Super Bowl Party - ESPN Party At The Miami Design Center

This video is of the great Friday, February 2nd party thrown by ESPN / NEXT and held at the Miami Design Center. In perfect ESPN fashion, the entire block was taken over as well as all of one building.

It was a total blast, and as you can see, I tried to capture as much of it as I possibly could. The only thing I didn't like was the VIP building got too hot after it filled with people. Also, the food wasn't as plentiful or as good as it was at the ESPN Party in Detroit. But it was a great effort overall.

Note the ever present Cadillac cars as they were a major sponsor. But also note the demographics of the people. It must be noted that this is a private party, so the marketers have a captive audience. It's a great lesson in sports marketing.

At the end of the video, we get to see a concert by LL Cool J and it can be said that he did bring the house down!

The 2007 Playboy Super Bowl Party, Miami, At American Airlines Arena - Video

The problem with living life and recording the life you live is that the act causes a delay in uploading the videos. Thus, I'm just getting the videos uploaded and embeded in the appropriate blog posts. Here's an example: last Saturday's Playboy Party at American Airlines Arena.

This was my first Playboy party out of the five Super Bowls I've attended and I'm glad I did because now I can say I've been to one and show you too. For all of the build-up it's really got the same things as other parties I've attended: music and free food and drink -- Super Bowl Party requirements. What other parties don't have is a dress code requirement for women that reads "Lingerie or Less." I'm not kidding. There was a lot of women who did comply with the dress code, as the video will show.

My complaint is there are too many guys, and almost no one dancing. The reason for the dance problem is the way the music is played: they only play part of a song for about 30 seconds, then switch to another tune, so you really can't get into a rhythm that allows you to grove and move.

There were a lot of celebrites, too. Rapper Too Short, ex-Pittsburgh Steelers Running Back Franco Harris (whos' a nice person), Oakland Raiders Wide Receiver Jerry Porter (who seemed a little paranoid that one would recognize him as Jerry Porter), to name some of the people I recognized when my eyes weren't drawn elsewhere. Writing on that, there's a lot of people just standing and looking around, mostly guys in groups. The female count needs to be upped considerably.

Before I get to the video, here's another idea: have a dress code for men calling for pajamas in honor of Hugh Hefner.

Here's the video:

Oakland Tribune's Monte Poole On The Color Barrier In The NFL and In Sports

Color barrier: Sports still has long way to go
Column by Monte Poole
Article Last Updated: 01/29/2007 02:37:52 AM PST

WELCOME TO Super Bowl Week, where football fans will be inundated with stories about Indianapolis and Chicago, about the various Colts and Bears, about fans and skin color.

We'll see and hear plenty about these, most assuredly the last one.

Because the skin color of Colts coach Tony Dungy is a relative match with that of Bears coach Lovie Smith. This is news not simply because neither is white but because neither is white and both have nurtured and coaxed their teams into the NFL's championship game.

Their incidental involvement in this bit of history is undeniable. The most pleasant aspect of this, though, should be the flattening of another color barrier.

Another one down, a hundred or so still standing.

If this is an example of sport leading the way, providingmembers of a race previously considered unfit with the opportunity to prove otherwise, it should be noted that sport has slowed its pace toward achieving a truly equal society.
Ownership, the most significant and aristocratic level of sports, has been excruciatingly slow to accept non-whites.
The power brokers remain overwhelmingly white — whiter than the much-publicized head-coaching ranks in NCAA Division I-A football. The owner/managing-partner level among the 92 teams in our three major sports — MLB, NBA, NFL — is roughly 2 percent Asian, black or Latino.

To be more distinct, a total of two.

Bob Johnson in 2003 bought the rights to the expansion Charlotte Bobcats, becoming the second majority owner of a major sports team; Peter Bynoe and Bertram Lee bought the Denver Nuggets in 1989, lasting three years as owners.
Johnson's purchase preceded by four months that of Artie Moreno buying the Anaheim Angels, making him the first Latino to become majority owner.
Though Hiroshi Yamauchi, the Japanese billionaire and former majority owner of the Seattle Mariners, preceded Johnson and Moreno, he sold his shares a few years ago.
Several individuals of color own minority stakes, including Magic Johnson with the Lakers, but only Bob Johnson and Moreno top the organizational chart.
Meanwhile, Reggie Jackson, urged by commissioner Bud Selig to be patient in his quest for baseball ownership, has nothing to show after nearly a decade. Joe Morgan's attempt to become president-owner of the A's, with a group led by Bob Piccinini, was rebuffed. Alabama attorney and businessman Donald Watkins, with a reported worth in excess of $1 billion, was denied in his effort to buy the Minnesota Twins in 2001 because MLB was uncomfortable with his finances.
Former Duke player Brian Davis failed in a recent bid to lead a group seeking to purchase the Memphis Grizzlies. Reggie Fowler's attempt to become majority owner of the Minnesota Vikings died amid questions about his financial wherewithal; he now is a minority owner of the team under Zygi Wilf, who received unanimous approval.
This is not so much an allegation of racism as a recitation of facts, thereby highlighting the color barriers still in existence in sport.
So many have come down, from the playing fields to the executive offices, from merely reaching the position to actually winning championships. This is another. Dungy or Smith will become the first black head coach to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
If the definitive integration moment in this country is Jackie Robinson's entrance into the Major Leagues in 1947, the pivotal moments of measured progress came with the promotion of Bill Russell to head coach of the NBA Boston Celtics in 1966, the hiring of Frank Robinson as manager of the Cleveland Indians in 1975 and the promotion of Art Shell to head coach of the Los Angeles Raiders in 1989.
Seeing these men earn authority and experience success opened minds and softened hearts. It suggested that, lo and behold, fitness for a specific job had much less to do with skin color than with character and intellect.
Had these moves not been made on the social gameboard, would someone like Barack Obama be in position to think about running for president?
But Obama, though identified as a political star, still can't consider himself a favorite. If sports is his barometer, he is a decided underdog.
While the sight of Dungy on one sideline and Smith on the other surely represents a measure of progress, it also reiterates the statement regarding character and intellect.
Which might be enough to convince an owner or athletic director to consider what he or she might not have in the past: That a black coach not only can win a championship but also hold his own in the upper levels of society.
As sport pats itself on the back this week, reminding everyone of how far it has come, let's not kid ourselves. It still has a ways to go. We all do.
Monte Poole can be reached at (510) 208-6461 or by e-mail at
mpoole@angnewspapers.com.

Robert Dale Morgan - The North Texas Super Bowl Bid Committee Lands His Help

D-FW grabs for Super Bowl
New 'Boys stadium in good position to land 2011 game; vote due in May
Dallas Business Journal - January 12, 2007
by Dave Moore

If landing an NFL Super Bowl is all about getting a head start, North Texas has a good shot at nabbing the big game for 2011.

Besides having the most-expensive football stadium in the National Football League to bid with, North Texas has landed Robert Dale Morgan, who was part of successful Super Bowl bids for Atlanta in 2000 and Houston in 2004.

The North Texas Super Bowl bid committee also has acquired the pro-bono services of Denis Braham, a Texas attorney who helped draft laws for the Texas Legislature that aided Houston in its bid for the 2004 Super Bowl.

What's more, North Texas appears to be the only community that is loudly and blatantly proclaiming that it will fight to land Super Bowl XLV.

While the city of Indianapolis has said it's likely to enter a bid, and Arizona says it also will pursue the bowl game, neither has launched an official effort to bring the bowl game home. Rumblings are that New Orleans might submit a bid, but so far, those rumors are unconfirmed.

"You'll have the most phenomenal stadium in football history, and they've got to give you the game," said Jordy Tollett, a consultant with the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, referring to the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington.

Tollett was president and CEO of the Houston bureau when it made its bid for the 2004 Super Bowl. Tollett worked with Morgan and others to land the Super Bowl for the Houston region.

Morgan, a 23-year veteran of sports marketing and event management, was president and chief executive officer of the 2004 Houston Super Bowl Host Committee. Morgan, who couldn't be reached, also was president of the 2000 Atlanta Super Bowl Host Committee and vice president of championship management for the PGA Tour, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Tollett said the $1 billion Cowboys stadium -- which cost Arlington taxpayers $325 million -- is a crucial ingredient in North Texas' proposal. Reliant Stadium in Houston played that role for that region's application, he said.

"I think if taxpayers make that kind of commitment to the NFL, that they will honor you by giving you ... a Super Bowl," Tollett said. "It's great for the community."

Estimates are that Super Bowls draw 120,000 people and about $300 million in economic impact, while costing about $20 million for pre- and post-game parties. Braham and others involved in the North Texas bid say communities throughout the region will need to work together to feed, house and entertain those crowds, and to assemble an application that will be approved by NFL football team owners.

The owners will vote for a site for the 2011 Super Bowl in May, after applications from communities are submitted on April 2.

Other rivals?

It might be argued that Indianapolis, whose citizens covered $575 million of the Lucas Oil Stadium's $675 million cost, also has a good shot at the event.

Deputy Indianapolis Mayor Steve Campbell would be glad to argue that case, though Indianapolis officials will only say that the city is leaning toward entering the 2011 Super Bowl derby.

"We feel confident that we have the apparatus that can get it done," Campbell said. "It's a culmination of what we've been doing for 30 years." He said while the Super Bowl might be higher profile, events that Indy has hosted -- including the Indianapolis 500 -- draw greater crowds.

Campbell acknowledged that the groundbreaking of Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis was a lynchpin in the consideration for pursuing a Super Bowl there.

Arizona, too, is counting on its newly constructed, $455 million University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale to draw a Super Bowl in 2011; it's already won the right to host the game in 2008. Hopes are to draw a Super Bowl to the stadium every five years, according to documents from the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority, which owns the stadium.

The belief that newer stadiums have a better chance of attracting Super Bowls appears to have some foundation. Between 1992 and 2010, only five Super Bowls will have been held in stadiums more than a decade old, according to a Business Journal review of NFL records. And since '92, only two Super Bowls have been held north of the Mason-Dixon Line: one in Detroit and one in Minneapolis.

Tollett said it's no secret that the owners of professional teams like to vote for Super Bowls in warm destinations.

"I think they're going to occasionally go north, but I think they'll stay in a warmer climate," he said. "It's held in January or February and ... businesses want to head south for hosting purposes. I think it makes sense that they stay in a warmer destination."

Few would discount Arizona's climate.

"Just as in 2008, we have the infrastructure, the hotels and we have an unbelievably great stadium," said Debbie Wardrop, CEO of the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee. "We have great weather and a great West Coast destination."

Indianapolis, meanwhile, brags of having 200 restaurants within walking distance of Lucas Oil Stadium.

Braham said a consortium of North Texas cities will collectively offer Super Bowl crowds a splendid time. And a regional Super Bowl application is the key to success, he added.

"You're going to have the international and national press there, focused on where the ... Super Bowl is being held," said Braham, who was recently named CEO of Winstead, Sechrest and Minick PC.

"The community coming together to show their hospitality to the fans, to the league, to the owners, teams, etc., is critical," he said. "The more they can show themselves as coming together as one, the more impressive the presentation will be."

New Dallas Cowboys Stadium
Location: Arlington
Seating capacity: 80,000, expandable to up to 100,000 for special events
Cost: $1 billion (estimated)
Completion date: 2009
Designer/ architect: HKS, Dallas
Replaces: Texas Stadium

Special features: A 60-yard-wide, center-hung video screen will allow crowds to see action up close; an 86-foot-high glass wall built into the facility will glow during evening games.

Roger Staubach Will Head The North Texas Super Bowl XLV Bid Committee

Staubach to head SB bid committee

Posted: January 25, 2007

Associated Press

DALLAS -- Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach was selected Thursday to chair an effort to bring the Super Bowl to North Texas.

The North Texas Super Bowl XLV Bid Committee wants the game to be played at the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington in 2011, two years after the venue is scheduled to open.


Bids must be turned in to the NFL by April 2. Team owners will review the bids and decide the venue in May.

"With tens of thousands of people expected to travel to the site of Super Bowl XLV, the economic impact would be worth hundreds of millions of dollars for our region," the former Dallas Cowboys star said in a news release.

Construction started last year for the 75,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium, two years after Arlington voters approved paying for half of the original $650 million price tag by raising sales, hotel and motel, and car-rental taxes.

Arlington, between Dallas and Fort Worth, is also home to baseball's Texas Rangers.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.