As we get closer to Super Bowl 45, there will be a lot to read on the Packers, Steelers, and everything in between. To help you sift through the massive amounts of coverage, we’ll pick out each day’s best stories. It will be called “Hot Reads,” because: football! And reading!
Super Bowl XLV Hot Reads: Donald Driver’s Dream Come True, Lockouts, Strippers, And Pricey Parties
1. We begin with Donald Driver. Every year’s Super Bowl brings with it a bevy of inspirational, dream-come-true narratives, but this one was better than most. Driver went from sleeping in the streets of Houston and small-time drug dealing to turning himself into a seventh-round pick with the Packers, and eventually, one of the greatest rags-to-riches stories in NFL history. Sometimes, the stories about “miracles” and “dreams” aren’t just cliche. Driver’s tale is worth your time.
Now who wants to learn about Super Bowl parties?!
2. Want to party with P. Diddy during the Super Bowl? Cool. He’s having a party called “Fantasy” and you can get in! As long as you pay the $750 cover charge... And that’s a discount, mind you:
The Black Eyed Peas ... headline Sports Illustrated's party on Saturday along with top French DJ David Guetta. A 'stageside cabana' with high-end drinks and a hostess for a dozen people will set you back $80,000 although if you can settle for a table for 10 with champagne and 'premium bottles' you will be dancing the night away for just $35,000.
A straightforward single entrance ticket (or 'VIP invitation') for the event is $1500, which is the same cost as a night with Prince, the 1980's pop singer.
$1,500 to party with Prince? Seems worth it.
3. Sports Illustrated’s Ann Killion isn’t willing to forget about Ben Roethlisberger’s past as easily as the rest of America has. Meanwhile, Jezebel takes a broader look at the seedier side of the NFL’s big game, and it includes the Packers. Possibly related? There’s a stripper shortage in Dallas.
4. It’s not Super Bowl-related, but if you’d like a primer on the labor discussions that figure to hang over this week’s Super Bowl, Judy Battista has you covered at the New York Times:
The N.F.L. generated nearly $9 billion in revenue last year. While both sides have amassed lockout war chests, millions of dollars will be lost if there is no new deal in March. The N.F.L. expects to lose $120 million in revenue if there is no deal by the deadline and $1 billion if there is no deal by the start of the regular season in September. The league said it would take years to recoup the losses.
The numbers go up from there: $400 million per week if games are missed. Free agents, who cannot sign contracts if there is a lockout, and players who are owed certain bonuses could forgo hundreds of millions of dollars more if no deal is struck in March, the league said.
5. And finally, it’s early, but we officially have a frontrunner for “Headline of the Week”. Courtesy of the Dallas Morning News: Ignore Stereotypes, Vistors: We’re More Than Pickups And Guns.
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