Continuing our discussion of celebrity voiceovers, last night I saw an ad for “The Coca-Cola Companies” featuring the four-pack-a-day perfection of Angie Harmon.

I can’t find the ad online, but I think it was part of Coke’s new “Make Every Drop Count” promotion, which seems to be an effort to head off a coming Morgan Spurlockish anti-soft drink campaign. It’s kind of creepy: Coke has even launched The Beverage Institute for Health & Wellness, which sounds like it was founded by Nick Naylor.

Still, Angie Harmon’s voicework is so good–really, she could make an entire career with those pipes–that I found myself yearning for any number of products from the Coca-Cola Family of Beverages.

Hail to the Redskins . . . Hail Victor-oops

I kid because I love. The Eagles sit today alone in their rightful place atop the NFC East. They have a real chance to start the season 5-1. And to finish the season 1-9. If you’ve never been to Philly in the middle of a 9-loss, three-month period, then you haven’t lived, really.

Galley Brother B.J. sends in this week one post-mortem:

The Eagles avoided their typical “crisis mode season opener.” The offense looked pretty solid and Stallworth looks to be a great pickup. The Eagles run defense was fairly fantastic and they got a lot of pressure on the QB.

But, it wasn’t all scantily clad Tricia Helfer. The Eagles continued last year’s trend of getting off to a slow start by giving up a really nice touchdown drive on the Texans first possession. despite a few chances to stop the drive early. And the secondary was underwhelming. Granted the Eagles only gave up 10 points and got better as the game progressed, but they’ve got to stop spotting other teams 7 to 14 points in the first quarter. Also, they were playing the Houston Texans who are known for having no offensive line which, mitigates the defense’s accomplishments against the run and pressuring the QB.

Thoughts on other teams:

Houston – I can’t tell you how unhappy I’d be if I was a Texans fan right now. Their passing game looked solid, but it doesn’t look like they have any running game. Passing on Bush looks like its going to haunt this franchise for years.

Indianapolis – Things look bad. Peyton’s accuracy wasn’t the best (the Giants dropped 3 interceptions inside the 5. But, on the plus side the lack of an effective running game gives Peyton his scapegoat when the Colts lose in the playoffs.

Patriots – After the Pats vs. Bills game, a Buffalo fan was talking about how the Bills had exposed the Patties’ inability to pass block and given teams a blue-print on how to beat them. I agreed. The Patriots need to prove they can keep Brady vertical and letting Branch go looks like a mistake: Who will Brady throw to?

Cowboys – Exact opposite of Eagles. Got out to a fantastic start going up 10 and it looked like they were going to win by at least 17. They didn’t score again until they were down by 14 very late in the 4th quarter. Who else is smiling?

And how about ESPN’s new MNF broadcast? They’ve clearly pulled out all the stops in trying to make it their own. I’m not sure how well some of it works. The large, bottom-center score board looks like it was designed for bar patrons, not home viewers. When we see highlights from this season five years from now, it’s going to look dated.

Mike Tirico is fantastic. He’s always been a huge talent and it’s good to see him in a high-profile gig. He deserves it. Theisman and Kornheiser may have actually subtracted value from the telecast. Maybe they’ll improve.

But maybe not, actually. The team running MNF is in the perfect position because everything they do will look like success–MNF will be the highest rated program in the history of ESPN, no matter what. And there is no way to measure failure: Because this is a first-of-its-kind moment for cable, there’s no measuring stick for it. MNF will do a much smaller number than it did on ABC and no one can reasonably blame the staff. And it will do a much bigger number than World Championship Dominos, for which the staff must get credit. It’s a no-lose situation for all involved.

Except, potentially, for viewers. Even if the broadcast team doesn’t improve, it’s hard to see why management would have any incentive to change it.

Bonus: If you don’t want to spend the $$$ on an NFL package, this site will help you figure out what games you’ll get on broadcast.

James Blake is my hero for his effort last night. It was the best tennis of his life. The problem with Federer–watch carefully and watch the replays–is this:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Ou0IOkyZs]

Do you ever watch wrestling? Do you ever notice the warning that airs before the show where they caution viewers that the following actions are performed by highly-trained professional athletes and should not be attempted at home? I never really understood why they had that disclaimer.

Until now. Check out this backyard wrestling. These guys have entrance music and championship belts and everything. If you want to, jump right to the 4:20 mark, where “Joey Gunns” gets “Rage” on the roof of a garage and knocks him off of it–with some sort of flaming club.

If you turn up the sound right before that happens, you’ll hear the cameraman muttering, “Somebody’s dying tonight.”

This is going to make your weekend.

Bonus: If you’re as fascinated by this as I am, you can see how Rage won the title in this classic match.

This wonderful news goes out to Galley Friend R.K.A., the original OBG:

As part of its plans to expand from ubiquitous New England doughnut chain to ubiquitous American coffee chain, Dunkin’ Donuts will announce plans today to add 325 stores in Washington and Baltimore by 2010, marking the region as a focal point of its effort to open more than 10,000 new stores around the country by 2020.

Sic semper arabicus. Bring on the light and sweet.

I’m way, super late to the BSG party, but like all converts, I’m a zealot. Now Pajiba tells us that the SciFi Channel is running a web-only BSG maxiseries called The Resistance.

So say we all.

This has been one of the best U.S. Opens in recent memory. It’s had everything: thrilling five-setters, improbably come-backs, a brilliant champion, and compelling, historical moments. In no particular order, some thoughts:

* The USA network’s broadcast is so vastly superior to CBS’s that it’s embarrassing. When glamour players aren’t on court, CBS will go to the studio for video packages about Roddick or Agassi instead of showing us the action.

* How great is Richard Gasquet? His marathon 4th round match with Lleyton Hewitt was one for the ages. Gasquet is a stud athlete and has all the tools to be great. If someone besides Nadal is going to emerge to challenge Federer, Gasquet might be the guy.

* I can’t remember ever having so many former champions in the tournament so late: Agassi, Hewitt, Safin, Federer, Roddick, Kuznetsova, Henin-Hardenne, Serena, Davenport, Hingis. That’s pretty great.

* Wouldn’t it be nice if James Blake became the new future of American tennis? Could it happen to a better guy? No way.

* Let’s hope that Federer pulls a hamstring right before Wimbledon next year so that Andy Murray will have a shot at winning the title before the weight of patriotic obligation crushes him the way it did Tim Henman.

* Vince Spadea = awesome, with a capital AWESOME. Reihan must love his flow.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07Wf3C0x5l4]

* A word about the advertising:

-Sharapova’s Nike ad is beautiful and clever, but has really, really low repeatability. By the third go, I was hitting mute.

-The Pay It Forward Liberty Mutual ad is so effective in its emotional manipulation, that I dare you not to cry when you watch it.

-Some companies make very strange choices for celebrity voiceovers. Financial companies have made good use of actors such Sam Waterston and Steven Hill. But why in the world would AIG hire Stockard Channing? Do you want to trust your money to Rizzo?

And ever worse than that is TIAA Cref’s use of Fisher Stevens? This is not a voice, or a body of work, which inspires fiscal confidence. I just don’t get it.

Is Philadelphia the greatest city on the planet not named London? Yes. Yes it is.