Over on The Wrap, SportsNewser friend Dylan Stableford argues persuasively that this is the biggest year ever for Sports Illustrated‘s swimsuit issue.

And the 2011 swimsuit issue is already delivering. It boasts more than 90 ad pages, a 30 percent increase over last year. And the issue is up 41 percent in advertising revenue, SI says. That’s a big deal, considering the swimsuit issue itself accounts for about 7 percent of Sports Illustrated’s annual ad revenue (or roughly $40 million of its $572 million in 2010).

And he’s probably correct. The press behind this issue is unprecedented, and blogs and websites all across the Web are posting images in hopes of landing some tangential traffic.

But does anyone actually care about the issue? Read more

The Black Eyed Peas offered up a brutally bad halftime show at Super Bowl XLV.

Fergie, the band’s female lead, took most of the blame for her, um, inability to sing. In an interview with Dan Patrick, she offers up an excuse.

“Hell, yeah, I was nervous. Are you kidding me? Some of my notes were pitchy,” she tells the Sports Illustrated scribe. “That was just from all of the excitement, and I was nervous. But it was so exhilarating. So big. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and it was just so exciting.”

Fergie also defended Christina Aguleria, who managed to mess up the national anthem. Read more

Betting profits are down for Super Bowl XLV, which is sad we suppose until you remember that the casinos still made almost $1 million in less than three hours. So whatever, non-story. Let’s talk about something more interesting: Prop bets.

Christina Aguilera‘s national anthem flub is causing more trouble than her simply being called an “anti-American slut.” One popular prop bet is the length of the anthem. Bodog.com had the over/under at 1:54 and timed the singer’s version at 1:53.7. However, because of the singer’s mistake, Sportsbook.com is paying off both sides.

“It was a controversial performance with bettors,” SportsInteraction.com betting analyst Al Dannity told the website in what has to be the most ridiculous quote of the year. “Aguilera came in narrowly under, but it’s hard to tell what impact her error had. Had she remembered the lyrics, then she would probably have been more composed and finished faster. Those betting the over (might not) see it that way and I doubt they will be buying any of her records for some time.”

So there. Now what about those other Aguilera-related prop bets? Read more

In January, Richard Keys and Andy Gray found themselves out of jobs after sexist remarks the duo made came to light. The latter man was fired by Sky Sports and the former broadcaster stepped down, in part due to committing “career suicide” in a talkSPORT interview regarding the matter.

Except hey, it wasn’t such a bad career move since the station hired the pair to host a three-hour radio show.

“This is the start of something new and exciting for Andy and myself,” Keys told the Associated Press.

They will start on Monday, February 14 and appear live from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. every weekday. Mike Perry, the man Key and Gray are replacing, decided he wanted to move on from the station prior to the pair’s arrival.

So why did Keys and Gray get hired? Read more

Could Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol be jealous that teammate Lamar Odom gets to live the celeb life as a member of Khloe Kashardian‘s entourage? Does the super-tall Spaniard want to live life in the faster lane? Is going on a Lifetime show hosted by Heidi Klum the way to achieve this goal?

The Lakers’ big man will appear on a Tuesday night episode of the swimsuit model’s Lifetime show, Seriously Funny Kids. He lets a pint-sized yellow and gold fan named Tobey offer him some advice while sitting next to Klum.

In all seriousness, Gasol sounds like a genuine, caring guy who would enjoy making some kid’s day.

Here’s a preview of the episode. It doesn’t look terrible. It’s certainly better than the “Klumosauraus Rex” episode, in which “host Heidi Klum talks to kids about poop.”

Gasol, presumably, missed the filming of that one.

That would be Max Pagehasm. He has a congenital heart defect and a spot on The Young and the Restless. The six-year-old looks a lot like Luke Skywalker when he takes his helmet off.

He appeared on the Today show and met James Earl Jones on Monday and joined CNN’s American Morning Tuesday morning.

Adorably, he’s never seen Star Wars. Probably because he’s six, and Darth Vader is terrifying.

If 162.9 million viewers in the U.S. for Super Bowl XLV wasn’t impressive enough, Sunday’s game was also the most-watched Super Bowl ever on Canadian television.

According to CTV, 7.3 million Canadian viewers tuned in, the most-watched television broadcast in Canada since the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Among adults aged 18-49, the game received  a 63 share and a 62 share among adults 25-54. All in all, 17.3 million unique viewers watched Super Bowl XLV – or more than one in two Canadians (52.2%) – on CTV and RDS.

In Atlanta Magazine‘s February issue, Charles Bethea pens a long feature on boxer Evander Holyfield.

It’s a tale that shows the boxer’s many sides, from his devotion to the Church (he goes to confession at 4 a.m. every morning and has tithed almost $20 million) and his big heart (“If you love something like you love them Nintendo games, you’ll be successful.”) to his tragic need to continue boxing.

With taxes on his Fayetteville properties adding up to more than $155,000 in 2010, cumulative child support payments in the $500,000 range, and the occasional $17,000 electricity bill, Holyfield has to keep fighting. It’s the ring or the poorhouse, and Holyfield has always chosen the former, no matter the trouble it’s brought along.

The man who got his ear bitten off by Mike Tyson is both self-aware and hopelessly out of touch. Read more

If you weren’t lucky enough to get a ticket to Super Bowl XLV, the next best place to watch the game is at the White House.

Michael Wilbon had that opportunity Sunday night after getting an invite from one of the president’s lieutenants.

“I’d never been to a Super Bowl party of any kind in my life. I covered 19 consecutive Super Bowls for The Washington Post from 1987 through 2006, meaning I attended each and every game. That ended in 2007, when I began working the NBA pregame shows on ABC every Sunday in the winter/spring, duties that gave me just enough time to scramble to my hotel room and watch the big game in my preferred way, which is to say in total solitude. Read more

Jerry Jones attempt to set a Super Bowl attendance record Sunday night came up just short, capping off a tumultuous week in North Texas.

A total of 103,219 fans were at Cowboys Stadium to watch the Green Bay Packers capture Super Bowl XLV, falling short of the record by 766.

The Super Bowl attendance record was set at Super Bowl XIV when 103,985 fans packed the Rose Bowl to see Pittsburgh and the Los Angeles Rams. Read more