WHO DAT

The New Orleans Saints showed the NFL how to play football as a team and Who Dat Nation took America to school. For one final time during this magical season, the duo worked together to remind us what sports are all about. The Saints brought the NFL's biggest game back where it belongs: to the people.

"We gained so much strength from our fans, from the people of New Orleans, just knowing how much they care about us, And we take that as a sense of responsibility just to be able to give New Orleans the championship they deserve. All we've wanted to do is win a championship for them just because we know what it means for those people, those people who have been through so many hardships," Saints quarterback and MVP Drew Brees said.

How can you talk about the Superbowl and not mention the commercials. In case you missed any while you got up to go to the bathroom or to grab another wing or beer, you can view all the commercials here. What was your favorite commercial?

Here are some of my favorites:

Hang Ten

Although I may have failed at sky diving, surfing was an adventure I like to think I accomplished. Perhaps not very well, but after many days of surfing down under, I caught a few good waves.

I started off at surf school to learn the basics. I woke up early and still hungover from partying the night before, but there's nothing like a dip in the ocean to kill a hangover (something I’ve learned all to well from Fire Island). The class was filled with 15 tourists wanting to fit in with the locals that made surfing look so easy. None of us looked natural or at ease, and our yellow boards and bright blue rash shirts didn't help much either. But like all other activities we did in Australia, it was about experiencing and trying new things and most importantly meeting new people from all over the world.

We spent the first half of the lesson on the beach on our boards, learning fundamentals. Over and over we laid on the board and then would jump up repeatedly. But the impatient NY born and raised sisters just wanted to get in the water and begin surfing. When it was finally time to get in the ocean and attempt to ride the waves most of the class crashed and were continuously running into eachother like a bad traffic jam on the FDR.

A few days later, Melissa and I decided to ditch the group and take a private lesson and get serious about surfing. But serious, was anything but what happened during that lesson. My witty, inappropriate, and flirtatious personality was out in full force and the combination of trying to learn to surf made for a great segment that I wish was documented for a reality television show (Snooki step aside).

Our Aussie surf instructor kept yelling at us you gotta face the beach, but with his Aussie accent all I heard was "you gotta face the bitch" -- I mean how could anyone take that seriously in the water?? After a few hours of surfing and many twin jokes later, I found my “sweet spot” (let the jokes pour in.. Gd only knows I had a field day with this one)

We left that lesson and our instructor didn’t know what to think about us New Yawkas. I'm still getting emails from him with remarks that he can't take his lessons seriously without cracking a smile and thinking of michigas when teaching other students about their sweet spot.

With the snowstorm approaching and the holiday weekend around the corner, everyone’s talking about skiing and snowboarding, but I can’t help but think about surfing! I guess my surfing days are over until summer… so for now I’ll put my bikini away and pull out my long underwear, but hopefully the pictures will warm you up...

The Great Barrier Reef, Cairns Australia

A goal of mine in Australia, was to go sky diving over the ocean and overlooking the Great Barrier Reef. I didn’t have enough time in the Whitsunday Islands for this activity, so I was set on sky diving in Cairns. However, I may have set my expectations too high as I would quickly discover that I would be making many attempts if I was going to accomplish this goal.

Attempt #1- maybe it was a little too much partying in Airlie Beach or the germs from the boat, but it was just my luck that I caught a bad sinus infection and after scuba diving an added ear infection. With an ear infection, I was told I couldn’t jump out of a plane because of the pressure. This would be my first of many attempts....

Being that I had just met back up with my parents, I’m not sure why I thought it was a good idea that I would go sky diving in Cairns. And boy did my jewish mother have a few words to say about my plans to jump out of an airplane. But after many arguments and to my mother’s dismay, two days later I made my 2nd attempt to go sky diving. However on that particular day, there were not enough people to fill the plane and therefore they wouldn’t be diving that afternoon. Strike 2….

Attempt # 3 was on Christmas Day, (it was just another Friday for me) but to everyone else it was a holiday and there were no diving trips.

I decided after 3 attempts and failing at all of them, that sky diving wasn’t in my cards for my trip down under and that maybe G-d was trying to tell me something or warn me otherwise…

So instead of sky diving out a plane, my family took a helicopter ride over the Great Barrier Reef. This ride was spectacular and the beauty of the ocean absolutely blew my mind. So high above, you get to appreciate the depth and immensity that the reef takes over in the Pacific Ocean.

Having just been scuba diving that morning, I spent a few hours exploring the reef and marine life up close, as if I was in a life size fish tank or swimming in the movie “Finding Nemo”. In contrast, it was absolutely amazing to be diving in the Great Barrier Reef 20 meters below sea level and then to fly directly above the reef 20 meters above sea level.

On the helicopter ride, I made one last attempt and asked the pilot “if he was going to let us know, when it was safe to jump out” Not sure he quite got my michigas humor and I know my mother sure didn’t appreciate it…

The chopper ride was baller style or at least we thought. But we were no where near baller status as the world's largest privately owned sailing yacht was docked next to us as we landed on the marina.

Little did Melissa and I know that we would venture on to this ridiculous 305 foot super yacht in just a few hours. Later that night at Woolshed, we met some of the crew members, and after much of our NY intimidation, persuasion, and batting of our eyes, we convinced them to take us on a tour of the yacht and for a few more cocktail. I wasn't allowed to take any pictures on board because the Britts assumed I would be selling them to Paparazzi. But I can promise you the yacht was worth all $100 million down to the very last penny…

The beauty of the boat doesn’t compare to the Great Barrier Reef, but it was a close second and a fun night to wrap up our memorable Christmas in Cairns...

Hidalgo "Snooking for Love"

• Single, Catholic, Male seeking a Single Jewish Female


• For: Friendship, A date, A long-term relationship


• 27 years old


• Surfers Paradise Australia

About Me: Originally from New England (which is why I apologetically love the Patriots). I moved to Philly and went to school at Penn State. My first love will always be PSU football; I never miss a game. Not even in Australia, where I currently reside. Down under I have found my second love, surfing.

I’m very active and love to stay fit. I always hit the gym when I’m not out catching a wave. My new obsession is with the Jersey Shore and I'm working on my fist pump for when I return to Dirty Jerz this summer.

I’m looking for my Third Love. Ideally she will enjoy similar interests as mine; Penn State football, the gym & surfing, and someone who can keep up with me at partying.

Sign: Capricorn - Attributes: Gentle, serene, creative, persistent, practical, very attached to family and friends, quiet about love, in touch with my feminine side

Do we Click? Email me if you think we’d be a good match, and if not for anything with the time difference, I’m always up late at night to keep you company

Skipper, Gilligan, and Maryanne too

My sister and I spent a few days living on a sailboat called "The Hammer" and cruising around the Whitsunday Islands. The boat consisted of 22 twenty-something year olds from all over the world ranging from England, Germany, France, Holland, Poland, Israel to Taiwan. It was very intriguing to share everyone’s experiences, backgrounds, cultures and stories. There were such vast differences in everyone and their lifestyles, but we were all sharing a common ground, Australia, this boat, and our desire to travel the world and enjoy this same very moment in life.

Having slept on the boat, we arrived very early on our 2nd day to Whitehaven beach; ahead on the rest of the tourists who sail out to visit this beach later in the day. Our boat dropped us off on the bay side of the island, so we had to take a short hike to the beach. There were a few trails, one in particular leading you to a lookout point. The view from the lookout was spectacular, and everyone was taking picture after picture, and of course I took a few but really Melissa and I were just itching to get to the beach!

The beach was practically empty, and for that short time, it was as if we were on a secluded island with no worries....able to soak up every moment and ounce of its beauty. The sand is almost as white and soft as flour and the water was a beautiful turquoise and as crystal clear as running water from a faucet. The sun beaming down made this magnificent turquoise ocean shine bright against the white beach. I truly believe this was heaven and if this is, I’m okay with leaving this earth tomorrow…

You know the saying. pictures speak 1,000 words, well I think these pictures speak many more then that.

The Whitsunday Islands are on the beginning stretch of the Great Barrier Reef, and I began to understand why this was part of the Seven Wonders of the World… Our next excursion was to travel farther north, to Cairns to see more of the Great Barrier Reef and the Rainforest (or Bush as the Aussie’s refer to it) Stay tuned…

'Roos

How can I begin to post about Australia and not start with an ode to the ‘roos.I think it’s a myth that the Kangaroos are a plenty in Aussie, as I had to go out of my way to encounter them. Albeit I spent most of my time in the cities and on the beach, but I wasn’t the only tourist on the lookout for ‘roos..

On our first day in Australia, my sister and I were walking in the community where we were staying (the suburbs of Brisbane); Melissa became startled when she saw an animal jump high in the air at the fence we were passing. Naively enough, all Melissa saw were the animal’s two ears and she just assumed that it was a kangaroo, a common pet kept in ones backyard in Australia?!? But after 2 minutes of peeping through the gate to get a closer look, this “kangaroo” let out a bark… It was someone’s dog with an extremely high jump! Disappointed and embarrassed we ran away laughing at our dumb tourist antics and assumptions…

I also had the pleasure of eating Kangaroo. However, I would not recommend ‘roo to anyone, it tasted terrible! Later on in my trip, I was told 'roo should not be eaten plain and that it was probably overcooked. I should have known better then to leave it to an American to serve me the 'roo. I could not get myself to try it again at any of the restaurants, but those few bites were enough for me to say that I’ve tried Kangaroo in my lifetime!

While in the bush up north in Carins, I was able to see, feed and pet the ‘roos up close and personal. These ‘roos were caged and trained to be friendly, I reckon those running wild would never come up to me and lick food off my hands as a dog would. This time around, I was made into the butt of the joke during our kangaroo adventure. Hoping to see a Joey tucked into the ‘roos pouch, our tour guide told me these were all males. He then told me I can still pet them but to watch out for his crown jewels when they drop. Disappointed by not being able to see a joey and the combination of his thick accent I didn’t fully process what he had just told me, so I asked him what he was referring to by crown jewels …. Needless to say the rest of our adventure the tour guide made sure to point out everyone’s crown jewels with multiple explanations of what he meant and what they’re used for…

I'd like to think that it was a full circle of life between me and the ‘roos, having eaten one myself and then feeding another. So with that I feel complete about my Kangaroo experience in Aussie... More michigas down under to come!

Aussie

I just returned from Australia and I am fighting the brisk winter air, beach blues, and jetlag. As promised I will be blogging about my trip and posting some pictures in the next coming weeks. Australia was a magnificent country filled with gorgeous beaches and pristine cities. The trip exceeded all of my highest expectations; filled with lots of adventures and plenty of michigas down under.

Hope ya'll had a fabulous holiday celebration and rang in the New Year in style and with plenty of bubbly. Cheers for now!