NBC, Struggling for Super Bowl Ads, Takes Cash4Gold Spot

USA Today says NBC is still trying to get ads for the Super Bowl. It's a little late in the game for them to be making deals and, in what is seen as a sign of NBC's desperation, this year's Bowl will include a direct-response spot for Cash4Gold, the company you may have seen while flipping through the less popular cable stations: desperate customers are told to send in their grandparents' jewelry via a "secured envelope," and Cash4Gold will put small amounts of money in their bank accounts, if they have them. It's a long way from kneeling Clydesdales. "Given the state of the economy, we're thrilled with the position we're in," says an NBC spokesman.

Meanwhile the Empire State Building will be made hideous in honor of the Bowl -- they tell us "the building's north and south sides will shine yellow and white for the Steelers, while its east and west sides will glow in red and white for the Cardinals." Ack. The nightmare with soon be over; pitchers and catchers report to Port St. Lucie in 13 days. A group calling itself the Million Manny March demonstrated last night outside SNY's studios in support of bringing Manny Ramirez to the Mets, and Joe Torre critic David Wells called Torre a "punk" and said he would "knock him out" the next time they met.