(shamelessly stolen from ESPN)

Super Bowl facts from 1 to 38

1. This marks the first time ever that both Super Bowl teams take their name after a state or area, not a city.

2. Only two teams have ever won a Super Bowl while committing more turnovers than their opponent (Colts in Super Bowl V, Steelers in Super Bowl XIV).

3. The Panthers defeated the Eagles in Philadelphia for the NFC championship. It's worth noting that the last three Super Bowl champions all won their conference championship games on the road.

4. The Panthers will be the fourth different opponent the Patriots have played in a Super Bowl (Bears, Packers, Rams, Panthers).

5. Carolina will try to become the fifth first-time winner in the last five Super Bowls (Rams, Ravens, Patriots, Buccaneers).

6. A Panthers win would make the Patriots the sixth different franchise to lose three Super Bowls.

7. Who knows, He Hate me could become, "He's the MVP!" There have been seven kickoff returns for touchdowns in Super Bowl history. On the contrary, the Super Bowl is still waiting for its first punt return for touchdown.

8. Eight of the last nine Super Bowls that happened two weeks after the Conference Championship Games have been decided by 10 points or more (only exception was Super Bowl XXXII when Denver beat Green Bay 31-24).

9. If the Panthers win Super Bowl XXXVIII, nine different clubs will have walked away with at least one championship in last the 11 seasons.

10. A Patriots win would make them the 10th franchise to win two Super Bowls, and ...

11. ... would make the Panthers the 11th different team to lose in the last 11 Super Bowls.

12. Tom Brady's jersey number -- the most popular number worn by a quarterback in Super Bowl history.

13. Peyton Manning didn't reach the big game, but this is the 13th straight year a Tennessee Volunteer has reached the Super Bowl (Shane Burton and Deon Grant of the Panthers).

14. The Patriots enter the game on a 14-game winning streak, a single-season mark only topped by the undefeated 1972 Dolphins who scored 14 points in their Super Bowl VII win.

15. The Panthers are the first team to reach the Super Bowl just two seasons removed from going 1-15.

16. If Brady wins the MVP, he will be one behind another quarterback that he has been receiving favorable comparisons to: Joe Montana (who wore No. 16).

17. Jake Delhomme becomes the third quarterback in Super Bowl history to wear No. 17 (Billy Kilmer, Doug Williams).

18. Delhomme will try to make the Panthers the 18th different franchise to win a Super Bowl.

19. Brady and Delhomme better start practicing saying, "I'm going to Disney World." A quarterback has been the Super Bowl MVP 19 times.

20. The Patriots and the Panthers have won a combined 20 straight games entering the Super Bowl (including playoffs). That is the most ever in the Super Bowl era.

21. Both teams feature top defenses. The lowest scoring Super Bowl was Super Bowl VII when Miami and Washington combined to score 21 points.

22. Twenty-two of the previous 37 Super Bowls have been played on grass fields. This may become the first to be played on a grass field indoors (though the NFL wants to keep the roof open).

23. Half of 46: Jake Delhomme becomes the 46th different quarterback to start a Super Bowl. Forty-six is also the amount of points New England gave up in its first Super Bowl vs. the Bears (with a 46 defense).

24. The lucky number for both the Panthers and Patriots. Both Ty Law and Ricky Manning Jr. wear No. 24 and had three interceptions in the conference championships

25. The team that scores first is 25-12 in Super Bowl competition. However, the team that has scored first has lost the last two Super Bowls.

26. Active players on the Patriots and Panthers have combined to win 26 Super Bowl rings (23 Patriots, 3 Panthers).

27. Expect a blowout in this year's Super Bowl. Twenty-seven of the previous 37 Super Bowls played have been decided by more than seven points.

28. No team has scored exactly 28 points in a Super Bowl, but teams getting over that plateau are 20-1 in Super Bowl play (only loss: Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII).

29. The team leading at the half has won 29 of the 37 Super Bowls played.

30. This is the first Super Bowl in Houston in 30 years. The last time was Super Bowl VIII when the Dolphins defeated the Vikings 24-7.

31. The Patriots are looking to become the first team to win the Super Bowl after being shutout in Week 1 (They lost 31-0 at Buffalo).

32. Super XXXII ended the NFC's 13-game win streak in Super Bowls. Including Denver's upset of Green Bay, the AFC has won four of the last six Lombardi Trophies.

33. The team that gains the most total yards has won 33 of the previous 37 Super Bowls.

34. Last year's Super Bowl MVP wore No. 34 (Dexter Jackson of the Buccaneers). Could the Patriots Chris Akins be this year's Dexter Jackson?

35. The last Super Bowl quarterback to wear No. 17 was Doug Williams. He led the Redskins to 35 first-half points in Super Bowl XXII.

36. Of the 43 Patriots that played in their Super Bowl XXXVI triumph, 26 are still with the team.

37. Of the first 37 Super Bowls, only one has been won on the final play of the game. Will Adam Vinatieri make Super Bowl XXXVIII another one to remember?

38. Stephen Davis must carry the load for the Panthers to win. Speaking of carries, the most ever in a Super Bowl is 38 by another one-time Redskin: John Riggins in Super Bowl XVII.

Posted by: Ted at 05:30 AM | category: History
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1 re: Number 5--wouldn't the packers first win in the first NFC-AFC Championship game qualify *that* as a first-time winner, along with the Jets in the third? Or, for the nitpickers, since it wasn't called the Super Bowl until Super Bowl IV, wouldn't KC's win count as the first, literally, Super Bowl Winner?

Maybe I'm just taking this too seriously.

Posted by: Victor at January 28, 2004 08:17 AM (L3qPK)

2 I hadn't thought of that. For some reason, I was thinking that there had been a couple of NFL wins over AFL teams before "Super Bowl I". You're sharp!

Posted by: Ted at January 29, 2004 12:43 PM (blNMI)

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National Museum of the American Indian, opening September 2004.

There are benefits to living close to Washington DC.

Posted by: Ted at 07:04 AM | category: History
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The official full title is the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, which is where you can find this nifty interactive page about the Anatomy of a Page from the Gutenberg Bible.

Thanks to Trish of Design Kitten for pointing it out. She also has some links to one of her favorite artists, Tamara de Lempicka. Art-deco style, very nice.

So let's just run around and say hello to some new (to me) blogs, maybe you'll find something interesting and to your taste as well. And just how can I do this while being 'insanely busy'? Simple, mon ami! It's called 'downloading 1.8 million audit trail records', and the job will run for another short while, giving me this chance to scoot hither and yon.

Cruising around, I stumbled across Thud Factor, who has a picture of a rocket-propelled turtle. That's an auto-link right there.

I'm sorry I lost the link to who sent me to this one. They deserve trackback for pointing the way to The Brick Testament. You say it sounds like the Bible done in Lego? Yepper!

Just because I love the name of her blog, drop by and say hello to Mona at But That Sounded SO Good In My Head.

Another one, for the title. Graigs Transparent Soap (which used to be Spider Behind My Toilet).

Trailer Park Girl, and Hotel Illness.

Here's an odd little blog. Lunch. "i write about my lunch. you write about your lunch. we read about other people's lunch."

And here's The Sandwich Project, just...

Job is done. Must go.

Evening Update: Long day, surf a little before bed. Found this next one, and it's sooooo what I want to do with my life since it looks like the lottery thing ain't gonna pan out.

Evil Plan Generator. All I need now are some henchmen and a beautiful but evil assistant/bodyguard. Accepting resumes, duties negotiable.

I'm annoyed because somewhere I read a very funny bit I wanted to share. I even saw a link to it from one of my regular stops later on. Damned if I can find it now. Any help? It really is worth a look.

Found it! Infinite Monkeys, and I found it again thanks to Sophont. Enjoy.

Oh, and Jim, it's very funny. Hop to it now, dinner won't fix itself!

Posted by: Ted at 07:19 AM | category: History
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1 Ted, the rocket-turtle is a product of istockphoto.com, a community-driven stock art organization.

Posted by: John at January 14, 2004 07:30 AM (3ysBE)

2 I'll be the henchman! I'll probably need a deformity of some type, though. . .

Posted by: Victor at January 14, 2004 08:45 AM (L3qPK)

3 I think the joke is on me, because I did prepare the family dinner last night!

Posted by: jim at January 14, 2004 01:00 PM (zE10C)

4 Come to think of it, so did I.

Posted by: Ted at January 14, 2004 01:39 PM (blNMI)

5 I want to be a henchman too. I can be the big dumb one who never gets the plan and always has objects hitting him in the head. That wouldn't change my life too drastically.

Posted by: Kurt at January 14, 2004 04:45 PM (DeMF5)

6 May I be your henchwoman? Pretty please?

Posted by: Susie at January 24, 2004 01:36 AM (0+cMc)

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Someone left a comment last night in a post from way back, asking what a 'hoya' was. The return address looks suspiciously like spam, so instead of linking to it or emailing directly as asked, I'll answer the question here, because it is kind of interesting.

Many years ago, when all Georgetown students were required to study Greek and Latin, the University's teams were nicknamed "The Stonewalls." It is suggested that a student, using Greek and Latin terms, started the cheer "Hoya Saxa!", which translates into "What Rocks!" The name proved popular and the term "Hoyas" was eventually adopted for all Georgetown teams.

That's from the official website of the GU athletic department.

Hmmm... I don't think they're named for a family of tropical vines and shrubs found in SE Asia and Australia.

Posted by: Ted at 08:57 AM | category: History
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I don't like him as a person, and I hated him as a player, although I could admit that he was great.

Like it or not, Baseball's Rule 21 says that betting on baseball calls for a 1 year suspension, and that betting on your own team calls for a lifetime ban.

Pete Rose has just (finally) admitted that he bet on his own team.

This asshole is baseball's equivalent of North Korea. He denied for 14 years that he bet on games, even though a special investigator found solid evidence. Now he admits that he did bet, but only after he became a manager. Yeah, right. I believe you, you lying sack of shit. You're admitting it now because you're running out of time to get into the Hall of Fame. In a few more years, you'll be handed over to the veterans committee, and you know full well they'll never vote you in.

The afterlife better have a special place reserved for Pete Rose, one where guys like Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn could stop by and use his head for batting practice. I bet it'd be popular. If the lines get too long, I'd suggest saving a spot for Bud Selig too.

Just knowing I could do that if I went to heaven would make me be a better person here on earth.

Posted by: Ted at 07:15 AM | category: History
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1 Right on Ted. I linked to your post at DynamoBuzz. I've got more sympathy for drug addicts than I do for Peter Rose. I hope he falls a few votes short every election until he's out of eligibility, sort of like the Greek myth where the guy pushes a boulder up a hill and then has it roll back down for him to start over.

Posted by: roberto at January 06, 2004 06:15 PM (Zsoda)

2 You hated him as a player?!
PETE ROSE?!!

Pete Rose was my idol in the '70's!!! I was a Mets fan whose second team was the Reds all because of Pete Rose.

"Oh, no! Don't you remember the fight at 2nd between Rose and Bud Harrelson?"
Puh-leeze. That was just base-running gimme-gimme chicken shit. Pete was the all-star kick-ass ballplayer of my adolescence and he'll always remain that.

Hall of Fame? Yes.
Back in Baseball in any other capacity? No.

Pete has squandered his place in history by being pete. But he's nevertheless earned his proper place: in the Hall of Fame as Pete Rose.

Posted by: Tuning Spork at January 07, 2004 02:23 AM (ui/F1)

3 Here's an idea Spork: How about they agree to let Charlie Hustle be considered for the Hall of Fame - in 14 years.

Posted by: Ted at January 07, 2004 07:11 AM (blNMI)

4 Here's an idea Spork: How about they agree to let Charlie Hustle be considered for the Hall of Fame - in 14 years.
Rocket, I like the way you think!!!

Posted by: Tuning Spork at January 08, 2004 01:00 AM (YaAEb)

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