Goodman’s Packer windfall, rock star Vince and other weekend haps

Car horns blared for Aaron Rodgers in the great city of Chico, Calif., on Sunday night to celebrate the native son’s MVP performance in the Green Bay Packers’ 31-25 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV.

It was a death-throes game, as suspenseful as any Super Bowl, and Rodgers held up well as the inevitable Steeler onslaught nearly buried his offense in the second half.

And speaking of contact sports replete with high drama, it was quite a weekend in our fair city.

A wrap:

• Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman held a winning ticket on a futures bet on the Packers a “former client” put down for him at Wynn Las Vegas before the season. Made on Goodman’s behalf was a 9-to-1 wager for $100 for the Pack to win it all. Goodman refused to hedge the bet and came away with a $900 profit.

Though friends sometimes make bets on his behalf, Goodman bets regularly for himself. If you ask him who he bets with, his answer is, “That’s a question I won’t answer.” He is planning to collect on the bet Friday, which also happens to be the day his wife, Carolyn, opens her Las Vegas campaign headquarters.

Goodman watched the game at a small party at his house in the Scotch 80s. "I was really sweating it out," he said today. "If the Steelers had scored at the end, I'm a loser."

• You know how we often refer to high achievers in various careers as “rock stars?” He’s a “rock star” lawyer, or a “rock star” podiatrist.

That’s crap.

Only rock stars are rock stars, and good, bad or otherwise, Vince Neil is an unbridled rock star. This was evident once more at his 50th birthday party celebration at Blush at Wynn Las Vegas on Saturday night. I missed the merry event at the nightclub (it was bingo night at the rec center) but made the pre-party dinner at Society Cafe at Encore. There, acclaimed hair shaders Michael and Karen Boychuck presented Neil with a silver bracelet from Neiman Marcus that read, in black script, “(Highly improper verb) You.” Neil slipped the piece on immediately, telling those seated around the table that he’d wear it to jail.

I think that’s a bad idea. But then, what do I know about cell block accessorizing?

What is not a joking matter is that Neil is heading for a trip to Clark County Detention Center on Feb. 15, for 15 days and 14 nights, as a result of his DUI arrest back in June. Then he’s spending 15 days under house arrest. But the party for Neil continues to roll along with all the horsepower of The Who’s Magic Bus as he prepares to pay that societal debt. Saturday’s surreal nightcap was a theatrical rendition of “Happy Birthday to You” by timeless wonder Flavor Flav (draw out the “A’s” to your own liking).

At Sunday’s Super Bowl party, also at Blush, Neil sported a Steelers shirt and rooted loudly for Pittsburgh, which forged a strong comeback but never did lead in the game. Afterward, Neil just shrugged his shoulders, posed for photos and relished all the trappings of a rock star.

Maybe he’ll emerge from jail ready for a 15-country world tour. But even in February, Vince Neil is tan, rested and ready.

For what, only he knows.

• Randall Cunningham was interviewed by ESPN for its pregame “NFL Countdown” show, a modest 4 hours in length, which led into the 3-hour Fox pregame telecast if you could muster enough energy to switch the channel with the remote.

Cunningham spoke of the importance of quarterbacks’ mobility, which was a trademark of his during his 16-year NFL career. The former UNLV star spent the first half of the Super Bowl at the VIP party at Flamingo Las Vegas, where he was more interested in talking of his son, Randall II, than the game itself.

Randall II is one of the nation’s top high jumpers, and also a very good quarterback, at Silverado High School. He’s just a freshman, but already Randall the Dad is talking of a full-ride athletic scholarship to one of the nation’s top football programs (a cynic would say that rules out UNLV). He is ensuring that the young athlete is getting top-notch training. Cunningham is the Skyhawks’ offensive coordinator.

“He has more talent than I did at that age,” Cunningham said.

In high jumping, they call that setting the bar high.

• Vegas magazine is out, and celebrating the February release of our sister publication was cover subject Emmy Rossum of Showtime’s “Shameless.” Her look for the series is pretty low-maintenance.

“We pretty much get no hair and makeup at all; they frizz out my hair a little and rub mascara around my eyes, and that’s it,” she said in the magazine’s cover story, “I love the no-vanity aspect of it. It’s really liberating from having had so many years of period costume drama.”

Period costume drama? Didn’t we already talk about Flavor Flav at Blush?

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats.