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TopEnd Sports has offered up some interesting facts and figures about the Super Bowl. Which of these did you already know?
- The first Super Bowl game was played on January 15, 1967, as a playoff between the AFL and NFL champions. The game was called the “World Championship of Professional Football”.
- No network footage exists of Super Bowl I. Apparently it was taped over for a soap opera.
- At every Super Bowl, two Lombardi trophies are present in the unfortunate event that one is accidentally destroyed in the celebrations.
- Super Bowl day is the second-largest U.S. food consumption day, following Thanksgiving.
- Mike Ditka and Tom Flores are the only two men to win a Super Bowl both as a player and a coach.
- Each Super Bowl trophy is handcrafted by Tiffany & Co. master artisans at their workshop in Parsippany, New Jersey, and is valued at $12,500.
- The lowest amount of points scored in a Super Bowl is 3, scored by the Dolphins in Super Bowl VI.
- The Super Bowl is one of the most-watched U.S. television broadcasts of the year, attracting many companies to spend millions of dollars on commercials.
- Each Super Bowl trophy takes approximately four months and 72 man-hours to create.
- The name ‘Super Bowl’ came from AFL founder and Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt. He had jokingly referred to the proposed interleague championship as the “Super Bowl” after seeing his daughter playing with a toy called a Super Ball. The ball is now on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
- The Minnesota Vikings have played in four Super Bowls, but have never led a Super Bowl for even a single second.
- Chuck Howley, the MVP winner from the 1971 Super Bowl, is the only player from a losing team to be named MVP.
- The last true day game (one which ended before local sunset) was Super Bowl XI in January 1977.
- In 1978, both Randy White and Harvey Martin were co-winners of the MVP award.
- The only player to win a Super Bowl ring and an Olympic gold medal was Bob Hayes. He won the 100m at the 1964 Olympic Games, and was part of the winning Dallas Cowboys team of 1972.
- The record crowd at a Super Bowl game was 103,985 in 1980 at the Rose Bowl stadium.
- In what is now known as the Philly Special, during the 2018 Super Bowl, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles caught a touchdown pass, and became the first player in Super Bowl history to both throw and catch a touchdown.
ENJOY THE GAME!!
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSING)
- I would like to see the Rams win Sunday’s game, but I find it hard to believe that Bill Belichik will be outsmarted in this one, although I really think Sean McVay is a great coach. The cities have had this championship matchup before but never in football. This past year, the Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. The Boston Celtics played the Los Angeles Lakers 11 times in NBA championships. Boston won eight. It sure looks like Boston has the edge.
- The Patriots were moved this week from 2.5-point favorites to 3-point favorites. That just means most big bets are picking the Patriots. One Vegas sportsbook operator said so far 94% of all bets taken on the game picked the Patriots. By the way, it is estimated that $6 billion will be bet on the game.
- EA Sports’ Madden predicts the Rams will beat the Patriots 30-27. The game says that Tom Brady will be sacked four times by Ram defensive lineman Aaron Donald. According to the simulation, the Rams score a late touchdown to win the game.
- Eagles’ fans: Las Vegas is predicting a 9-7 season next year for the Birds. That should, once again, make them a playoff team.
- It is hard to believe there are only two weeks left in the regular season of high school basketball. There are still league, conference, and district slots to be filled. We’ll try to help you figure it out with doubleheader action on Tuesday and Friday nights. The District wrestling team championship is LIVE on Saturday at 5:30pm. In addition, Lafayette basketball features a women’s and men’s doubleheader on Wednesday starting at 6:00pm. The women play Boston University and the men play arch-rival Lehigh. The men play Army on Saturday at 2:00pm. Find a comfortable chair.
Gary’s Guesses: NFL Picks (Last week: 2-0) (Overall: 167-82-2 67% )
SUPER BOWL WINNER
NEW ENGLAND
