Media Day silliness
The NFL calls it Media Day, when it issues -- in addition to the hordes of mainstream sports reporters who get weeklong passes -- one-day-only credentials to take care of the fringe element who are here for the laughs and self-marketing.
Examples: Mo Rocca of the "Tonight Show" asked Bears coach Lovie Smith when he "got the call"" letting him know his team had been selected for the Super Bowl. Get it? Like he's an Oscar nominee or something? Yeah, not one of Mo's best bits.
A cute reporter from "Access Hollywood" tried to get Bears QB Rex Grossman to imagine which Hollywood hunk would play his part in a movie. He shrugged, so she prompted George Clooney or Tom Hanks. "Little old there," replied Grossman, 26.
The weirdest duo were the two young losers from "American Idol" who have become famous for 15 minutes because Simon Cowell insulted them so cruelly. He called one a "bush baby." Tuesday they were inside Dolphin Stadium trying to get players to sing baseball's "Take Me Out To the Ballgame" for Jimmy Kimmel's talk show. See, irony is funny. They also asked Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri what it felt like to be at his first Super Bowl. "This is my fifth," said the former Patriots kicker, who won two of them with late field goals. "But I think I was a little bit nervous for the first." That was10 years ago, so the bush baby might have been too young to remember.