Truly Extra Large...
So how big or extra large is the Super Bowl ? SBXL will be the most watched TV show of the year. The 10 most watched TV shows in history are all Super Bowls. The largest audience came in 2004 when 144.4 million watched the Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers 32-29. This year advertisers will pay $2.5 million for a 30-second commercial compared to Super Bowl I in 1967 when the rates were $40,000...
When the Rolling Stones perform at halftime they will be the oldest rock act to ever appear at a Super Bowl. By the way shouldn't a Motown act or review be in order since the game is in...Detroit ? Hello! The largest number of performers to appear at a Super Bowl ? That would be the 3,500 children (yikes) surrounding the stage during Michael Jackson's singing of "Heal the World" in 1993. Also performing the ceremonial coin toss that day ? O.J. Simpson. NFL, have you no mercy ?
Watching the Super Bowl makes one hungry but have no fear, Domino's will be ready for your order. It's the pizza company's biggest day of the year and more than 1.2 million pies will be wolfed down. In the mood for chicken wings ? 90 million pounds will be consumed. That breaks down to 450 million wings. If guacamole is what you're hankering for, 49.5 million pounds will be downed on Super Sunday...
And just by chance you wind up with a little innnnnnnnnnndigestion, the price of Alka Seltzer is $6.65 compared to $1.22 when the 1st Super Bowl was played...
February 3 Memories...
1690) The 1st paper money in the U.S. is issued by the Massachusetts colony. The currency was used to pay soldiers fighting in the war against Quebec...
1815) The world's 1st commercial cheese factory is established in Switzerland (no mention of who cut the cheese)...
1913) The 16th amendment to the Constitution is ratified authorizing the power to impose and collect income tax (is it too late to have it repealed ?)...
1956) The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash) record at Sun Studios...
1959) Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) perish when their small plane goes down in Iowa (aka The Day The Music Died)...
1960) Frank Sinatra starts his own label, Reprise...
1961) Over 17" of snow blankets New York City (it's the 6th largest snowfall)...
1973) "Crocodile Rock" becomes Elton John's 1st #1 hit...
1982) The J. Geils Band is #1 with "Centerfold"...
1989) Bill White is named as the 1st black president of the National League (White becomes the highest ranking black executive in professional sports)...
1990) The Mets 27-year old All-Star outfielder Darryl Strawberry enters rehab for drug and alcohol abuse...
1996) B.B. King guest stars on CBS-TVs "Touched by an Angel"...
1998) Texas executes Karla Faye Tucker who becomes the 1st woman executed in the U.S. since 1984...
1998) A U.S. military plane hits a cable in Italy causing the death of 20 skiers on a lift...
2002) Adam Vinatieri kicks a 48-yard field goal as time runs out and the underdog Patiots beat the St. Louis Rams 20-17 in one of the most dramatic finishes in Super Bowl history. SBXXXVI gives the Pats their 1st ever Super Bowl win (Tom Brady is the game's MVP)...
2003) Record producer Phil Spector is arrested in the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson at his mansion in California...
To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1918) Joey Bishop...
1926) Shelley Berman...
1938) Former boxing champ Emile Griffith...
1940) Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton...
1943) Blythe Danner...
1943) Temptation Dennis Edwards...
1947) The Kinks' Dave Davies...
1947) Melanie (Safka)...
1950) Morgan Fairchild...
1956) Maura ("E.R.") Tierney...
Commentary...
One final thought on Super Bowl XL:
- Only 6 teams have failed to reach the Super Bowl, but only one has neither appeared in nor hosted one: Cleveland. Houston, New Orleans, Arizona, Detroit and Jacksonville can at least claim that. While the Baltimore Colts have appeared in 2 SBs and won one, the Indianapolis version is 0 for 21 years since relocating...
Today is the 34th day of the year with 331 days remaining in 2006, Spring is 45 days away but pitchers and catchers are getting close at 13 days away...
Saturday, February 4, 2006
February 4 Memories...
1783) Britain declares a formal cessation of hostilities with its former colonies, us, as in the U.S of A...
1789) Electors unanimously chose George Washington to be the 1st President of the United States (what took those wacky electors so long ?)...
1824) J.W. Goodrich introduces rubber galoshes to the public...
1932) The 1st Winter Olympics were held in the U.S. at Lake Placid, NY...
1941) The United Service Organization (USO) is created...
1955) James Brown records "Please, Please, Please"...
1957) Smith-Corona rolls out portable electric typewriters for sale (the 1st typewriter weighs 19 pounds)...
1969) Bowie Kuhn replaces the fired William Eckert as Baseball Commissioner...
1977) "American Bandstand" celebrates its 25th anniversary with a special hosted by Dick Clark...
1977) Fleetwood Mac releases "Rumours"...
1983) Singer Karen Carpenter dies at 32...
1987) Liberace dies at 67...
1987) Captain Dennis Conner and the crew of Stars & Stripes sweeps the America's Cup, returning the cup to the U.S. after 4 years...
1987) Having failed to get Bill Parcells from New England as coach, the Jets hire Bill Belichick instead (hey how did that work out Jets ?)...
1997) A civil jury in California finds O.J. Simpson liable in the deaths of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Goldman's parents are awarded $8.5 million in damages...
1999) An unarmed Amadou Diallo is cut down in a hail of bullets when 4 New York City plainclothes police officers thought he was armed..
To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1912) Golf Hall of Famer Byron Nelson...
1921) Feminist activist Betty Friedan...
1923) Conrad ("Different Strokes") Bain...
1944) Florence (Fifth Dimension) LaRue...
1945) David Brenner...
1947) Dan Quayle...
1948) Alice Cooper...
1959) Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor...
1962) Clint Black...
Today is the 35th day of the year with 330 days remaining in 2006, Spring is 44 days away but pitchers and catchers are just 12 days away...
Sunday, February 5, 2006...
February 5 Memories...
1921) Reader's Digest is published for the 1st time...
1921) The Yankees purchase 20 acres in the Bronx to build Yankee Stadium on (aren't they trying to do the same thing now ?)...
1967) "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" premieres on CBS-TV (this 1st edition of their show will switch to ABC and then NBC before ending on May 26, 1975)...
1990) Notre Dame becomes the 1st college football team to sell its home games to a major network (NBC-TV were it still is)...
1994) White separatist Byron De La Beckwith is convicted in Jackson, Miss. of murdering civil rights leader Medgar Evans in 1963 (he is sentenced to life in prison)...
1998) Elton John and Stevie Wonder perform at the White House...
1999) Mike Tyson is sentenced to a year for assaulting 2 people after a car accident in 1998 (he's also fined $5,000 and serves 2 years of probation and performs 200 hours of community service upon release)...
2001) Kelly Ripa is announced as Regis Philbin's new co-host (the show is renamed "Live! With Regis and Kelly)...
2001) Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman announce their separation (Cruise does not jump up and down on a couch)...
2001) 4 disciples of Osama bin Laden go on trial in New York in the 1998 bombings of 2 U.S. embassies in Africa...
2002) A federal grand jury indicts John Walker Lindh on 10 charges, alleging he was trained by bin Laden's network and conspired with the Taliban to kill Americans...
Happy Birthday To...
1917) Zsa Zsa Gabor...
1919) Red Buttons...
1934) Baseball Hall of Famer Henry Aaron...
1941) Motown's Barrett Strong...
1944) Al Kooper...
1948) Christopher Guest...
1961) Tim Meadows...
1962) Jennifer Jason Leigh...
1964) Laura Linney...
1969) Bobby Brown...
Today is the 36th day of the year with 329 days remaining in 2006. Spring is 43 days away but pitchers and catchers a lot closer at 11...
