It's the Super Bowl XVLLMCLMMXVIICLMXVI open thread!!

Here you go football fans and here you go fans of the commercials, an all day, all night open thread to make comment on anything you see fit. Get here early, the pre-game starts at noon for a 6:30pm football game so there'll be plenty to talk about.

OK ad fans, Johnny's got an early peek at a Super Bowl ad. You'll see it tonight but now you'll see it here hours before.

Johnny is suspending his no advertising rule on this one because it's so goddamn funny.

So plan on spending some of your beer and nacho cheese filled day with the Jersey City Desk staff.

Oh, yes, the Fearless Forecast:

Seattle 27
New England 23

Super Bowl hangover

Anyone who wants to discuss the blackout, the commercials, the halftime show or even the game itself tell us what you liked and what you didn't.

Johnny especially liked the Doritos goat commercial.

The Jersey City Desk, your unofficial official home of Super Bowl [fill in Roman numerals]

Hey sports fans, it's Super Bowl Sunday and while the Jersey City Desk has no official connection to Roger Goodell's social media nightmare week we're the UNofficial official home for the big game. We're just practicing up for next year when the Super Bowl comes to New Jersey. Here's a game, count how many times the lazy announcers and analysts who refuse to do their homework say the next Super Bowl is in New York. The over/under is 25. Anything Super Bowl related you want to talk about from the game to commercials our comments lounge open sign is now ON.

So this has sure been a great week for the NFL in New Orleans hasn't it? Roger Goodell, the NFL commish can't get served in quite a few Big Easy restaurants and bars. He's been banned over his handling of the Saints "bounty" program fallout during his big Super Bowl week in the host city. Perfect. Then we have Ray Lewis who has never been shy about running his mouth unless it is about the murder he was involved in -- er, allegedly involved in at a Super Bowl event in 2000. Since Ray Ray won't talk about it, and when you read that link it becomes quite apparent he's hiding something, it causes the media to ask questions and dig deeper. Bad for the NFL. Then the very fact that Lewis is playing is yet another controversy. He tore his triceps. He was done for the season. Unless of course you're Ray Lewis and heal at ten times the rate of the normal human without taking deer antler spray. Witnesses put him in the place to get it and talking with the owner of the company but his Harry Potter healing wand made from deer antlers had nothing to do with illegal-by-NFL-standards deer antler spray which helps athletes heal, well, ten time faster than normal folk. The media asks how he heals, he blames someone else and the NFL backs Lewis. Look, if they were willing to overlook murders years ago why try and enforce your own rules with a bankable player? Another black eye for the NFL and their supposed drug testing program. Awful week wasn't it? Then the 49ers hit town.

Soon after the wheels touched down on the 49ers plane in New Orleans two of their players decided they were in fact NOT involved in a team sponsored "It Gets Better" video for gay, lesbian and transgender kids who are victims of bullying. They were shown their own pictures in the video but for an idiot player named Isaac Sopoaga this still wasn't enough. He didn't do that video if it was for gay kids. The 49ers players response was SO BAD to this video that the "It Gets Better" people actually had to pull the video as it was having the very unintended effect thanks to nonsensical comments by Ahmad Brooks and Sopoaga. The San Francisco chapter had to pull the video. Go NFL, let's get everyone fired up!

Get those cheese and crackers and yummy treats onto trays, the pre-games start in an hour! Get the turkey in the oven and -- wait, wrong holiday. Feel free to drop us a note in comments and tell us what makes YOUR Super Bowl party the shizzle.

So, the game itself, after all the social media NFL fail how about we get to the game. Baltimore can run a little but the big weapon they have this postseason is Joe Flacco's arm. He's throwing great long balls and Anquan Boldin is catching them. We think the 49ers are the best defensive team the Ravens will face. The question about the Ravens offense is will they try to pass to let Ray Rice run or will they try and establish Ray Rice and try and hit some big plays? Johnny thinks against a stout San Francisco front the Ravens should start out passing and then let Ray Rice get going. As for the 49ers offense matched up against the Ravens defense? We think that the SF scheme will take advantage of the upfield rush of Suggs and the like. The longer the game goes on the better the San Fran offense does. We think that trend will continue tonight. The 49ers have a diversified offense that can usually work against any kind of defense. If Colin Kaepernick wins the MVP tonight there is every chance he'll win it on the strength of his legs, it's what he does that Flacco does not. One thing that should worry the NFC champion 49ers is their meager field goal kicking. David Akers does not inspire confidence should this come down to a 47 yard winner.

So, after all this game analysis and social media and commercial talk where does it leave us? Glad you asked fans.

Fearless Forecast:
San Francisco 33
Baltimore 24

As for the deer antler spray? The NFL has rigorous testing standards. Ray has never failed a test.

Giants football gameday -- SUPER BOWL Edition!!!!

Wow, Johnny's first ever Super Bowl edition of the Game Day post. Media Day the other day is well behind Johnny and he's ready to go, the stage and pressure do not phase him. This is no place for a nervous person.

The New England Patriots. They've been really good and won some incredible games but for the last three or fours years you just knew something wasn't right. "The homeless man" as Johnny's wife refers to the duds of Bill Belichick, or, "That jackhole who could win everywhere but Cleveland" as Johnny refers to him has been taking doll parts off of lesser dolls to patch up that really fine looking doll from 2004. Now it just kind of looks like this:

But Johnny you say, they ARE back at the Super Bowl with those parts falling off. Yes they are and they are a dangerous team. But just like the Giants weren't intimidated in 2007 they won't be today. That alone does not mean victory however...

The Giants offense is rolling along just fine thank you. Why change anything? The Patriots don't give up yards so much as they give up hectares (some science equivalency for our Canadian readers there). Just like the Packers got by with giving up a lot of yards but coming up with turnovers so too the New Englanders. The fact is the Giants just haven't been much in a giving mood this postseason so that just leaves the hectares. Belichick is no dummy. He can do a pretty good job at stopping one aspect of an opponent's offense. The Giants can win a shootout ala Green Bay, they can win a backalley fistfight ala San Francisco so again, advantage Giants. Unless Eli plays shockingly bad or the Giants fumble two or three times they should at the worst have a chance in the fourth quarter.

Tom Brady can put points up like a pinball machine, mostly because he has to. The Giants need to manage this. Killing it is near impossible but managing it is doable. Rob Gronkowski is going to play and most likely play well. The Super Bowl does that to guys not named Donovan McNabb or Fran Tarkenton. Max McGee, the MVP of Super Bowl I was incredibly hungover. Legend had it he was drinking because he was upset the Super Bowl committee had decided that afternoon all Super Bowls would have a Roman numeral after the name not the more conventional numbering convention used today. "I, nobody is gonna care about I...it should be 1 and only 1 and then 2 and then 3 and then 4 and then..." he was purported to have possibly said that night BUT the point is here the Pats offense can be managed. If the vaunted Big Blue pass rush can harass and or hassle Brady with just 4 you can plan the parade along the New Jersey Turnpike.

Special teams. The Giants special teams have been playing lights out. That doesn't mean squat. Special teams in playoff games are a game by game result. We really think of all aspects of football this one doesn't carry momentum. One fumble, one missed kick and suddenly they are bums. The kick coverage teams have been very very good. They need to be very good one more time. Lawrence Tynes needs to hit all his field goals one more time.

So, here we are, 12 hours from gametime and 11 hours of pre-game coverage to boot. You do get a cool Chelsea vs. Manchester United match from Stamford Bridge (Chelsea's home grounds) at 10:30 on FOX. All the prognosticating grows more intense, the bets get more serious, and the advertising becomes more cutthroat:


So come on back here all day and talk Giants and Patriots or Madonna at halftime or the ads or anything else Super Bowl related. Think of us as your online Super Bowl party.

One last thing...

Super Bowl Fearless Forecast:
New Jersey Giants 31
New England Patriots 30.9

It's your Super Bowl Sunday open thread

Seriously, you can't expect any of us in the office today with a 43º day and here it is 11 AM and that pre-game show for the 6:30 PM game should be kicking off any minute. If you want to use this thread for trash talk, to comments on those fine Chevrolet ads, talk about your annoyance with FOX announcers Joe Buck and Troy Aikman (Maybe AIkman will cry on the air as he announced he's getting a divorce this week). Maybe you'd just like to drop by and make a bold prediction as to which decade the Browns will actually make a Super Bowl. Have fun today, share a recipe or two and since our intrepid reporter Oddzymandias is from our New Orleans office, here's a huge moment for her last year and something to get you jacked up for the game:

Since it's Super Bowl weekend again, we thought we'd ask about your favorite ads of all-time

So, there have been literally hundreds of advertisements fawned over and laughed and and talked about. Tell us, do you have any favorites you'd like to share? Anything that stuck out or made you laugh or want to buy something?

One of Johnny's favorites from a few years back