Lords of the (Super Bowl) Rings
As tradition holds, the team that wins the Super Bowl gets some nice looking Super Bowl rings as an award. The simple fact of knowing that you’re team was the best in a given year is nice, and you can surely look up the winner in the history books, but for the players who were part of a championship team, having a ring– their own personal Lombardi Trophy– is of the utmost importance. Like most symbols of hard work and determination, Super Bowl rings and their owners develop quite a relationship. Some players like to show them off, while others presumably keep them under lock and key, while still others lose them altogether.
There’s a nice feature at ESPN that documents a story or personal take on one Super Bowl ring and its champion from every year the Bowl has existed. There’s a lot of them, so it might just be wise to pick a few players to hear from, especially if you think their personalities- and thus ring handlings- are very different. There’s one about Michael Irivn and there’s one about Steve Young, two players with opposite personalities who won at about the same times. Needless to say, they have different ideas about which rings were the most important to them.
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Random Super Bowl Facts
Here are some interesting facts about the Super Bowl. By now you’ve probably analyzed the Giants’ blitzing patterns better than Bill Belichick, so why not learn a little tid-bit that you can tell people at your Super Bowl party—something that’s not related to Brady’s leg or Peyton’s shadow.
- The turquoise color of the Roman Numerals in the Super Bowl XLII logo is a reference to the Native American cultures of the Southwest. Nowadays, Arizona is the largest producer of turquoise (and Super Bowls) in the world.
- Nine hours of pregame coverage is scheduled leading up to the Super Bowl. The pregame and postgame coverage is so massive that Super Sunday might swallow up Super Tuesday, thereby making Eli Manning the new Republican frontrunner.
- A 30-second commercial spot during the Super Bowl this year allegedly costs anywhere between $2.7 and $3 million. That’s roughly $95,000 per second, or, only about $500 less than the per second cost of the Iraq war according to the National Priorities Project.
Now you’ll have some good conversation starters when youre at the game or at a Super Bowl Party. To get Super Bowl tickets, go to StubHub.com.
Giants to Cover the Spread?
If you’re a betting man, then you will certainly be putting down some action on the Super Bowl, one of the most wagered-upon sporting events all year long. At last check, the Patriots were favored to win the game by over a touchdown, somewhere around 12 points. Do you think the Giants will be able to cover the spread, even win the game? Many experts do, and you can see a few of them at the CBSsportsline.com pregame page about the Super Bowl. All of the experts on that page are betting on the Giants covering the spread.
Why does everybody think the Giants will play well against the Patriots? Well, probably the most influential fact is that they played each other not too long ago, and the Giants were able to keep it close. Their offensive and defensive schemes are offsetting. Some people think that the Pats would have a bigger edge over the Packers or the Cowboys if they would have been the NFC champions. The point it, everybody seems to think that if there is one team with the Pats’ number (besides the Colts) then it’s the New York Giants.
To get Super Bowl tickets, go to StubHub.com.
A Bull Market in the Super Bowl Tickets World
While there are lots of stories out there about the recession, impending recession, and potential impending depression going on, or about to begin (depending on who you talk to), there’s one market that has a thick layer of bear spray on: The Super Bowl tickets market. Actually, everything that the Super Bowl in Phoenix touches has turned to gold, not just the tickets. You can check out an article about the real economic stimulus package, the Super Bowl, at ESPN.com. An added bonus: it mentions StubHub by name!
Not only are ticket prices for the Super Bowl and the various pre and post game parties and festivities some of the most expensive things you’ll find on ticket marketplaces like StubHub, but hotel rooms, restaurants, and retailers are feeling the boom from the Super Bowl as well. In Phoenix, the economy is bullish. However, once the big game is over it will have to join the rest of us in the recession. But for now, let’s just sit back and bask in the economic power of the Super Bowl… ahhh.
To get Super Bowl tickets, go to Stubhub.com.
Funny Friday News Day: Super Bowl Version
The Super Bowl Blog isn’t about to stop tradition just because we have the hype of the Super Bowl to worry about. No, sir. It’s Friday (finally) and before you sneak out the door early we’re going to make sure you bail in a good mood. If you’re looking for some funny Super Bowl news, skip on over to TheOnion.com, where you can see a couple of great fake news bits about the teams that are playing, as well as the teams that were just eliminated.
The winning title from TheOnion today is going to be “Brett Farve Still Taking Post-Game Shower.” Sometimes the titles are the funniest part of these stories, because you can tell what the basic theme of the story is going to be. There’s also one titled “Giants: ‘We Almost Beat The Patriots Once, We Can Almost Beat Them Again.’” The second one is good, because you know that that’s just what a lot of people are thinking about the Super Bowl, that the Patriots are just too good, that the Giants will come close, but not be able to do it… again. But then again, the joke could be on the Pats when the Giants pull off the upset.
To get Super Bowl tickets, go to StubHub.com.
Eli Manning: Manning Up for Class of ‘04
Eli Manning and his Super Bowl-bound Giants are going to occupy the spotlight of the sports world for the next week and a half (and perhaps even longer if the Giants win on Super Sunday). All of the media attention on Eli is starting to affect those around him, specifically his fellow classmates. We are talking here, of course, about Eli Manning’s fellow quarterback draftees from the 2004 NFL Draft. Ben Roethlisberger has a Super Bowl ring already. Phillip Rivers has been a winner in San Diego. The former NC State superstar came up just short last weekend, otherwise he’d be facing off against Manning in the Super Bowl. As the years go on, the debate over which ‘04 QB is the best will likely continue to get more interesting, or so thinks Lee Jenkins of SportsIllustrated.com.
If Phillip Rivers can get to a Super Bowl- which he might be able to do next year if the Chargers can keep the same kind of talent in San Diego another season, then this would make for one of the best quarterback classes in the history of the NFL. Suppose Manning wins this year, and Rivers the next. What a powerful class of heroes that would be. Then again, the Super Bowl Blog is getting way ahead of itself.
To get NFL tickets, go to StubHub.com.
Manning Brothers Reverse Roles
One storyline that you’re sure to be made aware of by the time of the opening kickoff of the Super Bowl is the Manning brothers- how last year it was Peyton in the Super Bowl and this year it’s his little brother Eli. While it’s a nice coincidence, it can get rather old, rather quick. So the Super Bowl Blog has decided to meet this situation head on and do a whole blog about the Manning Brothers right from the get-go, just to get ahead of the storm of references. You can read a nice little article about how Peyton is going to ask Eli for advice from now on (awwww…) at CBSsportsline.com.
Whenever there’s a family connection in pro sports it gets played up more than “Pomp and Circumstance” at a graduation. Should the fact that a family is good at sports be that surprising? Considering that much of what makes an elite athlete as good as he or she is can be attributed to their genetics, it would follow that sons of pro athletes and bothers and sisters of pro athletes would have a good chance of being pro athletes. Of course, there are only a small percentage of people who get to play in the Super Bowl, so this relationship is special for that reason.
To get NFL tickets, go to StubHub.com.
Let the Super Bowl Analysis Begin!
There’s going to be no shortage of Super Bowl news in the next few weeks. You’ll probably be able to host your own three hour pregame show by the time the Super Bowl actually arrives on February 3rd. One of the most important things that the talking heads will go over in the next two weeks is the quarterback matchup. In many ways quarterback comparisons are not very effective, but simply a nice little mind exercise for determining the strongest team. It’s the opposing team’s defense that will have to actually match up with each quarterback, of course. But don’t let that detour you from getting deep into the Tom Brady-Eli Manning comparisons. Here are a few of the more obscure stats for each player:
- College: Tom went to Michigan; Eli went to Mississippi
Edge: Push. Both colleges start with “M”
- Height: Tom is 6-4; Eli is 6-4
Edge: Push. Both are 6-4
- Middle Name: Tom’s is Edward Patrick; Eli’s is Nelson
Edge: Eli. If you can’t even decide to go with one nerdy-sounding middle name, how do you expect to raise a child who can make the on-field decisions necessary to win Super Bowl XLII?
To get NFL tickets, go to StubHub.com.
Super Bowl Set: New England vs. New York
Since the next two weeks will be filled with enough Super Bowl previews, predictions and breakdowns to make you loyal Super Bowl Blog readers beg for mercy, we though that this first blog after the Super Bowl teams were set should be about the games that just took place. Here goes:
- New England 21, San Diego 12: Although Tom Brady threw three interceptions, a hobbled Rivers was not much better. The fact that the Bolts could not get into the end zone once was the difference, otherwise the two teams were fairly evenly matched.
- New York 23, Green Bay 20: A slow game because of the weather, this one went into overtime after a couple of New York field goal misses. When Green Bay got the coin toss, everybody though that Brett Farve would lead the team to another game-winning drive. However, Farve threw an interception which lead to a redeeming field goal by Lawrence Tynes.
To get your NFL tickets, go to StubHub.com.
Funny/Fake Friday NFL News
Today’s Friday, so if you’re a loyal Super Bowl Blog reader, you know what that means: Fake News Day! This week we’ve got something from a trusted source of funny sports news stories, TheOnion.com. There are several different NFL-related fake stories on the sports page at TheOnion, being that the Super Bowl is just one round of the playoffs away. The one that caught the attention of the Super Bowl Blog was titled, “Brett Farve Promises to Throw Ball as Far as He Can in NFC Championship Game.” It’s guaranteed to spark some fun into your Friday routine. Whether you’re sitting around waiting for the clock to strike five, or you’re nervous about some bets that you placed on the Chargers, you should relax with a slice of TheOnion.
As you know the Conference Championship Games are going down this Sunday. Hopefully you have your tickets to see one of them or you’ve got a party to go to. Both games should provide plenty of excitement. If you don’t have tickets you can always get some NFL tickets from StubHub.com before the game begins. But you’d better hurry.