FanHouse BonJovi

Every post season in every sport, the execs at all the major networks feel the need to establish a theme and/or motiff that runs the duration of the playoffs. In recent years, this has moved from things like NBC's awesome NBA music to crap like John Mellancamp's "Our Country".

And this year, TBS pulled their typical Frank-TV-like attack on the senses by running Bon Jovi's new song, "I Love This Town", approximately 497 times per inning whenever there's a postseason game. The good news is that Bon Jovi's getting sued. The bad news is that, well, there's a lot (via RSM).

Jon Bon Jovi is being sued for 400 bil -- yes, billion -- bucks by a Boston musician who says Jovi allegedly borrowed lyrics from his Boston Red Sox anthem entitled, "(Man I Really) Love This Team."

Samuel Bartley Steele, the front man for a band calling themselves "The Chelsea City Council," believes Bon Jovi heard his song while campaigning in Boston for John Kerry in '04, then used the lyrics in his own song entitled, "I Love This Town."

Bad news item number one: the guy's a Red Sox fan. Eh, what can you do? Bad news item number two: TBS probably isn't going to stop playing this song. And bad news item number three: Oh, wait, there were only two. It's just that the second one was so freaking horrible that I thought it was two things.

No seriously, the third thing is that it stinks that this clown is going to get this lawsuit get thrown out, because as much as I love JBJ's older stuff, I'd be willing to sacrifice just about anything to stop hearing this song.

Bon Jovi is giving away all kinds of free stuff these days. First, he handed out all those free Philadelphia Soul tickets. Now, in more exciting news (no offense, Arena League), he's performing a free concert in Central Park as a celebration for the All Star Game in New York City.

At a press conference from City Hall on Monday, [NYC Mayor Michael] Bloomberg, along with Major League Baseball and the event's sponsor, Bank of America, announced that a free Bon Jovi concert will be held on July 12 at 8 p.m. in conjunction with the 79th All-Star Game in Yankee Stadium.

No more than 60,000 fans will be allowed to attend the event, which Bloomberg said he hoped would be the largest concert in the history of Central Park's Great Lawn.

"My kids will be particularly thrilled," Bloomberg joked. "This will be a performance by one of the biggest rock bands ever, revered by millions around the world, Bon Jovi.

"I have been a fan of Bon Jovi since I had the same haircut in the '80s."

Guh, Bloomberg. Not that you can hide the photos, but don't go around telling anyone that -- you don't hear David Stern talking about his mustache from the mid-80's, do you? Bloomberg made up for it though, when he dropped a "Blaze of Glory" joke. You know, because song-title-puns are always hysterical.

NYC residents can start picking up their tickets in about eight hours, first come first serve style (9 a.m.), although MLB.com will be giving away plenty of free tickets later. Follow the link above for locations, NYC folks, and you'll be halfway there. Trying to win tickets is just like ... living on a prayer. (You may now boo my puns heartily in the comments.)

As if his club's recent embarrassments in Asia weren't enough, Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra suddenly has to deal with the fact that he won't be the most important sports owner in his own house this summer.

City of Manchester Stadium is playing host to a Bon Jovi concert on June 22. This is apparently messing with Man City's plans to begin its unexpected UEFA Cup bid. Because Man City qualified for Europe through the UEFA Fair Play Table, it has to start in the first qualifying round, which begins on July 17. Club officials are saying there's no way they can lay down a worthwhile pitch between the end of the Bon Jovi concert and the first European match. The concert, however, takes priority.

Basically, the pitch would end up resembling that horrid turf used at Luzhniki Stadium for the Champions League Final, which was ... wait for it ... living on a prayer.

I apologize for typing that.

Man City is now looking for alternative venues for its first European match since 2003, and Old Trafford has already been ruled out. I'm sure Jon Bon Jovi would graciously offer the Philadelphia Soul's home field if it weren't too small.

(H/T: The Offside)

You may or may not know that Jon Bon Jovi is part owner of the Arena Football League's Philadelphia Soul, assuming you know of the Soul's existence. But even if some part of your brain has dedicated itself to recalling that useless little factoid, you probably didn't expect this:

After Georgia scored a controversial touchdown that took the starch out of a Soul comeback, Bon Jovi gave the ESPN2 crew much more than it bargained for when looking for a reaction shot in the owners' box. Unaware of the camera, Bon Jovi raised both middle fingers toward the officials.

Awesome. It's hard to imagine anyone being that pissed off about an Arena League game, let alone the man who owned the 1980s with his hair-fueled pop rock. I wonder if Debbie Gibson curses out curling officials during the Tim Horton's Brier.

To his credit, Bon Jovi apologized in the aftermath:

"I didn't understand the ruling," he said. Bergeron "did have possession on the play. He fumbled in the end zone. He recovered the ball. I reacted to something I didn't know the rule on."

Bon Jovi said he obviously didn't realize that the camera was pointed at him.

"I apologize for the middle-finger thing," he said. "I didn't understand the rule. It's simple as that. We will be back next week."

Don't get me wrong here: while this sort of behavior is not endorsed for birthday party clowns, teachers, Ohio State coaches, or anyone who works with young and possibly malformed minds, Jon Bon Jovi flipping off referees at an Arena League game is hilarious and strangely charming.

(Via Ben Maller.)