Though, part of me can understand why the protester was so angry with the TV and movie star…Rosie was wearing a New York Giants jersey (and No. 10, Eli Manning, at that). Down with the lesbian!!!!

Hat tip to Towleroad.

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I heard several times last week that Sunday’s 84th Academy Awards telecast would be the “gay Super Bowl.” Jim and I have said for years that the excitement of the Oscars simply doesn’t compare to the excitement of a football game…because people already know the outcome of the Oscars. Plus, all an Oscar means is that a bunch of people liked you more than the other person; It doesn’t mean you or your film was “better” than anyone else. I saw “Iron Lady” and “The Help”…and there’s just no way you can argue that Meryl Streep or Viola Davis deserved someone’s vote over the other one.

I love movies. I totally buy into the “magic” of sitting in a theater and experiencing a story unfold before me, whether it’s with dragons and orcs, maids and servants, or a giant sinking ship. I love the magic of the movies. But the Oscars aren’t the movies. Every year they try to make the telecast more like the movies, this year building around the theme, “let’s go to the movies.” They even passed out popcorn to audience members. But what the Oscars lack, and will always lack, is the magic of the movies because the Oscars telecast isn’t a movie…it’s just longer than one.

The Super Bowl is a football game. And it’s the biggest one every year. Everything you love about football, you can love about the Super Bowl. The hard hits. The big touchdowns. The bigger-than-life personalities. The mistakes, the spectacular catches. What makes football special makes the Super Bowl special.

What makes movies special simply isn’t a part of the Oscars.

Can you imagine if the Super Bowl was an awards show during which the NFL announced the result of a popularity vote? Whoever gets the most votes is the Super Bowl champion!

Or imagine if Meryl Streep had to arm-wrestle Viola Davis for Best Actress in a Leading Role! Or if Christopher Plummer and Max von Sydow had to play a game of one-on-one basketball for the Best Supporting Actor roll? If the cast of The Artist went up against the cast of The Descendants in a flag football game for Best Picture? Ratings gold!!

This isn’t to say I don’t enjoy the Oscars. Even in years when I’m not excited about the front-running movies (like this year), I still watch and enjoy them. And there are often great moments. Last night I loved the speeches by both Meryl Streep and her hairdresser (who cried in his acceptance speech earlier in the night). I enjoyed Billy Crystal’s wit (even if some of the jokes fell flat). The retrospective of those we lost always gets to me. And Cirque du Soleil…wow.

Still, Facebook last night and this morning was abuzz with comments on how the show sucked and how boring it was. I think it’s in large part due to to this problem they have every year: The Oscars aren’t the movies.

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Stereotypes just don’t bug me much. Some people fall into them, others don’t. Heck, I certainly fall into some. I prefer a fruity martini over beer. I’d rather watch ‘Real Housewives’ than ‘The Sopranos.’ And then there’s that whole prefers-sex-with-men thing.

But boy did we gay-gay-gay it up last week. From Chelsea to West Hollywood, you’d have thought 115 million people were actually tuning into a Madonna concert with a football game as the side show, not the other way around.

The picture above is from a promotion I found last Thursday at Revolver in West Hollywood. “MADONNA HALFTIME SHOW! (also, it’s superbowl sunday).” That pretty much sums up the thoughts I heard and the Facebook messages I read over the last couple weeks…

• “You mean those men throwing the ball around sandwiching the Madonna concert?”
• “another amazing party for the Madonna concert, errr, Super Bowl!”

Gay comedian Billy Eichner did a horribly un-original piece for Conan O’Brien (below) in which he ran around Indianapolis wanting to talk to people only about Madonna. He must have dug to the depths of his creativity for that one.

To be sure, Madonna was part of the Super Bowl story. Our headline at Outsports referenced both the Giants and Madonna “winning” on Sunday. Plenty of mainstream outlets talked about Madonna’s halftime show and propped it up alongside the game. Often the halftime shows are part of the game. Last week I watched a replay of the Rams-Patriots Super Bowl; They included U2′s halftime performance in the condensed replay. I get that.

But this “who cares about the game when there are commercials and Madonna” mantra is just kind of…tired. We get it, we get it, gays aren’t supposed to like sports. We’re supposed to think of “Like a Prayer” when Tim Tebows. Images of “Greta Garbo and Monroe, Dietrich and DiMaggio” should dance in our heads as athletes perform touchdown celebrations. We get it, and there’s some validity to it.

Most stereotypes are rooted somewhere. As Jim noted in his post-game column, about 60% of the (mostly gay) people at our Super Bowl party watched most of the game; 100% of them watched the halftime show (conversely, I watched 100% of the game and talked to my brother on the phone about the first half through most of Madonna’s set; I later watched it, she was awesome).

I don’t care if people love Madonna. I had my moments with her (somehow she lost it for me after Evita). And I embrace the stereotypes of our community.

But I’d just love a little more room for sports fans and athletes. When I came out in 1996, I was met with lots of dismissive “oh that’s so butch” comments when I said I played football or love the NFL. It wasn’t surprising back then. But in 2012, it’s a little surprising to me; And I still get that “oh that’s so butch” reaction from time to time (though much less frequently than 16 years ago).

I got into some heat a couple years ago when I took Jesse Tyler Ferguson to task for feeling the need to demonstrably show just how little about sports gay men know. People said I was inconsistent, and maybe I am. I just don’t like the continual perpetuation of this “what gay man watches sports?” mantra. I remember being a kid struggling with that; Today we still hear from young athletes and sports fans who struggle with it.

I want those kids to feel they can celebrate who they are, even if they’re a Buffalo Bills fan. I want the people who are Madonna maniacs to celebrate who they are too. I’d just love to see them stop diminishing each other. It’s not particularly funny or original in 2012.

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Rose quickly took to Twitter to give the middle finger to everyone who might have not liked his racial and homophobic comments:

Notice the all-caps YOU – making it crystal clear he’s not apologizing to anyone else. He gave a half-hearted “apology” on air after he got caught in a whirlwind of reaction, but he laughed it off.

Of course, ESPN has deleted that portion of the interview so we cannot hear it (listen for the edit three seconds in).

While the comment may seem innocuous, Rose made it clear he doesn’t want two men touching one another with their bodies. Where do you think that comes from? He’s perfectly fine with men being naked, showering together. But once they touch? All bets are off. As we saw with ESPN’s Rob Parker earlier this week, his comments reflect the root of homophobia.

Rose knows a thing or two about losing championship games. He lost in the NCAA championship game two years in a row with Michigan; And he lost in the NBA Finals with the Indiana Pacers in 2000. He was also suspended by ESPN last year for a DUI arrest.

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“She just needs to continue to stay cute and shut up.”

After the Patriots lost to the Giants in the Super Bowl, in part because of dropped passes by their receivers, Bundchen was caught on tape saying:

“You (have) to catch the ball when you’re supposed to catch the ball. My husband cannot (bleeping) throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can’t believe they dropped the ball so many times.”

I was critical of her comments simply because that kind of public discord is not helpful to any team and was something her husband would never say about a teammate. But Jacobs’ “stay cute” comment is the definition of sexist and uncalled for. I am surprised he didn’t tell her to get back in the kitchen. Giants defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora took a different tack:

“I mean, that is her husband. She is supposed to stay out of things like that, but at the end of the day that is their relationship and she has the right to say whatever she wants to.”

Bundchen is apparently Public Enemy No. 1 in Boston, with people calling her “Yoko” and noting that the Pats have not won a Super Bowl since she hooked up with Brady. I get that players’ spouses will be lightning rods (see the wives of Kurt Warner and Albert Pujols), but Jacobs’ “stay cute” comment likely won Bundchen some female fans who have put up with that kind of crap their whole lives.

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Updated at 2:43pmPT with comments from Charissa Thompson.

Today’s episode of ESPN’s First Take tackled the issue of the New England Patriots’ post-game party. While Skip Bayless didn’t find much fault with the players dancing (possibly intoxicated) at a previously planed event, Rob Parker was most concerned about the fact that there didn’t seem to be many women at the event. Clearly uncomfortable with so many men, some of them shirtless, dancing together, he begged, “where are the females?” Good heavens, we must have females!!

Host Charissa Thompson soon chimed in that at least one woman was spotted near the dance floor, adding, “so that’s good news.”

Thompson said in an email to me that she didn’t mean anything by it:

I was merely making a casual/innocent reference in the context of a response to something Rob said about the lack of women in the party video.  When the video then showed a woman, I was simply responding to him.  I didn’t mean anything by the comment.  I hope this makes sense to you.

It does make sense. I imagine with all the foolish banter between Parker and Bayless, there’s lots of time to be filled and it’s not easy.

Still, this incident is an example of the underlying root of homophobia in many people. It looks weird to some people to see so many men having fun and dancing together without a woman present. These are bigger-than-life men, heroes of today, and they must have women present, damn it! Otherwise it’s just…well…plain wrong. Weird. Queer, if you will.

Why is Parker so afraid of a room of men dancing together? Why does there have to be a woman to de-homofy the environment? Why can’t a bunch of guys who just went through a grueling 19-game season simply dance around together and have fun with friends? It’s sad to see this paid ESPN employee so desperate to declare the scene “no-homo,” and I must say I was disappointed to hear Thompson chime in upon seeing a women with, “that’s good news.” Though her thoughtful response goes a long way!

For his part, Parker is little more than a Bayless-type attention-seeking clown. He’s gotten into trouble in the past for saying Kevin Love would suck in the NBA because he’s white (Parker is black). He had to leave The Detroit News in shame for his pitiful columns.

This is no slam against ESPN. We have praised ESPN repeatedly for the company’s inclusive policies and actions. It’s just sad to see the locker room uber-macho posturing that’s allowed to get on the air. Unfortunately they haven’t posted the clip online so we can’t share it.

A Tweet to Parker was not returned.

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The 62-year-old businessman and film producer allowed his children to paint his nails as a joke five weeks ago, and was too superstitious to remove the polish as the Giants began to power their way through the playoffs.

“If this is how it is going to work out then maybe I should wear it all the time,” Tisch joked. “I was going to get rid of it but my daughters thought it was funny and then we just kept winning.

If only Robert Kraft had done the same…

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How I saw Super Bowl XLVI, including my hot players of the game:

They did it again. The Giants are the Patriots’  Kryptonite, their daddy, their master, their tops, choose your word. For the second time in five seasons, the Giants have beaten the Patriots in the Super Bowl. Sunday it was 21-17 on a last-minute touchdown drive. In the 2007 season it was 17-14 on a last-minute touchdown drive. Once again, it was a game either team could have won and the Giants made a couple of more plays that made the difference.

This was not a great Super Bowl, though the last-play Hail Mary by New England was dramatic.  I watched at a party of about 75 (an awesome affair hosted by Cyd and his partner Dan) and there were very few moments where people got loud and really no play that had people leaping from their seats. It had an exciting fourth quarter and ending, but it was not overall very memorable. It kind of summed up the 2011 season, which was kind of flat despite some thrilling moments.

–The highlight of the game, obviously, was Mario Manningham’s 38-yard catch along the sideline on a pass from Eli Manning on the game-winning drive. It was a terrific catch but Manning’s throw was even better, placing it right between the cornerback and safety. It was the game’s longest play and caused Pats coach Bill Belichick to burn a timeout on an unsuccessful challenge. He had to challenge since the play was so close, but losing a timeout really hurt at the end.

–Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was good, but not great and he was anything but clutch down the stretch. He completed a Super Bowl record 16 straight passes and gave the Pats a 17-9 lead with 11 minutes to go in the third quarter. Then he seemed to lose it, going 7 for 18 the rest of the way, with an interception and getting no points. The Giants’ rush seemed to pressure him and he just looked off.

–Brady is now 2-4 in his last six playoff games. It’s a weird stat since he’s a better QB now than he was back in 2001-2004 when he won three Super Bowls. Just goes to show that football is a team game, despite what many in the media think.

–No, Eli is not better than Peyton or Brady. He’s just not. He is clearly an elite QB and  the best fourth-quarter player in his position right now, but before this season he had gone three seasons with zero playoff wins, missing the postseason the previous two seasons. He needs to be consistent every year. And this season, his team went 9-7 (the worst record ever for a Super Bowl winner) and simply got hot when it counted. One more Cowboys first down in Week 14 and the Giants don’t even make the playoffs. He deserves all the credit for winning two Super Bowls, but stop the nonsense about him being better than his brother or Brady, two guys who have done it at a higher level longer.

–Wes Welker is being fitted with goat horns after his drop at the Giants’ 20 with four minutes left on a drive where the Patriots wound up punting. It was the key play in the game from a Pats standpoint, since they almost certainly win if he hangs on. He beat himself up after the game pretty bad, with tears in his eyes, saying he should have caught the ball. Probably so, but it also was a tough catch since Brady did not make a good throw even though Welker was wide open. How ironic that Mr. Dependable Welker (122 regular season catches) dropped the one he had to have the most.

–So much for anyone hoping Rob Gronkowski would be a factor with a high ankle sprain. In the past three seasons, we have had four key players (three in Super Bowls) with that injury and none were effective.

–So much for all the theorizing that the game was set up perfectly for the Patriots since the Giants shot their mouths off all week and most people were picking them. Sometimes, talk is backed up and the consensus is correct. I forecast a close Giants win based on them matching up better. I went 9-2 picking the playoffs this season, not a bad ever.

–Madonna’s halftime show certainly was a spectacle, though I did somehow miss M.I.A. popping the finger and apparently say “f***. At my party, the game had 60% of the attendees watching. The halftime show had a 100% viewing rate. That’s when you know you’re at a gay Super Bowl party.

–Hot players of the game: Madonna’s dancers, especially the guys who escorted her in (right). She did (somewhat) bring the gay to the Super Bowl. Our friend Sam, a gay high school swimmer, posted this on Facebook: “Why was there a football game during a Madonna concert?”

–For all of you that read my recaps each week, thanks so much and see you next season. For a Colts fan, I’ll forget 2011 pretty quickly.

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Dallas "Sherry" Clark

This is pretty funny — Five members of the Indianapolis Colts dressed in drag for a skit on Jimmy Fallon’s NBC show spoofing the “Real Housewives” franchise (video below). How rare to see any American pro athlete do something like this. And there was even a Tim Tebow reference.

Dallas Clark was ‘Sherry.’ Dan Orlovsky was ‘Mary-Ann.’ Pierre Garcon was ‘Paris.’ Antoine Bethea was ‘Shay-Shay,’ and Robert Mathis was ‘Noelle.’

The Colts come into the skit shortly after the three-minute mark.

Hat tip to Stampede Blue.

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Most of the country will be glued to the television Sunday evening for the Super Bowl — but Christians, especially those hosting watch parties, are encouraged to play a free video message from a former championship coach as an alternative to Madonna’s halftime show.

Tony Dungy and his wife have recorded a three-minute video on the topic of adoption. Marc Andreas, vice president of marketing for the adoption agency Bethany Christian Services, shares about the video — and the Dungys. … It will be great to … share a personal message from Tony about children — about adoption, orphans and children.

Bethany Christian Services successfully fought against a nondiscrimination clause based on sexual orientation for adoptions in Virgina, so we know what their definition of “family” is, and it doesn’t include me. And with Madonna “bringing gay” to the Super Bowl, we know which side she is on.

Joe.My.God has the three-minute video.

Hat tip to Jim Allen.

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