All posts by Matthew Callan

Fans Dazzled by NFL’s Super Bowl Super Concussion Pavilion

Thumbnail image for sbxlv.pngDALLAS–Fans in town for the Big Game have raved about a brand new feature at the Fan Fest, the NFL Super Bowl Super Concussion Pavilion. The multimedia experience, in the words of commissioner Roger Goodell, “pays tribute to the role of concussions in the game we love so much, in all their brain-jarring, blackout-inducing glory.”

“Whether they’re caused by a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit or a seemingly innocent tumble to the turf, concussions are an essential part of the fabric of football,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in a press release. “Fans will want to make sure to stop in at the NFL Super Bowl Super Concussion Pavilion to catch this literally spine-tingling program.”

Those who attend are first treated to a newly produced video of Dan Lauria as Vince Lombardi, reciting some of the legendary coach’s most famous lines while urging his woozy players back into the game. It also features footage of Pittsburgh’s fearsome Steel Curtain defense of the 1970s, and CAT scans of the tragically high levels of tau buildup in its members’ gray matter.

The film then transitions to a montage of this season’s most brutal concussions and their aftermaths, such as players vomiting uncontrollably and waking up in strange locations with no memory of the past few hours. But most fans we spoke to were most excited about the dark-ride part of the program

“It’s amazing!” raved Packers fan Tim Johnson of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. “You get in this little train thingy, kinda like a haunted house ride. Then you go through a dark tunnel with strobe lights and these holograms of football helmets that look like they’re coming right at you!  Meanwhile, the PA system blares KidzBop songs that randomly slow down and speed up, and Broadway showtunes run backwards. When I got out, I felt like lying on the floor for several hours. It was awesome!”

The NFL had hoped to use some of the game’s most frequently concussed players in the pavilion, either as greeters or doorstops. However, many of those invited simply forgot about the event or were too perturbed by incessant buzzing in their ears to attend. But the pavilion has been visited frequently by Junior Seau, who at age 41 is the oldest living linebacker in NFL history.

Not everyone is pleased by the NFL’s program. “I find this ‘celebration’ of concussions to be completely insulting,” said NFL Players’ Association president DeMaurice Smith. “It makes a mockery of the pain of many of our members and does nothing to address the serious problem of former players who can’t pay for their medical bills. Seems like somebody should do something about that.”

When Insanely Violent Trading Cards Attack!

dino_wrapper.jpgI have a pretty good memory for idiotic things that were aimed at my demographic as a kid, even the most obscure stuff. Every few days I get the theme song to Kidd Video or Galaxy High stuck in my head. Ask me some time about my deep, sincere obsession with a short-lived series of toys called Spy Tech. Go on, ask me. I dare you.

But last weekend, my cousin reminded me of one item of my youth that I’d completely forgotten about. It’s possible this never crossed my radar, but it’s also possible I may have blocked it out of my mind as a defense mechanism. The thing I’m alluding to is Dinosaurs Attack!, a series of trading cards created by Topps in 1988.

The series was meant to be an homage to Mars Attacks!, the trading cards from the early 1960s depicting an alien invasion, which caused parental conniptions for their violent imagery (and thus became highly sought after collectors’ items). I would say Dinosaurs Attack! was a rip-off of this earlier serial, except that it was devised by the same creative team, Len Brown and Woody Gelman. Or at least it was according to Bob Heffner’s Dinosaurs Attack! Home Page, a lo-fi site dedicated to their memory, which passes for scholarship on this subject. (Bob doesn’t cite his sources, so take that with a grain of salt.)

Brown and Gelman longed to recapture the glory of their first big success. Topps must have had a lot of faith in their ability to do so, since they actually aired commercials for this series, which was unprecedented for non-sports trading cards. (Sadly, I cannot find any video of this online.) In a financial sense, the effort failed, since the cards sold poorly. If Topps hoped Dinosaurs Attack! would attract the kind of parental outrage (and resulting publicity) Mars Attacks! did back in the 1960s, they were disappointed in that regard too. They didn’t even attract the kind of tsk-tsk-ing Topps received a few years earlier for Garbage Pail Kids.

However, on the artistic front, they were completely successful, because Dinosaurs Attacks! is the most depraved, gruesome, twisted, pitch-black thing I’ve ever seen intended for children.
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Skitch Hanson’s Big Adventure

I was hoping to get Skitch Hanson to write a post on the Super Bowl, like he’s done for this site for several years running. Unfortunately, it seems like Skitch has taken the proverbial wrong turn at Albuquerque on his way to The Big Game. According to his Twitter feed in the last 24 hours or so, he’s gotten way off course, as you can see below.

I sure hope he gets out of this pickle okay! But if you want to see if he does, you should probably catch Skitch on Twitter here.

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