On final note, one more Volkswagen ad from the Superbowl:

The Superbowl commercials have been pretty good so far, but expectations are high. I excitedly tweeted the clean diesel commercial from BMW promoting their 335d performance diesel. Still though, I’m fond of Volkswagen promoting their new 2012 American built Passat, although didn’t mention the TDI optional diesel engine. (video below)

While I haven’t been overly excited about January playoff leading to Superbowl 45 this year, I am enjoying the final two games of the playoffs this afternoon. Currently the Chicago Bears are having a difficult game against the Green Bay Packers, but the Chicago defense has elevated their play in the second half. Still with Jay Cuttler sidelined with a knee injury, the Bears offense is struggling. The second string quarterback has also headed to the sidelines and Bears 3rd string youngster Caleb Hanie in control AND more importantly leading his team down the field to their first score of the game. I’m holding on since this game isn’t over. (14-7 in the 3rd quarter)

Other news more Cincinnati Bengals oriented is the ESPN story about veteran quarterback Carlson Palmer:

Carson Palmer wants Trade

Carson Palmer will ask the Cincinnati Bengals to trade him and will contemplate retirement if he does not get his wish, according to several sources.

Palmer, the No. 1 overall pick by the Bengals in 2003, was unavailable for comment as he and his wife Shaelynn were awaiting the birth of their third child.

A Bengals spokesman had no comment. The team has Palmer under contract through 2014.

Palmer has become the object of fan frustration in the past two years and sources said he has grown frustrated with the team’s inconsistencies. The Bengals finished 4-12 in 2010.

Sources familiar with Palmer’s plan and mindset said he is financially secure for the rest of his life and willing to follow through and retire.

Several teams will be in the market for quarterbacks this offseason. Seattle will have an opening at quarterback if the Seahawks can’t re-sign Matt Hasselbeck. Palmer won the Heisman Trophy for now-Seahawks coach Pete Carroll at USC in 2002. San Francisco, where his wife was raised, and Arizona could also be options.

Palmer suffered a major knee injury in a first-round playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the end of the 2005 season. He also suffered an elbow injury in 2008 and considered Tommy John surgery before choosing to rehab without having the operation.

Chris Mortensen is ESPN’s senior NFL analyst.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=6051119

One of my all time favorite baseball players and Cleveland Indian star, Bob Feller died on Wednesday night. We had the opportunity to meet and talk with Mr. Feller back when my son played youth baseball and appreciated his signing my son’s ball glove and a photo. He was a remarkably healthy senior well into his 80s and had both an entertaining personality and sharp mind.

CLEVELAND — Bob Feller, the Iowa farm boy whose powerful right arm earned him the nickname "Rapid Robert" and made him one of baseball’s greatest pitchers during a Hall of Fame career with the Cleveland Indians, has died. He was 92.

Feller died at 9:15 p.m. on Wednesday night of acute leukemia at a hospice, said Bob DiBiasio, the Indians vice president of public relations.

Remarkably fit until late in life, Feller had suffered serious health setbacks in recent months. He was diagnosed with a form of leukemia in August, and while undergoing chemotherapy, he fainted and his heart briefly stopped. Eventually, he underwent surgery to have a pacemaker implanted.

In November, he was hospitalized with pneumonia and Feller was recently released into hospice care.

Even as his health deteriorated, Feller continued doing what he loved most — attending Indians games deep into last season.

"Nobody lives forever and I’ve had a blessed life," Feller said in September. "I’d like to stay on this side of the grass for as long as I can, though. I’d really like to see the Indians win a World Series."

Feller, in fact, was part of the rotation the last time the Indians won it all — in 1948.

Fiercely proud and patriotic, Feller was an American original. He won 266 games during 18 seasons — all with the Indians, who brought him up to the majors as a 17-year old. Feller’s win total remains a Cleveland team record, one that seems almost untouchable in today’s free-agent era.

"Bob Feller is gone. We cannot be surprised," Indians owner Larry Dolan said in a statement. "Yet, it seems improbable. Bob has been such an integral part of our fabric, so much more than an ex-ballplayer, so much more than any Cleveland Indians player. He is Cleveland, Ohio."

Feller was part of a vaunted Indians’ rotation in the 1940s and ’50s with fellow Hall of Famers Bob Lemon and Early Wynn. He finished with 2,581 career strikeouts, led the American League in strikeouts seven times, pitched three no-hitters — including the only one on opening day — and recorded a jaw-dropping 12 one-hitters.

His numbers would no doubt have been even greater had his career not been interrupted by World War II.

The first pitcher to win 20 games before he was 21, Feller was enshrined in Cooperstown in 1962, his first year of eligibility.

The Indians retired his No. 19 jersey in 1957 and immortalized the greatest player in franchise history with a statue when they opened their downtown stadium in 1994. The sculpture is vintage Feller, captured forever in the middle of his patented windmill windup, rearing back to fire another pitch.

Baseball was only a part of Feller’s remarkable story.

Stirred by Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Feller enlisted in the Navy the following day — the first major league player to do so. He served as a gun captain on the USS Alabama, earning several battle commendations and medals.

Never afraid to offer a strong opinion on any subject, Feller remained physically active in his later years. At the end of every winter, he attended the Indians’ fantasy camp in either Florida or Arizona. One of the highlights of the weeklong event was always Feller, in uniform, taking the mound and striking out campers, some of whom were 50 years younger.

Another rite of spring for Cleveland fans was seeing Feller at the Indians’ training camp. Before home exhibition games in Winter Haven, Fla., or more recently in Goodyear, Ariz., Feller would throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Introduced to a rousing ovation every time, Feller delivered the throw with the same high leg kick he used while blazing fastballs past overmatched hitters.

An eight-time All-Star, Feller compiled statistics from 1936 through 1956 that guaranteed his Hall of Fame enshrinement. He led the AL in victories six times and is still the Indians’ career leader in shutouts (46), innings pitched (3,827), walks (1,764), complete games (279), wins and strikeouts.

Despite losing his two starts, Feller won a World Series title with the Indians in 1948.

When he returned from military duty in 1946, Feller arguably had his finest season, going 26-15 with a 2.18 ERA and pitching 36 complete games and 10 shutouts. For comparison’s sake, the Indians’ entire pitching staff had 10 complete games and four shutouts last season.

Born Nov. 3, 1918, near Van Meter, Iowa, Robert Andrew William Feller was 16 when he caught the eye of Indians scout Cy Slapnicka.

Feller made his first major league start on Aug. 23, 1936, two months shy of turning 18. He never pitched in the minors, and when the Indians decided to use him in a relief role on July 19, 1936, he was the youngest player ever to pitch in a major league game. Many wondered if the kid — who would later credit his arm strength to milking cows, picking corn, and baling hay — was in over his head.

Hardly.

Using a fastball later dubbed "the Van Meter heater," Feller struck out 15 — two shy of the major league record in his first game, beating the St. Louis Browns 4-1 — a star was born. Later that season, Feller established the AL record by striking out 17 Philadelphia Athletics.

In 1938, Feller set the major league record by striking out 18 against the Detroit Tigers. The record stood for 36 years before being broken by Nolan Ryan in 1974. By the time he joined the military at 23, Feller had won 109 games and was well on the way to baseball fame.

In his day, nobody threw harder than Feller, who sometimes had trouble with his control. Because speed devices weren’t as advanced as they are today, it’s impossible to gauge precisely how fast Feller threw in his prime. There is famous black-and-white film footage of Feller’s fastball being clocked as it races against a motorcycle said to be traveling at 100 mph.

Feller once said he was clocked at 104 mph.

Even in his later years, Feller could recall pitch-for-pitch duels with great hitters like Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio. He said his biggest thrill in the game was when he returned from the military to pitch a no-hitter against New York at Yankee Stadium.

"I had been away four years and people were saying I was washed up," Feller said. "They had a right to say it, too, since few come back after being away so long. But this game proved to me that I was still able to pitch."

He always credited his father, Bill, with encouraging his baseball ambitions.

"My father kept me busy from dawn to dusk when I was a kid," Feller said. "When I wasn’t pitching hay, hauling corn or running a tractor, I was heaving a baseball into his mitt behind the barn. I couldn’t repay my debt to him, but I wanted to pass along the thought that if all the parents in the country followed his rule, juvenile delinquency would be cut in half in a year’s time."

Feller said the greatest hitter he ever faced, without question, was Williams, although Williams had only a .270 average against him.

"I was a little luckier against him than the others," Feller said. "But he beat me in more games than I care to remember. Joe DiMaggio was the only right-hander who hit me consistently. The fellow who hit me best, though, was Tommy Henrich, the Yankees’ old reliable.

"Funny thing, I’ve run across a lot of former ballplayers who said to me, ‘You know, Bob, I wasn’t a great hitter, but I’ve always had pretty good success against you.’ I must have kept a lot of .250 hitters in the game."

After retiring from baseball, Feller worked in the insurance business, but he never got completely away from baseball. In 1981, he returned to work for the Indians as a spring training pitching coach and in the team’s public relations office.

As recently as last season, Feller was a fixture in the press box at Progressive Field. Sitting in the media dining area before games or in the same seat during them, he would offer his thoughts on any current event and, of course, give his assessment on how the Indians were playing.

Feller didn’t care for crowds and didn’t particularly enjoy interacting with fans, but he often attended memorabilia shows to sign autographs for a nominal fee. Sometimes gruff, Feller would sign his autograph and listen as fans asked him questions and posed for pictures with an iconic man who meant so much to them.

Feller was critical of contemporary ballplayers. He viewed them as spoiled and felt they didn’t work as hard at their craft as he and his peers. Feller never softened on his stance that Pete Rose, baseball’s hits leader, should remain banned for betting on baseball and he was revolted by the idea that players who cheated by taking steroids could one day join him as a Hall of Famer.

Feller, who lived in Gates Mills, Ohio, is survived by his wife, Anne, and three sons, Steve, Martin and Bruce.

FoxNews

I’m not endorsing this $259 GoPro Hero camera (“Naked” as they call it) since I haven’t used it, but from the promotional photos, and particularly HD video (see below), it looks great. The fixed lens setup may be a limitation but it is one of the nicest action sports cameras I’ve seen to date and might work for a variety of activities. The quality is outstanding and the optional mounts, as well as protection from the elements, looks excellent – the price doesn’t seem out of line either.

One of the first guys I thought of was my EAA buddy Steve — check out his flying videos on his blog – this could be his next camera (if he didn’t work for Kodak!).

EDIT: Adding a WSJ.com 3D option video clip on 12/20/2010.

Congratulation Roz (previous posts) … you are National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year for 2010. (and she’s working on another book about rowing the Pacific)

The Rower

Roz Savage solo rowed the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans—the first woman ever to do so.

Before she rowed across two oceans, Roz Savage was a management consultant, working 14-hour days in London. “There has to be something more adventurous,” she thought. “I’m not getting any younger. Why not get on with it?” So she did. In 2005, Savage paddled the Atlantic in 103 days, battling several storms in one of the worst seas on record. This year, paddling to increase awareness of the ocean’s plight and show the extraordinary impact one person can have when they set their mind to something, the 42-year-old completed an 8,000-mile, three-part row across the Pacific. After 250 days and 2.5 million oarstrokes, she reached Madang, Papua New Guinea, on June 3, becoming the first woman ever to solo row across the largest ocean in the world. In 2011, Savage will set out to row 5,000 miles across the Indian Ocean.

—By Ryan Bradley

Maybe I’m still in shock and still need to slap myself in order to believe the Cleveland Browns gave the New England Patriots a “shellacking” on Sunday afternoon – CLE 34, NE 14. It was a great game to have enjoyed watching with my daughter, a Browns fan now that she has spent 17 of her 24 years in northeastern Ohio. Of course our support is far from the truly dedicated fans …

CLEVELAND (AP) — An Ohio man won over the woman he loves at Cleveland Browns Stadium before the team won a big victory over New England.

Browns fan Phil Hogan of Cuyahoga Falls dropped to one knee Sunday and proposed to his girlfriend while they were tailgating in a parking lot with friends.

WEWS-TV reports the two met four years ago while tailgating at a Browns game.

Hogan presented not only a ring as he popped the question but also a Browns jersey with his last name on the back. She said yes and immediately suited up in the "Hogan" jersey.

The Browns beat the Patriots 34-14.

[audio src=http://myarchive.us/mp3/wsjnunsrangerfansmp3.mp3]

At any rate, congratulations SF.

Unfortunately the mistakes by Cincinnati professional athletes aren’t only on the gridiron, our Reds continue to be plagued with errors giving the Philles the opportunity to wrap up the National League Division Series in 3 games tonight (yet to be over as of this posting but it is hard to be confident.) Errors, Errors, Errors!

Palm Pre photo of home theatre screen.