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The Pro Bowl is on this weekend….. (chirping)……

Exactly. Who cares?

Despite nearly every person I talk to saying that they do not care about the Pro Bowl, the NFL said “12.3 million viewers” tuned in to watch. In fact, it was the most-watched Pro Bowl in ten years.

I can’t believe it. Were people watching the entire game? Was there really nothing else on? No Top Chef? No Murder, She Wrote?

Personally, I don’t really watch the Pro Bowl. Not watch it, like a regular game, type thing. I might tune in to see a play, shrug, and turn it off. I think the Pro Bowl is important as far as the popularity contest aspect. It’s nice to get riled up when a favorite player doesn’t make it in. It’s good recognition for those that do. But watch the actual game? No way. In fact, here are three things I think would gather more viewers than the Pro Bowl game.

The NFL Has Talent anyone? >>

In case you might’ve missed it, there’s a nice, little movement going on at the University of Kentucky for potential player, Enes Kanter, a freshman center from Turkey. Because of some questions about Kanter’s amateur status, he hasn’t been cleared by the NCAA to play yet, which, in turn, has sparked the “FREE ENES” movement, something I’m proudly apart of.

That being said, I didn’t expect to see a “FREE ENES” sign on Saturday when College GameDay was being hosted in Columbia, Missouri for the Mizzou/OU game (nice win, Tigers). KSR noticed it, as well, and they were just as excited.

So what does all this mean, besides the fact there are some outspoken UK fans in Columbia, Missouri? Not sure, but whatever the case may be, selfishly, I enjoy seeing UK propaganda at other sporting events, especially ones that have nothing to do with the idea being promoted. Is it obnoxious? Absolutely, but that doesn’t make me love it any less. Who knows, maybe a member of the NCAA saw the sign, too, and allowed his/her heart to grow three sizes, all in the name of freeing Enes.

One can hope, anyway.

H/t to 30fps (of course) for the image.

Marvel Comics has a partnership with the NBA and ESPN to produce comic book-style covers and images of the NBA and some of its players and the early returns are pretty keen. Marvel’s work can also be seen on the latest ESPN: The Magazine’s cover, and it, too, is also quite keen. It features Kobe Bryant as Iron Man (he’ll need it this season with his dodgy knee), LeBron James as Captain America (um, OK), and Kevin Durant as Thor.

While the image itself does indeed soar, Durant as Thor is pretty confusing.

Considering his nickname, Durantula, a Spider Man tie-in seems like a no-brainer, but, as /Film explains, these three iconic characters also represent the next three Marvel movies, and with Sony owning the rights to the Spider-Man movie, using Thor is understandable. That being said, throughout Marvel’s history, Thor has been awfully built and defined. Durant? While being perhaps the best scorer in the NBA now, that’s still a “not so much.”

Anyway, after the jump, check out a bigger version of the ESPN cover, as well as ESPN.com’s image from yesterday. After the jump >>

During his first appearance as “The Swami” for the 2010 NFL season, Chris Berman brought a new guest along with him: A brand new mustache, which looks fairly impressive, truth be told. While his ongoing shtick might rub others the wrong way, showing up with such outstanding facial hair seems to have provided him with newfound respect, not to mention, a little bit of Internet love.

While Twitter is a great place to check out trending topics, Google’s new Realtime search feature gives you a good idea how popular a topic is across all social media platforms, not just the 140-character paradise. A quick glance shows his choice in facial hair has been pretty popular, especially around lunch time.

If you click the left arrow to check yesterday’s content, Google responds with a “Your search – chris berman mustache – did not match any documents,” indicating how Google Realtime works (no content yesterday because no one saw it until last night). Clearly, when Berman does something so drastic, the sports web responds quite rapidly. A quick glance at the Google’s Blog Search results for “Chris Berman Mustache” supports this nicely.

In case you were wondering, the Swami only discussed tonight’s game, and will give the rest of his outlook before Sunday’s slate begins. His winner is New Orleans, 30-23. I’m curious to see how long Berman’s `stache stays around, because you just know the Sunday NFL Countdown crew will be discussing it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Keyshawn Johnson tried to clown him.

However, if Berman’s following Peter Griffin’s rules of mustache-sporting, With Great Mustache comes Great Responsibility, he needs to stand strong in the face of such potential criticisms.

Image courtesy of Tirico Suave’s Twitpic account.

Not only is ESPN loving the hype surrounding LeBron’s impending free agency (In less than NINE HOURS!!!!), they’re also one of the biggest drivers of the Lebron-hype bus, something their “LeBron Tracker” page indicates quite nicely. Obviously, ESPN is no longer satisfied with crushing local sports reporting with the invention of their city-related pages (ESPN NY, Boston, Chicago, etc), now they are looking to determine the outcome of the NBA free agency market, or at least play a major, major role.

The LeBron Tracker page is an exercise in excessive exposure. For example, the page features an “Inside the Brain of LeBron,” complete with nifty, interactive graphics that offer such gems like: “Note to self: Call Phil Jackson as soon as the playoffs end,” complete with a mental image of Mike Brown.

This makes perfect sense because it’s clearly Mike Brown’s fault when his star player essentially quits against the Boston Celtics and the rest of his would-be lottery team has to pick up the slack.

Other sections include a free agent slot machine and images of James in both Chicago and New York jerseys. Obviously, ESPN is trying to corner the market in getting the hopes up of fans everywhere.

Here’s my question: Where’s Dwyane Wade’s page? You know, the only player out of the “top free agents” who actually won an NBA title? While it looks like Wade’s staying in Miami, if James has a his own page at ESPN, Wade certainly should as well. Another thing, does this pave the way for future big-time free agents? Tom Brady’s contract is up next year. Will he be getting a page too?

Unfortunately, the rest of the nation — save about 140 people in Nevada — don’t share the same confidence in Team Kobe (and Pau). Obviously, the latest SportsNation poll features a combination of overreaction to one game, while doing a good job of showing where the homer state are, Massachusetts and California not included. Oddly enough, the aforementioned Massachusetts had a 90-10 percentage split of who voted for the Celtics over the Lakers.

Meanwhile, the California split was only 69-31 for the Lakers, suggesting the laid-back West Coasters aren’t as confident or relaxed about the Lakers’ chances like they were after Game 1.

On the opposite side of the country, it’s fairly obvious Massachusetts residents were moved and motivated by Paul Pierce’s announcement of his upcoming travel plans.

Ain’t overreaction grand?

And here, I thought Jrue Holiday was a young basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers. Apparently, he’s got mask-making skills, much like Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible. Oh, and I’m not the only one who was surprised by Holiday’s ability to camouflage himself.

In other news, perhaps ESPN needs to practice their accuracy with name graphics during live television.

While comparing the production of the two star players from last night’s UK/UConn game, something stood out. While John Wall outperformed Jerome Dyson in a few areas, not to mention, leading his team to the win, Dyson did have an advantage over Wall: He won the oft-overlooked “Stat 4″ category. Unfortunately, a quick glance at the box score doesn’t reveal exactly what it is “Stat 4″ is referring to. While Wall did have seven turnovers, Dyson didn’t have eight of anything.

Not turnovers, assists or steals.

Evidently, “Stat 4″ refers to some obscure statistic that even experienced college basketball fans aren’t aware of. Whatever the case, hats off to Dyson for winning at least one of the statistical battles.