Behind the Mic: Lombardi Brings in Star-Studded Speakers

Experience would say that you never want to follow the headlining act, especially if your name isn't on the ticket. However, big names from all walks of life (Dennis Miller, Vince Vaughn, Bobby Knight, Anna Wintour) have been coming out to see the Broadway show Lombardi, produced by the National Football League and Giants owner John Mara Jr., and some of them have occasionally been doing just that. It's in what the producers are calling their Tuesday Night Talkbacks.

(Check out Behind the Mic's prior review of Lombardi here)

Speakers from the sporting and sports broadcasting world - including Jim Nantz, Roger Goodell, Frank Gifford, David Maraniss, Kenny Albert and Merril Hoge - have talked to fans about the play and their impressions of Lombardi. It's part of a grassroots marketing plan that tries to get the show to transcend sports, much like its namesake has throughout American cultural history.

This Tuesday night, if you're available, another great, local name will be added to the list. Devils President/GM Lou Lamoriello - a man thoroughly shaped and influenced by Vince Lombardi - will be part of the Tuesday Night Talkback. I've often read about how Lamoriello's two main influences as a GM were the New York Yankees and Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers. If you're looking for a chance to hear one of sports' current greatest leaders talk about one of sports' past great leaders, then check out the show's website and get out there and check it out.

Bizarre Circumstances Cause Strange TV Situation

With FOX NFL Sunday showing disaster movie-esque photos of the Metrodome being snowed in on, it was clearly that the Giants would need another place to play for their already-moved Sunday afternoon game on FOX against the Vikings.

The game will be moved from Minnesota to Detroit at Ford Field on Monday night at 7:20 p.m. ET. The game will remain on FOX 5 in the New York/Metropolitan area, but there will be no additional markets in the area picking up the game. So for those viewers in upstate New York, and possibly Southern New Jersey, where many Giants fans live, will not see the game unless they have NFL Sunday Ticket on DirecTV. However, FOX has been saying that if your out-of-town market was scheduled to get the game (cities like Philadelphia, upstate and Dallas were all scheduled to) you will also see it. Stay tuned.

As far as I know, Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Pam Oliver - who were originally scheduled to do the game - will still be calling all the action. This will likely hurt ESPN's Monday Night Football game of Baltimore-Houston, which will likely see some of it's lower ratings of the season. Ironically, Detroit will get to host a big football game for the first time in awhile. The last time a game was held in Detroit on Monday night was Sept. 28, 1998, when the Lions hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Incidentally, the last time the Lions even played on Monday night was Dec. 14 of that same year. Looks like everyone will get some good football out of a strange situation on Monday.