t owe you my sports resume, but in case you doubt my dexterity to write on such a topic let me plead my case. I played softball in college (save the standard stereotypical lesbian jokes for another day). I know how to throw a perfect spiral (remember, by dad always wanted a boy). I’ve worked for the Miami Dolphins, for an advertising agency handling a number of professional sports teams, and relocated to Houston to do marketing for the Astros. So I know sports. How to play. How to watch. And most importantly how to comment and judge when things don’t go my way.
https://theblondeside.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/TBS_March10.jpg618612Jaymehttps://theblondeside.com//wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1526998321020-300x192.pngJayme2010-03-02 19:23:002011-05-05 14:58:30Hello Houston. (and newest class of bandwagon fans)
Illustration courtesy of Melissa Sims (Melrose Designs)
Ladies, I know you get excited about the Super Bowl… it’s a great excuse to throw a party, to make the piquant salsa your guy loves, or to wear that cute pink jersey from the team you know nothing about. Or maybe you detest the Super Bowl. But maybe it’s because you don’t know enough about the Big Game or what the play calls mean. For those of you tomboy sports nuts, get ready. I’m about to school your friends on some things you thought only YOU knew.
If you’re questioning why you’d want this frivolous, useless knowledge, know that Super Bowl XLIII (last years) holds the record for total US viewership attracting an audience of 98.7 million ranking second only to the final episode of MASH in 1983. Odds are your boss watches the game, so do all your co-workers and probably even that guy you’ve been eying every Thursday at Pub Fiction (and the one you’ve been stalking on Facebook). A girl with a little sports knowledge is sexy… or so I’ve been told a time or two.
The Super Bowl is played on the first Sunday in February (after a grueling 17-week season, which includes 16 games and a bye week, and three rounds of playoffs). The 2010 Super Bowl will take place on February 7 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami, FL (home of the Miami Dolphins, for the past eight months the stadium was named Land Shark Stadium but sponsorship naming rights did not include the 2010 Super Bowl or Pro Bowl). This is the 44th anniversary of the game and is technically known as Super Bowl XLIV. This annual game is now considered to be a de factor American National Holiday fittingly referred to as Super Bowl Sunday.
The NFL consists of two leagues, the NFC (National Football Conference) and the AFC (American Football Conference) and the conference champs play in the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl tradition came about in 1970 as consummation of the merger between the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). The winning team receives the coveted Vince Lombardi trophy in memory of the legendary Green Bay Packers head coach after his sudden death from cancer. The trophy commemorates his victories in the first two Super Bowls.
Super Bowl Sunday is the 2nd largest food consumption day in the U.S. (followed by Thanksgiving). Listen up ladies; here are a few facts to make you sound a little more legit and knowledgeable on the big day.
If you ever want to know which team is the home team and which team is visiting, look at the score strip (also known as the “Bug”). The team names on the left are always the visitors and the team on the right is the home team so you’ll always know where the game is being played. This can come in handy when attempting to apply your newfound knowledge saying things like, “I’m surprised it’s not snowing in Green Bay right now” or “There are a ton of Philadelphia fans at Cowboys Stadium, they must be hardcore fans.” Since the host city for the Super Bowl is determined 3-5 years in advance, the only advantage in being the home team is the choice of jersey color. During odd-numbered years, the NFC is denoted the home team and in even-numbered years the AFC is the home team. (Typically the home teams wear white and the away teams where colored jerseys.)
Current NFL policy is to host the game only in cities, which have an NFL franchise. Houston has hosted the Super Bowl twice; once in 1974 at Rice Stadium (Dolphins beat Vikings) and in 2004 at Reliant Stadium (Patriots beat Panthers). Next year’s game will take place in Arlington, TX at the new Cowboys Stadium followed by Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN in 2012.
Exclusive television broadcast rights for the Super Bowl rotate each year among 3 of the 4 major American television networks: CBS, NBC and Fox. This year’s game will be broadcast by CBS with The Who performing the ever-popular anticlimactic halftime show.
Never Have I Ever..
There has never been a Super Bowl overtime, although three games have been tied in the final minute.
There has never been a Super Bowl shutout; every Super Bowl participant to date has scored at least 3 points.
No Super Bowl has ever been scoreless at halftime.
No coach has ever won a Super Bowl with two different clubs.
No starting quarterback has ever won Super Bowls on two different teams. (Twice starting QBs have played on different teams but each has only won once.).
No Super Bowl host has played in Super Bowl.
The NFL takes their trademark and broadcasting rights to the umpteenth level. The league says that Super Bowl showings are prohibited in churches or at any events that “promote a message”. The league also prohibits venues that don’t regularly show sporting events to show the game on any T.V. screen larger than 55 inches.
Due to the high viewership (with an average of 80-90,000 viewers tuning in at any given moment), commercial airtime is the most expensive of the year. Advertisers are paying as much as $3 million for a 30 second spot (not including production and such), knowing that a segment of the audience only tunes in to see the commercials. Since the inception of TiVo, sources have reported that viewers were not skipping the commercials, but in fact pausing and rewinding the top creative ones. Due to the weak economy, many have speculated this year’s advertising will pale in comparison to years past. Many companies are nervous about the perception of spending such money on a commercial and the message it sends to consumers. Industries that seem the most cognizant are automotive, financial services and healthcare.
If you plan on taking off work the Monday following the Super Bowl, you are not alone, nor are you fooling your boss. The Monday after Super Bowl is rated the highest “sick” day in the U.S.
Trivia Time..
Who was Brett Favre’s first career pass to?
Which team has appeared in the Super Bowl the most?
Which team has the most Super Bowl wins?
What are the 5 active NFL franchises that have not appeared in a Super Bowl?
Which player had the honor of playing on 5 straight Super Bowl losing teams?
Which player has the most passing yards in the Super Bowl?
Breast cancer awareness month has officially ended, but the long-standing affects from league efforts are still kicking.
Last week I went to an Astros game and my seats were behind this cute little suburbia-esque family. The dad was sporting his bright white Reebok high-tops, Lance Berkman jersey and jean shorts, and the mom had her Ralph Lauren nautical themed polo neatly tucked into her pleated khaki slacks with their son and daughter sitting between the two of them. The little girl asked, “Daddy, when is halftime? I have to go potty!” It was kind of cute and funny until the reality of what she said sank in and I felt a pit in my stomach. It was cute and innocent that she asked when halftime was AT A BASEBALL GAME, but her dad’s response was anything but cute and innocent.
