8:45 p.m.

• OK, I could maybe understand the NFL getting its panties in a bunch over the use of “Super Bowl” because I hear on ads all the time that use terms like “the Big Game” when referring to the Super Bowl, but in regards to everything else? Jesus Christ. No Fun League indeed.

The National Football League (NFL) has ordered Fall Creek Baptist Church to cancel their Super Bowl viewing party on the grounds that the church used its trademark name in their promotions in addition to the church’s plan to charge a fee to attend.

 

The church, located in Indianapolis, hometown of the Colts who are playing in the championship game, had planned on projecting the game on a 12-foot-wide screen to their congregation as well as anyone interested.

 

Originally, Fall Creek had promoted the event as a “Super Bowl Bash” on their church website, which the NFL officials came across. The league sent an overnight FedEx immediately to the church’s pastor, John D. Newland, instructing them to terminate the event.

 

Newland responded to the association by noting that they were not charging attendance fee. The money was to help pay for snacks. He also promised to remove the words “Super Bowl” from his promotion in an attempt to still show the game.

 

The NFL refused the offer, however, stating that the church cannot project the game onto such a large screen. They may only hold the event if they use a TV no bigger than 55 inches.

The church will most likely call off the event.

 

"For us to have all our congregation huddled around a TV that is big enough only for 10 or 12 people to watch just makes little sense," said Newland to the Indianapolis Star.

 

Besides the mentioned faults, the NFL also went on to ban the church’s plan to affect nonmembers with a tape emphasizing the Christian testimonies of Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith, coaches of the Colts and Bears, respectively.

 

"While this may be a noble message," NFL assistant counsel Rachel L. Margolies wrote in a follow-up email, "we are consistent in refusing the use of our game broadcasts in connection with events that promote a message, no matter the content."

 

Many have criticized the officials for not simply overlooking the event. They argue that the NFL is being unreasonable, only trying to boost their Nielson ratings.

 

"We have contracts with our [TV]networks to provide free over-the-air television for people at home," NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said. "The network economics are based on television ratings and at-home viewing. Out-of-home viewing is not measured by Nielsen."

• For some reason the quote in bold below cracks me up. And for the one that wasn’t convicted of a HATE CRIME, was this person filled with apathy instead?

One of nine black teenagers convicted in the racially charged beating of three white women on Halloween was sentenced to probation Friday.

 

Punishment could have ranged up to confinement in a California Youth Authority lockup until age 25 for the 18-year-old, who was 17 at the time the crime took place. He was ordered to serve 250 hours of community service and to go nowhere but home, school or church during 60 days of house arrest.

 

The sentence was handed down by Juvenile Court Judge Gibson Lee, who last week convicted nine teens - eight female and one male - of felony assault, with a hate-crime enhancement against all but one.

 

Three girls were to sentenced later Friday. The other five defendants face sentencing next week. Names of the defendants were withheld because they are juveniles or were juveniles at the time and were tried as juveniles.

 

The defendant pleaded with the judge, saying he was innocent and tried to help the victims, including taking a skateboard away from an assailant who was using it as a weapon.

 

"What will my life be like? I'm 18 and convicted of a hate crime," he said.

• From an interview with Bill Gates, who remarks about those Apple ads featuring the “cool” Mac guy and the “stiff” PC person.

Q: Are you bugged by the Apple commercial where John Hodgman is the PC, and he has to undergo surgery to get Vista?

A: I've never seen it. I don't think the over 90 percent of the [population] who use Windows PCs think of themselves as dullards, or the kind of klutzes that somebody is trying to say they are.

 

Q: How about the implication that you need surgery to upgrade?

A: Well, certainly we've done a better job letting you upgrade on the hardware than our competitors have done. You can choose to buy a new machine, or you can choose to do an upgrade. And I don't know why [Apple is] acting like it’s superior. I don't even get it. What are they trying to say? Does honesty matter in these things, or if you're really cool, that means you get to be a lying person whenever you feel like it? There's not even the slightest shred of truth to it.

 

Q: Does the entire tenor of that campaign bother you, that Mac is the cool guy and PC—

A: That’s for my customers to decide.

It’s a goddamn computer! Get over it. I like these Apple ads. Do I believe everything that’s being claimed? Hell no. Do I care? Nopers. Many of them got a chuckle out of me upon the first few viewings, and in the end that’s all that matters. I know jack shit about computers, and I’ve worked with Macs and PCs in the past. Guess what? They both crash on me. As long as the product is not an outdated piece of shit and has the juice to run Quark, Photoshop and DreamWeaver while listening to Neal Boortz via streaming audio and having AIM turned on, then I’m happier than a pig in shit.

• Score one for the socialists. That's all I can say about this one.

One of Denmark's leading tour operators, Star Tour, unveiled plans for a child-free class designed to appeal to customers wishing to avoid screaming babies on its long-haul flights.