50 Stops To Super Bowl 50

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 50 Stops to Super Bowl 50 and I'm back with some more (and some of the same) little items for you about the upcoming big game.

#50-NO ROMAN NUMERAL:  As you probably know by now, this isn't Super Bowl L.  It is Super Bowl 50.  The NFL branded it this way because of marketing purposes.  The "50" looks better than the "L".  Also, the color has changed to gold this year.  The NFL logo has been in gold and the league has celebrated their past Super Bowls all year long.  

The NFL used the Roman numerals due to the fact that the game was in the calendar year following the regular season.  

If they stuck with the L, that would be the first one character Super Bowl roman numeral since Super Bowl X.  The only others were Super Bowls I and V.  Next year, the Super Bowl will go back to normal and be Super Bowl LI.

#49-CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH:  This will be the 12th Super Bowl hosted by the state of California.  Only Florida has hosted more (15).

This will be the fifth different stadium in Cali to host the game.  The Los Angeles Coliseum, Rose Bowl, Stanford Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium and, now, Levi's Stadium.  Florida also has had five different stadiums (Orange Bowl, Sun Life Stadium, Tampa Stadium, Raymond James Stadium and Alltel Stadium).  It is the fifth different city as well (Los Angeles, Pasadena, San Diego, Stanford, Santa Clara).  

This is the 2nd time the Super Bowl has been held in the Bay Area.  Super Bowl XIX was in Stanford, CA.  The two Bay Area teams (49ers, Raiders) have 8 Super Bowl wins in 11 appearances.

No Team Has Hosted A Super Bowl? No Team Has Even Been Close!!!

New Orleans has played host to the Super Bowl ten times,
but the hometown Saints have only been to one title tilt.

No team has ever played on their home field in the Super Bowl.  It has never happened.  Never.  Most fans know that.  But if you really look into it, it hasn't even been close.  First, some stats on this.

*Of the 50 Super Bowls, 43 of them were played in a stadium that was a home field for an NFL team.
*Since the Jets and Giants share MetLife Stadium, they were both hosts of Super Bowl XLVIII.
*Super Bowl VIII was played in Rice Stadium in Houston.  The Oilers used to play there but were currently playing at the Astrodome.
*Five Super Bowls were played at the Pasadena Rose Bowl and one was at Stanford Stadium.  Neither was home to an NFL franchise at the time.
*The Los Angeles Rams did play in Super Bowl XIV which was in Pasadena.  The San Francisco 49ers played in Super Bowl XIX in Stanford.  Those are the closest examples of a team playing a "home Super Bowl".  Neither were their home fields but both were certainly in their geographic footprint.

Here is the year-by-year records of the teams who hosted the Super Bowl:

Redskins 2016 Schedule Is A Bitch!

The Washington Redskins are NFC East Champions.  Excuse me while I soak this in.  This was not supposed to happen. This team was a wreck coming out of preseason.  Next Sunday, the Redskins will host the Packers in the wildcard round and this magical, unexpected season could come to an end (or it could extend into the next weekend in Arizona or Carolina).

I'm going to enjoy every second of it, because I don't think it will repeat next year.  After all, my beloved Skins did not beat a winning team all this season.  That's fine.  It happens.  But next season's schedule will be a tough one.

Not only is the NFC East always tough to navigate, the Redskins get a 1st place schedule and all that rolls in with it.  The bad part is they also face the NFC North and AFC North this upcoming season.  That means the Redskins will play six playoff teams from this year, including four other division winners.  They'll get to face the two teams with the best records this season.

*COWBOYS (home, away):  Of course, the Cowboys twice.  Dallas should get their act together with a healthy Tony Romo and Dez Bryant.

*GIANTS (home, away):  New York could've/should've been the best team in the division.  They let sooooo many games slip away this season.  Now, they could have a new coach next season but the franchise shouldn't change too much.

*EAGLES (home, away):  No more Chip Kelly ... so could this team be better?  Depending on the new coach, there is talent on this roster to get back to where experts thought they'd be.

*PANTHERS (home):  The 15-1 Panthers were far and away the best regular season team this year and could be defending Super Bowl champs when this game happens.  We met earlier this season with Carolina trouncing the Redskins.

*CARDINALS (away):  Not only do the Redskins get to play the 15-1 team ... they get the 13-3 team as well.  Arizona may be the best team in the league this season.

*BENGALS (away):  This game will be played in London.  Cincinnati will be making their 5th straight playoff appearance this weekend.  One of the better offensive teams in the league.

*VIKINGS (home):  NFC North champions who bring in rushing champ Adrian Peterson.  This is a relatively young team that is on the right track under Mike Zimmer.

*PACKERS (home): Well, we will get a rematch of our playoff meeting with Green Bay next year.  Hopefully, the Packers will be looking forward to this game as revenge for their playoff loss to the Redskins.  Hopefully.

*STEELERS (home):  Big Ben and the Steelers get to come to Washington.  Last time they were in DC, it was the night before Barack Obama was elected President.  Pittsburgh is a trendy pick in the AFC playoffs this season.

*LIONS (away):  Detroit is one of those teams that I think is better than they looked this past season.  The Lions are possibly a surprise team for 2016.

*RAVENS (away):  Another team who surprisingly had a bad season.  Not to say that this team just had an off year -- this isn't a great team.  But it is a regional rival that should get the blood boiling.

*BEARS (away):  For the 2nd straight season, the Redskins will visit Chicago to play the Bears.  Washington won a key game this year to catapult their playoff run.

*BROWNS (home):  Who knows what the Browns will look like in 2016?  New GM, new coach and maybe new QB.

NFC Is Hot Heading Into The Postseason; So Are The AFC's Wildcard Teams

The playoffs should be great.  In the AFC, you actually have the "bottom" three teams a bit in a better place than the top three teams.  

*Broncos have lost 2 of last 4

*Patriots have lost 2 straight; lost 4 of 6

*Bengals have lost 2 of 4; lost 4 of 8

Meanwhile, you have the Chiefs on a 10-game winning streak.  The Texans have won 7 of their last 9 games.  The Steelers have won 4 of their last 5 games and 6 of 8.  In the last half of the season, the Steelers and Texans have beaten the Bengals and the Chiefs and Steelers have beaten the Broncos.  The Patriots' four losses over the last six week have come to three non-playoff teams.  The two wildcard teams are pretty hot right now.

Plus, look at the quarterbacks.  The Bengals and Texans are playing with backups and the Broncos went back to Peyton Manning to win in Week 17 to give them home field advantage.  Tom Brady hurt his leg during their Week 17 loss to Miami.  

This should be a wild AFC postseason.

Over in the NFC, we have:

*Vikings have won 3 straight; 9 of 12

*Redskins have won 4 straight; won 6 of 8.

*Cardinals have won 9 of 10

*Seahawks have won 6 of 7; won 8 of 10

*Panthers are 15-1

*Packers have lost 2 straight; lost 6 of 10

This should be an epic postseason.  Aside from Green Bay, everyone is hot. Cam Newton should be he NFL MVP.  Carson Palmer should get a few MVP votes and should be the Comeback Player of the Year.  Russell Wilson has been on fire over the last six weeks or so.  Kirk Cousins broke all kinds of Redskins records and led the league in completion percentage.  Even Teddy Bridgewater has been playing very well heading into the playoffs.  And those woeful Packers?  They still have that Aaron Rodgers guy.

Are There Just Too Many Bowl Games? Or Not Enough?

We are nearing the end of bowl season.  We have a full slate today and then the National Championship game in about 10 days.  As usual, bowl season has had its ups and downs ... but is it the right amount of each?  Is the bowl season too long, not long enough or just right?

I've always subscribed to the thinking that there can never be "too many" bowl games.  Ultimately, the kids get to play in one last game (that's huge for a senior) and a place they may not usually get to go to.  They get a week worth of activities and some swag along the way.

Look at the Russell Athletic Bowl, where North Carolina played Baylor.  The game is in Orlando.  UNC may get to go to Florida to play Miami or Florida State once in a while, but how often does Baylor's players?  Orlando in December.  They also have some activities to get through, including some life altering ones, per the bowl's official website:

Located in Kissimmee, the Give Kids the World village houses children, and their families, with life-threatening illnesses and gives the players and coaches time to spend time with the kids and play games, ride rides and compete in a dance-off.

They also get quite a collection of gifts.  One is a $350 gift card to a local retailer of their choosing.  So they can get clothes, electronics, or even use it to buy loved ones Christmas presents.  They also get a watch, footwear, beach towel and other things.  Around the country, there are watches, cowboy boots, beanies, backpacks, pullovers, shopping trips, sunglasses, hats, speakers, cell phone cases and all kinds of other gifts.

That's cool for the kids.  Some don't get these kinds of opportunities often, even if you think they do at a major college program.  Not all of these schools are major programs.

This thinking is my main line of thinking.  It's good for the kids.

Of course, there is the part that looks bad.  The stadiums that are barely filled.  It looks bad on TV, especially with the wide shots of the stadium.  Some are in some no-exotic cities like Albuquerque, Boise, Birmingham, Shreveport, Montgomery and Annapolis.  Nothing against those cities, but they aren't Miami, New Orleans or San Diego.  Some bowls have rather unattractive names that just have that feel of a corporate cash grab. Hey, that's the world we live in.  The Famous Idaho Potato GoDaddy world presented by Dr. Pepper.

This year, there were a few 5-7 teams that made bowls.  That's where people are starting to have the biggest gripes.  The Cure Bowl (which is in Orlando, like two other bowls) ended with both teams having losing records.  Wasn't a bowl trip supposed to signify a darn good season?  Not anymore.  There are 80 teams playing in these 41 bowls.  Back in 1995, there were just 18 bowls.  Do the math and that means 25 ranked teams and just 11 unranked teams made a bowl game.  Now 5-7 teams get there.

There are even bowls in the works for Austin, Australia and Charleston, South Carolina.  Bowl games are good TV.  They are live events in an age where that's key to advertisers and the games are on during a weak period for programming.  Is it stretching this a bit too thin?  Only for people who just don't think mediocre football should be celebrated.

Again, I'm all about the end result: these kids from schools who normally don't get the opportunity have a blast.  Do you think Georgia State's football team gets to be nationally televised on ESPN as the lone game at the time often?

Just enjoy it.