Every year since Super Bowl XL, I have used this blog for my "Stops To Super Bowl" list. Every year, I create a list of smart, dumb, inane and chat worthy items for you to use in any banter leading up to and during the Super Bowl.
This year, it is 49 Stops to Super Bowl XLVIX and I'm back with some more (and some of the same) little items for you about the upcoming big game.
#29-FUTURE SUPER BOWLS: Next year's Super Bowl will be a huge one. The 50th Super Bowl. Unlike every other Super Bowl, there will be no Roman numeral used. It won't be Super Bowl L. Instead, for one year only, it will be Super Bowl 50. The logo will have the 50 in gold with the numbers on either side of a graphic of the Lombardi trophy.
That game will be played in Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, CA ... home of the San Francisco 49ers.
Super Bowl LI will be held in NRG Field in Houston, TX. Houston will be hosting its third Super Bowl. Super Bowl LII will be in the new Vikings Stadium in Minneapolis, the second time that city has hosted the game.
Atlanta is looked at as the front runner for Super Bowl LIII.
#28-"BLACKLIST" AS YOUR SUPER BOWL DESSERT: In a typical bit of programming, NBC will air an episode of "The Blacklist" after the Super Bowl.
The trend recently is for the network broadcasting the Super Bowl loves breaking in new shows or extended shows following the game. Undercover Boss (CBS-2010), Extreme (ABC-1995), Homicide (NBC-'93), Davis Rules (ABC-'91), Grand Slam (CBS-'90), The Wonders Years (ABC-'88), Hard Copy (CBS-'87), The Last Precinct (NBC-'86), MacGruder and Loud (ABC-'85), Airwolf (CBS-'84), The A-Team (NBC-'83) and Brothers and Sisters (NBC-'79) as shows who debuted after the Super Bowl.
Some other big-time heavyweights have also appeared right after the game. Lassie, All in the Family, 60 Minutes, CHiPs, Archie Bunker's Place, Friends, The X-Files, The Simpsons, Survivor, Grey's Anatomy, House and The Office all have been post-Super Bowl shows.
#27-BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: There have been 20 Super Bowls where one starting QB comes in with Super Bowl experience while the other one doesn't. Does experience matter? Well, the QB with the experience is just 10-10 in those games.
However, in the last four occasions of this happening the new guy won. Russell Wilson (new) beat Peyton Manning (old), Aaron Rodgers (new) beat Big Ben (old), Drew Brees (new) beat Peyton Manning (old) and Eli Manning (new) beat Tom Brady (old) in their first Super Bowl matchup.
Now, that doesn't apply here since both quarterbacks have won Super Bowls before. The last time that has happened was in Super Bowl XLVI when Eli Manning faced Tom Brady. Including Super Bowl XLIX, previous Super Bowl winning starting QBs will have faced off in six Super Bowls.
XLVI: E. Manning vs Brady
XLIII: Roethlisberger vs Warner
XVIII: Plunkett vs Theismann
XIII: Bradshaw vs Staubach
X: Bradshaw vs Staubach
#26-SUPER BOWL CONSUMPION: Some nice stats for you:
8 million: Total pounds of popcorn consumed on Super Bowl Sunday.
28 million: Pounds of potato chips consumed.
53.5 million: Pounds of avocados consumed.
222,792: Number of football fields worth of farmland to grow all that corn, potatoes, and avocados.
11.8: Depth, in feet, of guacamole consumed if it were spread across the football field.
293,000: Number of miles of potato chips, laid end to end, consumed during the game.
1 billion: Number of chicken wings consumed on Super Bowl Sunday.
325.5 million: Gallons of beer drank by Americans that day.
493: Number of Olympic-sized swimming pools that could be filled with all that beer.
20%: Increase in anti-acid sales the Monday after the game.
7 million: Number of employees who will not show up to work Monday.
#25-DON'T DISMISS THE FAVORITES: Yeah, there are upsets, but don't count on them. The favorite has won nine of the last 16 Super Bowls. In fact the favorite is 31-17 in the Super Bowl. Teams favored by at least 7 points are 19-6.
24-STILL, NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE UNDERDOG: Last year, the Seahawks won the Super Bowl as a slight underdog. But we have seen some big dog upsets.
Over the past 10 Super Bowls, 6 of them had a team whose playoff seed was either 4, 5 or 6. Those teams are 5-1 when they get there (only the 2008 Cardinals didn't win ... and they nearly did) with those teams beating either a No. 1 or No. 2 seed.
Here is a short list of some notable Super Bowl upsets:
Super Bowl III: The Baltimore Colts came in as 18-point favorites. They left watching the Jets' Joe Namath fulfilling his prediction of an upset.
Super Bowl IV: The Kansas City Chiefs spanked the Minnesota Vikings, despite being a 12-point underdog.
Super Bowl VII: Oddly, the undefeated Miami Dolphins entered the game as 1.5-point underdogs to the Washington Redskins.Super Bowl XXV: The Buffalo Bills would begin their four game Super Bowl losing streak by succumbing to the Giants, who were 7-point dogs.
Super Bowl XXXII: The Denver Broncos, an 11.5-point underdog, ended the AFC's thirteen game losing streak by beating Green Bay.
Super Bowl XXXVI: These New England Patriots began their dynasty by beating the St. Louis Rams, who were 14-point favorites.
Super Bowl XLII: The 12-point dog Giants ended the Patriots perfect season with a magical game.See, it can happen. Just because we all think one way doesn't mean we cannot be shocked. After all, those 2001 Rams were juggernauts who were former champions and were heavy favorites. They left without the trophy.
#23-THE NFC OWNS THE COIN TOSS ... YET ... : The NFC has won 15 of the last 17 coin tosses, including a 14 year winning streak.
The team that wins the opening coin toss is just 24-24 in the game. That averages out to ... well ... the flip of a coin. However, the coin toss winner has been the Super Bowl loser in 11 of the last 17 games.
SB 48: Seahawks won the toss ... and the game
SB 47: Ravens won the toss ... and the game
SB 46: Patriots won the toss, lost the game
SB 45: Packers won the toss ... and the game
SB 44: Saints won the toss ... and the game
SB 43: Cardinals won the toss, lost the game*
SB 42: Giants won the toss ... and the game
SB 41: Bears won the toss, lost the game
SB 40: Seahawks won the toss, lost the game
SB 39: Eagles won the toss, lost the game
SB 38: Panthers won the toss, lost the game
SB 37: Buccaneers won the toss ... and the game
SB 36: Rams won the toss, lost the game
SB 35: Giants won the toss, lost the game
SB 34: Rams won the toss ... and the game
SB 33: Falcons won the toss, lost the game
SB 32: Packers won the toss, lost the game
SB 31: Patriots won the toss, lost the game
*A little aside to this is that the Arizona Cardinals won the toss and deferred to the second half. The Steelers chose to receive which means the Cards were the first team in Super Bowl history to win the coin toss and kickoff. The Seahawks would do the same in Super Bowl XLVIII.
#22-SOME MORE STATITUDES: Here is another piece of trivia for you.
-There has been at least one successful field goal in 46 of 48 Super Bowls.
-Teams that have been shut out for one half (either the first or second) are a combined 1-19. The lone winner was those 1972 Dolphins who went scoreless in the second half of Super Bowl VII.
-Only one Super Bowl featured teams from the same state. Super Bowl XXIX between the Chargers and 49ers. The Giants and Bills both are "New York" teams, but the Giants play their home games in New Jersey.
-Also, teams that intercept a pass for a TD are 12-0 in the Super Bowl. No losing team has returned a pick-six.
#21-NFC WEST VS AFC EAST: Super Bowl XLIX matches up teams from the NFC West and AFC East. This will be the third time these two divisions have met for the Super Bowl. Here is how the other meetings turned out.
XXXVI: Patriots beat Rams
XIX: 49ers beat Dolphins
Also, the NFC West wa on a 4-game Super Bowl losing streak until the Seahawks won it a year ago. It started with the Rams losing Super Bowl XXXVI to the Patriots. The Seahawks lost Super Bowl XL to the Steelers. Then the Cardinals lost to the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII. The 49ers lost to the Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII.
#20-THINGS NON FOOTBALL FANS CAN SAY TO BLEND IN: Look, I know that there are people in America that will be attending Super Bowl parties because ... well, they love to party. Some won't know who's playing in the game until they get there. I've also come to find that there are actually guys out there that get dragged to Super Bowl parties because of their women (that's sad). Don't worry. So the diehards around the party who actually care about the game won't think you're a wuss, I'm here to help.
Here are a few vague quotes that you can use so you fit in among the football fans. You don't have to engage in a conversation with these, just drop these in from time to time the rest of us don't make fun of you once you leave. Just print this out, study it and you will at look somewhat less wimpish around the real men at the Super Bowl party.
"The Seahawks really pulled that Packers game out of their butt."
"Do you think Tom Brady will challenge Richard Sherman?"
"What a magical career Russell Wilson has had."
"You just gotta convert those third downs!"
"Don't sleep on Julian Edelman!"
"Marshawn Lynch needs a lot of touches."
"Third and long? I'd blitz."
"Hard to believe that Russell Wilson could be a two-time champ."
"Remember the Bud Bowl?"
"I got a few bucks on this game."
"Damnit! I left my squares sheet at home!"
"It's nice to see the Patriots back in the Super Bowl!"
When there is a penalty called for holding, just say, "yeah, he was tackling him!"
"How long will it be before they show Gisele in the stands?"
"Did you know that they roll the field in from outside the stadium?!"
"Remember back in October when people thought the Seahawks and Patriots were done?"
"Seahawks got screwed in their first Super Bowl appearance."
Use only in a close game: "This could come down to who has the ball last."
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