It’s been 24 years since the Bears last hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. They came so close three years ago, but their surprise run to Super Bowl XLI came to crushing end when the Indianapolis Colts outplayed them to the tune of a 29-17 defeat.

Somewhere though, Bill Swerkski and his Super Fans are smiling. Thirteen weeks into this season and “da Bears” are in first place in the NFC North, and hold the second-best record in the NFC. After enduring a rough stretch in the middle of the season — they went 1-3 — the Bears have rebounded with a perfect record, going 4-0 since, including an eye-opening win against the surging Eagles last Monday night.

The team’s recent streak can be linked to the resurgence of their Pro Bowl quarterback, Jay Cutler. In Week 4, Cutler was knocked out of the game with a concussion. He didn’t return until Week 6, but his play was suffering from the effects of the injury. Following their bye week, Cutler started putting it together again, with a solid performance against the Bills in Week 9. Since then, Cutler and the Bears haven’t looked back. After a so-so first year with Chicago, it seems Cutler has finally hit his stride with his new team, and the Bears may once again surprise everyone, and plow their way into another Super Bowl.

The Super Fans always knew they were good. Maybe it’s time for the rest of us to jump on the bandwagon.

Michael Rosenblum
for the Hulu Blog

Teams down on their luck — those who have had difficulty over the years — are sometimes referred to as a franchise with a “losing culture.” For years, the New York Jets have been one of those teams (the video below just proves that point). Since their first Super Bowl victory, all the way back in Super Bowl III (!), they’ve seen their New York counterparts, the Giants, win three championships. Their rivals, the New England Patriots, have become a veritable NFL dynasty over the last decade — and that’s a tough pill for the fan base to swallow. Last year looked to be the same old-same old with a rookie QB (Mark Sanchez) and a rookie head coach (Rex Ryan), when suddenly in the last few weeks of the season the pendulum started to swing the other way. Ryan started talking with a little swagger in his voice, and Sanchez matured before our eyes. The team found ways to win games, whereas in the past it felt as if they were constantly snagging defeat from the jaws of victory. This change in attitude propelled the Jets to a surprise appearance in the AFC Championship Game where they held a halftime lead before losing to the more experienced and, admittedly, more talented Indianapolis Colts.

Despite the loss, those final weeks signaled something bigger. The losing culture that for so long plagued the New York Jets franchise was dissipating. To say that the team came in with high hopes this season would be an understatement. After all, the team was proclaiming “Super Bowl or bust!” this time around. Despite a disappointing setback in Week 1, the Jets have been on a serious roll. At 8-2, they now have the best record in the NFL, thanks in part to a miraculous comeback yesterday: After squandering a seemingly comfortable lead in the fourth quarter — a demoralizing turn of events that would have sent most teams packing — the Jets marched down the field with 49 seconds left and no time-outs to score the game-winning touchdown against the Texans with just 10 seconds left on the clock. Had this team been the Jets of old, they would have folded and chalked the loss up to bad luck or an inability to finish, but not this Jets team. The Jets have a new identity, and a new culture.

They win.

— Michael Rosenblum for Hulu

Each week, Hulu’s Video Editor, Jocelyn Matsuo, brings to light hidden gems from the Hulu library.

Hulu recently launched its NFL section. I have allowed myself to be swept up in the hubbub. Now I can impress my uncle with my newfound knowledge of football history, or search for a specific team. Basically, Hulu is the closest thing I have to a Bookie. Most appropriate for a novice viewer like myself is the HBO series Hard Knocks. Good: Follow your favorite teams through their training camp. Better: Listen to the narrators who study these athletes like the vicious carnivores of the Serengeti (as seen on National Geographic Channel’s Wild).

Check out this clip of rookie RB Felix Jones of the Dallas Cowboys:

Jocelyn Matsuo
Content Editor

Your votes are in and have been tallied, so now we can officially announce the winners of our 2010 AdZone faceoff. In the end, five videos stood out among all the rest. We’ve listed the most-liked videos among all our voters below, but you can visit our AdZone to see who got top honors among men and women by age and by state. In order of most “liked” votes, the winners are:

1. Doritos: House Rules
This one had all the makings of a successful Super Bowl campaign: a cute, sassy little kid and a healthy dose of slapstick humor. Jaylen’s mom may have asked him to play nice with her date, but Jaylen is all business when he lays down two ground rules for Kyle: “Keep your hands off my momma; keep your hands off my Doritos.”

2. Mars’ Snickers: You’re Not You When You’re Hungry
We’d heard that Snickers had a top-secret ad in the works, but we had no idea it’d feature the one and only Betty White (who, by the way, has over 142,000 Facebook users clamoring for her to host “SNL”). This one is clever, funny and totally unexpected. And hats off for sneaking in an Abe Vigoda cameo at the end.

3. E*Trade: Girlfriend
The E*Trade babies are old hat when it comes to the Super Bowl, but this year’s campaign was inspired. Like you, we busted up at the li’l trader’s wolf call … and then that “milka-what?” at the end? Genius.

4. Google: Search On
Amid all the slapstick, the men without pants, and the big-name celebrities, Google’s ad went for a more simplistic approach, a natural fit for the company’s aesthetic. Given the response by our users (who have seen similar Google campaigns before, though this was the company’s first TV spot), it was the Super Bowl ad with the most emotional impact, telling the story of falling in love with a little help from the search engine.

5. Doritos: Underdog
This time, Doritos turns the idea of “a man and his dog” on its head and puts the dog in control. With a little help from a shock collar, Fido gets the whole bag of Doritos to himself. Good boy.

Thanks for voting!
Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com)
Editor

With the results of the Super Bowl decided — congrats, Saints! — it’s time to focus on the battle taking place off the field: Which ad scored big this year? You get to decide with Hulu’s AdZone, a one-stop gallery for the commercials that aired nationally during Sunday’s game. Now you can cast a vote for all your favorites, whether you swooned over the Google ad, cracked a smile during Coke’s Simpsons commercial or went gaga for the E*Trade babies.

New this year, the Hulu Power Index allows you to see how the ads rank against each other based on our users’ like and dislike votes. The values displayed within the charts are a comparison of “like” (or “dislike”) votes for a particular commercial against the number of “like” or “dislike” votes the most liked/disliked ad received. With a score of 1.0, the Doritos: House Rules commercial is currently the most liked ad, while the score for the Megan Fox Motorola ad is a calculation of its thumbs-up votes vs. the number of positive votes given to the most liked ad (right now, it’s that Doritos commercial).

These values adjust as you apply any of the drop-down filters, which allow you to display results based on gender, age or location. At the time we posted this, for instance, Betty White’s appearance in the Snickers ad really scored big among 35- to 49-year-olds, while the headline-stealing Focus on the Family commercial is neck-and-neck with the Doritos ad among our voters in Florida.

As you can see above, we’ve also integrated a Twitter feed that pulls in the latest Tweets containing an ad’s brand name, so you can see what the rest of the world thinks about that commercial, and list of words appearing most frequently in Tweets about the advertiser allows you to gauge the overall sentiment about the ad, as well.

So tell us: Which ad was your favorite this year? Cast your votes in the AdZone now through Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. EST, and we’ll announce the winner on Wednesday.

Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com)
Editor

Each week, Hulu’s Video Editor, Jocelyn Matsuo, brings to light hidden gems from the Hulu library.

Not to be confused with Shaq Vs., Shaq’s Big Challenge unleashes Shaquille O’Neal’s altruistic side. The NBA star chooses kids from his area who are all morbidly obese, and organizes a program to help them with their weight and self-esteem. The immaturity of the teens and Shaq’s over-confidence make for an … Oh, what am I talking about? Bottom line, this is a documentary/reality show about Shaq whipping some overweight kids into shape.

Check out this action:

Jocelyn Matsuo
Content Editor

They say that smell is the sense with the strongest hooks into memory. Or maybe it isn’t. For some reason I imagine that I’ve heard it said before, but memory is a moving target.

For that same reason, I’m not sure of this next memory, but it is vivid.

It begins with a sound, and that sound is the disembodied voice of Harry Kalas, or John Facenda, like the voice of History itself. The next sound I hear is the music: sweeping strings, blaring horns, unabashedly martial and military in its cadence and themes.

The visuals play at half speed, maybe slower, with the desaturated color palette of a ’60s Super 8mm home movie. Even in slow motion, I can tell that the giant men in uniforms lumber the way people do when they’ve run their body at high speeds into other solid objects, mostly human beings, sometimes the earth, for years and years. Their breaths appear with metronomic rhythm like contrails in what must be bitter cold winter air, giving the impression that they are not people but steam powered machines.

There might not be a sports organization that better mythologizes its past in video than the NFL (play word association with any pro football fan and more often than not, if you say “Lambeau Field,” they’ll come back with “frozen tundra”), but you can judge for yourself today as we’ve partnered with the NFL Network to bring classics from the NFL Films Archive to Hulu.

Whether you’re looking for footage on your favorite team, classic games, specific seasons, or Super Bowls past, the NFL Network on Hulu has it covered. In recent seasons, the NFL has even managed to turn training camp (training camp?!) into gripping entertainment in the form of Hard Knocks.

When I say the NFL has these games covered, I’m underselling it. This isn’t just recycled game footage but reveals angles and shots you’ve never seen before. Watching any of these videos, it’s stunning to realize just how many high speed cameras were planted all over the stadium. It seems like there’s a camera trained on every player and one tracking the football itself.

Being a Chicago boy, the first video I sought out was a profile of the only Bears team in my lifetime to win the Super Bowl, the 1985 Bears of the Super Bowl Shuffle fame. Lo and behold, who should have done the voiceover than an old Hulu friend, Alec Baldwin. It’s as if this partnership was meant to be.

From the frozen tundra of, well, sunny Los Angeles,
Eugene Wei
eugene.wei@hulu.com

Each week, Hulu’s video editor, Jocelyn Matsuo, shares her latest finds from the Hulu vault.

Ah sports, the thrill of battle, the physics-defying feats of strength and will, and the suspense of the clock. Yet some games leave a bit to be desired. You may be wondering to yourself: How can I prevent such disappointment? Good News!

The Big Ten’s Greatest Games Football and Basketball have done the sorting for you. Every game you watch is guaranteed to be exciting.

I’m a UK fan, myself (both University of Kentucky and the United Kingdom, but I mean Kentucky here), and this game gave me an excellent blast from the past.

It’s also a great example of Bobby Knight in action (and it even helped save my team playing Trivial Pursuit 1990’s Edition.) So grab a brewski and sit on the edge of your seat.

Go Big Blue,
Jocelyn Matsuo
Video Editor

Each week, Hulu’s content editor, Jocelyn Matsuo, shares her latest finds from the Hulu vault.

NBC Sports’ National Heads-Up Poker Championship has all the head-game of regular televised Poker, but the format has the fierce, one-on-one battle of the minds that makes for a good spectator sport, even over an entire season. You get to know the pros in style, personality and tells. In fact, you already know some of the competitors from your favorite 90’s sitcoms: Jason Alexander and Brad Garrett get invites, as well as Don Cheadle and Jennifer Tilly.

This series is especially good for poker novices. Heads-Up greatly simplifies the odds and the commentary is clear, while giving player-history that is actually interesting. And with Hulu’s continuous play feature, you can watch episodes back-to-back, just like you’re in the tournament. Here are the starts of the 2008 and 2009 championships to get your started.

2008

2009

Jocelyn Matsuo
Hulu’s Card Shark

Last May, Hulu sent one of our intrepid reporters, Adam Georgian, to San Diego to report on the 2009 Red Bull Air Race. With the San Diego leg of the series now available on Hulu, here are his notes from the field as he watched this spectacular event.

Believe the hype when people mention that San Diego is America’s finest city. The atmosphere was definitely charged for the second stop of the 2009 Red Bull Air Race Series. A handful of the world’s greatest pilots and countless enthusiasts descended on the pristine maritime inlet for the race in San Diego Bay, but not all seats are created equal in this competition. The best seat in the house, of course, would be at the front of an Edge 540, but San Diego’s Race Club Lounge comes in a close second.

I’ve seen the Red Bull Air Race twice now in San Diego and the Race Club is truly magnificent — the best way to view competition and get up close to all the action as these pilots strain both muscle and machine to achieve the most precise flights in the shortest amount of time. Inside the “The Club,” as they call it, guests are welcomed with an events program, a gigantic turn-by-turn projection screen, and a hostess donned with a smile. Members are treated to the largest viewing area on the peninsula, with leather couches and plush, oversize chairs perfect for the sunny lounge spot.

Whether watching the Godfather Peter Besenyel put on his signature seamless performance or Hannes Arch creatively maneuver his injured aircraft following a bird strike, this race was impressive. This year the San Diego bragging rights go to the — oh, well we won’t spoil it for you. Watch the race to see who wins. Smoke On!

Adam Georgian
Hulu’s Thrill Seeker

This week, Hulu is proud to introduce our viewers to 3 Points, a documentary that follows Houston Rockets shooting guard Tracy “T-Mac” McGrady to three refugee camps in Chad, home to many of the roughly 250,000 refugees from the Darfur region. Inspired by the work of fellow Houston player Dikembe Mutombo as well as Chicago Bull Luol Deng (whose family is from Sudan), McGrady realized he didn’t know much about what was happening in that part of the world, but he was interested in finding out how he could help out. In a time when many celebrities have turned their eyes to Africa, McGrady’s on-camera experiences are refreshingly real: He’s not ashamed to admit he doesn’t know the right solution — in fact, at one point, he naively offers to pay to build a swimming pool for the children — but, through the course of the film, he talks to everyone willing to speak to him to better understand the needs of the region’s displaced persons. What he experiences is profoundly moving, and an inspiration to all of us at Hulu. Below, McGrady tells us why he got involved and fills us in on the progress his organization, the Darfur Dream Team, has made since his 2007 visit. — Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com), Editor

First, can you tell us what sparked your interest in Africa?
It’s really a couple of things: Being a teammate of Dikembe Mutombo for five years, knowing he comes from Congo, and just having conversations with him over the years. And also knowing that he put $10, $12 million of his own money to build a hospital in his own country. But you know, after games, sitting back there, talking, talking about everything that’s going on over there in Africa like we did so many nights … it really didn’t have that effect on me, to want to go over there and see it for myself. What really did it for me was sitting at home one day. I saw a PSA that [Chicago Bulls forward] Luol Deng did on TV, and I immediately after that ad, I called my assistant to set up the whole trip. I just wanted to know a little more about the conflict and everything that was going on over there.

What made you decide to document your visit on camera?
I just think it was important for me to learn as much as possible, to get as much information as I could to learn about the conflict. For me to admit to my fans that it’s not embarrassing to me to admit that I don’t know something. I just wanted to get all this information and learn as much as possible, and to show my fans that it’s OK to say that you don’t know about something and [you] want to learn more. I want them to also learn what’s going on over there, so I wanted to document this whole trip.

There was a lot of discussion about how you were out of your element when you made this film. After all, you’re an NBA star who lives in a mansion, and you went to these camps where you found yourself sleeping in a tent surrounded by giant bugs. What were some of the things you learned on your trip?
Well, first of all, stepping out of my element, yes, that is definitely what I did. You go from living this great life to flying over there and living in the U.N. compound. At first, I tried to sleep in the room, but I couldn’t get comfortable in there because it was so hot. So then, the first time ever in my life, I slept in a tent. I just thought I could get a nice little breeze throughout the night. [Laughs]

What I wanted was just what they wanted, the three P’s and that’s why the documentary is called “3 Points,” because it’s the three P’s that they wanted. That’s to be protected; they wanted punishment, and they wanted peace. I’ve learned that the kids over there, they want to be educated. My whole idea coming back was to tell their stories and let people know what’s going on over there in Darfur.

What’s stayed with you since you’ve been back?
Everything, everything. Seeing some of the wounds. Seeing the little kids drawing in the art room. Just seeing the little kids walking around — two, three years old, with no supervision. Seeing all the pain on their faces. I mean, it’s just so much that it really, really was a sad situation.

Were you surprised by what you saw, or were you prepared for it?
I think I was pretty much prepared for it. I think it helped talking to Dikembe because he’s from Congo, so I was a little bit prepared. It took a while for it to really hit me. I mean, I was fine up until the last day, when I was just lying on my bed, staring at the wall. I woke up in the middle of the night and that’s when it really hit me. I actually started shedding tears.

Tell us about some of the people you met — did they have any idea who you were?
[Laughs] No, they had no clue who I am. They were excited to see me, because they felt like I was there for a great cause, to bring them help. We had a bunch of people willing to sit down and have a conversation with us, which is great. It was cool, it was cool. I got to meet a lot of people over there. The most important thing is they were willing to sit down and share their stories, and I know how tough that would have been, you know, just bringing back up what they witnessed at a time in their life that was pretty harsh.

Did the experience change you at all? How?
It definitely changed me because I feel like that could have been me in that situation. If that was me in that situation, I’d want people to help me and do everything possible to get out of that situation. But because I’m blessed and I’m fortunate — you know, I’m one of the lucky ones to be able to wake up every morning and do something that I’ve always loved to do — I felt like it was my responsibility to do what I told them I was going to do, and that’s to tell their stories when I got back to the States and educate a lot more people on this situation, and to help educate the children that are over there.

Would you go back? Do you plan to?
I don’t think it’s safe right now to go back. Once we get these schools up and running, hopefully it will be safe to go back. I would love to. I think I have a better understanding of how to handle the situation over there as far as the living conditions.

What is the progress of the schools? Has the conflict held things up?
No, we’re definitely moving forward. That’s something that I promised them I was going to do. No matter what, we’re gonna move forward. We’re building these schools, and I just want to thank the guys that were added on this team, this Dream Team, and that’s Derek Fisher and Baron Davis, for their help in building these schools.

To learn more about McGrady’s efforts, please visit http://www.darfurdreamteam.org/.

This week on Hulu, PINKS All Out, show creator and host Rich Christensen and his team deliver something never televised before: four-wide drag racing from the zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina.

“There’s only one track in the country that has four lanes of drag racing, and that’s the zMAX track just outside Charlotte, North Carolina,” says PINKS All Out‘s technical crewmember Willie B. “And it’s awesome.” For this particular episode, the sanctioned track — intended to keep the race going when two lanes are shut down due to oil spills — hosted four cars going at it side-by-side as the drivers raced for the finish line in hopes of snagging $10,000 cash and a fully loaded NAPA toolbox .

“When four cars line up side by side, that’s a spectacle,” Christensen says. “Now you’re not hearing two burnouts, you’re hearing four burnouts. The sound is amplified times two. The visual explosion — instead of watching two cars race to get to the finish line first, you’re seeing four. It’s almost overload, and that’s a terrific thing.”

And the cars competing run the gamut: racers drive old cars, new cars, muscle cars and even one known as the Wheelie Wagon. “There’s every car, from import to domestic to old-school to brand-new, to all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive, and every manufacturer,” Christensen says. “Most importantly, they all have one common thread: grass-roots racers. They don’t have big sponsors paying them big dollars to travel the country. These are your neighbors and people that you know who wrench on their cars on the weekends.”

As a result, the racing is real fun to watch. “You’ll see some of the craziest, absolutely unbelievable driving that you’ve seen at a PINKS All Out show all year long,” says Willie B., a former racer on the show who’s also a radio DJ in Denver. “There are some guys that are out to prove a point, and they don’t get out of the throttle until it’s proven. I couldn’t believe some of these guys laid on the gas when their car was sideways, facing the wall — and these guys are still just hammering it.”

You’ll also see a bit of Big Three rivalry. “The rivalries are fantastic. That’s become the most fun part of the show. We ask the crowd who’s the Ford people, who the Chevy people are, and who the Mopar [Chrysler] people are,” Christensen says (a Mopar man himself). “Everybody starts rooting for their brand, and it’s no different than watching the Vikings fans versus the Green Bay Packers fans. It’s fantastic, total rivalry in the friendliest, most respectful form. Even Chevy people know there are some bad Mustangs out there and, of course, the Ford people know there are some bad Camaros out there. These things are bad to the bone. They’re fast, they’re awesome, so even though [the fans] root for one, they still have respect for the other brand or model.”

And though Christensen puts himself on that box between the tracks for every race — where he’s been struck by car parts, lost some of his hearing, and come within a couple feet of being hit — he’s never gone down the quarter-mile track himself. “For me, I actually get to sit back and really enjoy the enthusiasm, and get caught up in the moment,” he told us. “But no, there’s no real desire for me to get in that car and go down there as fast as I can. That’s telling the truth. I love watching others do it. I’ve really become a true fan of watching these unbelievably talented and smart people put that horsepower to their back wheel and get that tire to the concrete and get down that track as quickly as they can. They’re artists and geniuses as far as I’m concerned.”

You can catch PINKS All Out on the SPEED channel, or watch full episodes anytime right here on Hulu.

Rebecca Harper (rebecca.harper@hulu.com)
Editor, Hulu

Though Hulu’s headquarters is in Los Angeles, most of us call another city home. We are usually too busy to notice this subtle fact, though lately a wave of hometown pride has taken our office by storm. With the Playoffs for both the NBA and NHL in full swing and the best of both leagues battling it out on the hardwood and ice, the competitiveness and trash talking in the office is building to a crescendo only rivaled by the annual Hulu Ping Pong Tournament. With Round 2 kicking off in both leagues, we are excited to feature full games throughout the Playoffs:

as well as classic Playoff games from past seasons.

Also, make sure to check out daily new videos covering all of last night’s NBA and NHL Playoff action. While you are at it, share videos through your Facebook and MySpace pages with your fellow fans, or e-mail clips to your friends to remind them they were rooting for the wrong team.

This is the best time of year for Sports fans, and hopefully we can help ignite your office rivalries, too.

Go Cavs,
Robert (robert.schildhouse@hulu.com),
Hulu Cleveland Homer

The playoffs are here! And judging from how adrenaline-filled and unpredictable the regular season was in the Western Conference, the playoffs will prove to be no less dramatic. We here at Hulu will keep you up to date with great NBA videos from the Top 10 highlights, to 5-Star plays, to recaps each night and episodes of NBA 360 if you missed anything or can’t get enough.

Stay tuned to Hulu to keep on top of the NBA’s second season…

James B.
Hulu Sports Guy

One of the curses of a busy office job is not being able to find time to stay in shape. Here at our Los Angeles office, we try to break up late work nights with occasional ping-pong and foosball matches just to keep our muscles from atrophying. If only watching sports could burn as many calories as playing them. We’ve been adding a lot of content since we launched out of private beta, and one category we’ve focused on augmenting is sports.

We’ve added our first set of content from both the NBA and the NHL to our site, just in time to catch the last leg of their regular seasons. In a banner season for the NBA, with classic franchises like the Lakers and Celtics back as title contenders and star players swapping uniforms in blockbuster trades, you can keep up with daily happenings through NBA Daily Recaps, or you can get your fill of highlight reel plays through videos in the NBA 5-Star Plays and Top 10s sections. We’ve also just added our first few full-length classic games to the site, including Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game.

For hockey fans, we’ve added a variety of ways to keep up with the NHL. If you just want a quick periodic update, NHL’s Best of the Week highlights the week’s best assists, goals, saves, and hits. For those with more time, revisit some classic NHL games from this season or years past. We’ve also loaded our first batch of NHL player profiles, for those who are curious about what some of the players are like off the ice.

All this is in addition to the sports content we already had on our site, such as full length episodes of action sports shows like Firsthand and The 808 from Fuel TV and full length college football games like the epic Boise State-Oklahoma battle in the 2007 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

As with all of our content categories, this is just a baby step towards the type of selection we believe can find an audience online, but we’re always open to your feedback and thoughts.

Eugene (eugene.wei@hulu.com)

A 30 second commercial during this year’s Super Bowl will cost advertisers $2.7 million, on average. To watch them, share them via e-mail, or embed them on your own website won’t cost a thing. Those of you with Hulu beta access can see all of the Super Bowl ads here. Those of you who don’t have a Hulu login yet can see all the commercials on this page we’ve opened to the public.

Here are a few that stuck in our memory.

Eugene Wei (eugene.wei@hulu.com)