101 Super Bowl Fun Facts

Alright kids, it’s that time of year again.  Break out the beer and guacamole because it’s Super Bowl week!  As an avid NFL fan (particularly the Minnesota Vikings), I can say with total and utter sincerity that I absolutely love the Super Bowl.  I love the drama, I love the fanfare and most importantly, I love the food!  To get in the Super Bowl spirit, I thought I’d compile one of my world-famous 101 lists of Super Bowl fun facts.  Hopefully you’ll have some interesting tidbits to impress your friends and family with during the big game.  Unless you’re one of those people mentioned in #24 – sorry! 😦

Super Bowl Food Facts

1. 8 million pounds of guacamole will be consumed on Super Bowl Sunday
2. 14,500 tons of chips will be eaten
3. Super Bowl fans spend more than $50 million on food during the 4 days before the Super Bowl
4. Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest winter grilling day of the year
5. 4,000 tons of popcorn are consumed on Super Bowl Sunday
6. 326 million gallons of beer will be consumed on Super Bowl Sunday – enough to fill 1.2 million pickup truck beds
7. Super Bowl Sunday falls short only to Thanksgiving when it comes to food consumption
8. About 1.25 billion chicken wings will be eaten on Super Bowl Sunday
9. 9 million pieces of pizza will be consumed on Super Bowl Sunday
10. 10 million man-hours will be spent preparing Super Bowl party food
11. The average person consumes 3,000 calories on Super Bowl Sunday
12. The Monday following the Super Bowl, antacid sales increase by 20%

Super Bowl History

13. The Super Bowl is measured in Roman numerals because a football season runs the span over two calendar years
14. The first Super Bowl was held on January 15, 1967
15. No network footage exists of Super Bowl I. It was reportedly taped over for a soap opera
16. There are 4 teams that have never been to a Super Bowl: Browns, Lions, Jaguars and Texans
17. A ticket to the first Super Bowl in 1967 would have cost you $6 – it ran over $1,000 for most tickets in 2011
18. Miami has hosted the Super Bowl 10 times – more than any other city
19. Super Bowl XXVII was originally awarded to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, AZ, but was moved to the Rose Bowl because AZ did not recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the time
20. The name “Super Bowl” came about after Lamar Hunt, owner of the KC Cheifs, saw his kids playing with a Super Ball
21. The first two Super Bowls were actually called “The AFL-NFL World Championship Game”
22. Super Bowl III was the first to be numbered with roman numerals
23. Tony Dungy was the first Aftrican-American coach to win a Super Bowl

The Super Bowl and People

24. The average number of people at a Super Bowl party is 17
25. 5% of all Americans will watch the game alone
26. More drivers are involved in alcohol-related accedents on Super Bowl Sunday than any other day of the year (except St. Patrick’s Day).
27. 35% of people who attend the Super Bowl write it off as a corporate expense
28. Half of all Americans would rather go to a Super Bowl party than a New Year’s Eve party
29. An estimated 50 million American women will watch the Super Bowl
30. 2 out of 5 Super Bowl watchers are not avid football fans
31. The Super Bowl is the most watched sporting event in the world
32. The median age of Super Bowl viewers is 43
33. Super Bowl XLV will be seen live and on videotape in more than 230 countries.
34. Spending in the U.S. on Super Bowl-related merchandise, apparel and snacks is expected to reach $10.1 billion in 2011.
35. 20 million Americans will be attending a Super Bowl party in 2011
36. Approximately 7 million workers will not show up to work on the Monday after the Super Bowl

Super Bowl Records

37. The lowest scoring Super Bowl was IX – Pittsburgh beat Minnesota 16-6
38. The Minnesota Vikings are the only team to ever play in 4 Super Bowls and to never have the lead.
39. Kurt Warner holds the record for the most passing yards in a Super Bowl with 414 yards in Super Bowl XXIII
40. Pittsburgh has won the most Super Bowls with 6 victories
41. Minnesota, Buffalo and Denver have lost the most Super Bowls at 4 times each.  Buffalo lost 4 times in a row.
42. There are 3 individuals who have won the Super Bowl as a player and as a coach – Mike Ditka, Tom Flores and Tony Dungy.
43. The record for most interceptions in a Super Bowl was set by Rod Martin of Oakland.  He intercepted the Eagles 3 times.
44. Jerry Rice holds the record for most receiving yards in a Super Bowl.  He gained 215 yards on 11 catches in 1989.
45. The Super Bowl’s longest punt and longest punt return came on the same play.  In XXIII, a 63-yard punt was returned for a record 45 yards.
46. Kurt Warner holds the top 3 passing yardage games in Super Bowl history
47. John Elway holds the record for the most Super Bowl quarterback starts with 5
48. Giant’s QB Phil Simms racked up a passer rating of 150.9 in Super Bowl XXI – a super record
49. No Super Bowl has ever gone into overtime
50. No Super Bowl loser has ever been completely shut out
51. A punt-return for a touchdown has never happened in the history of the Super Bowl
52. Charles Haley has the most Super Bowl wins of any player – 3 with Dallas and 2 with San Francisco
53. Steelers quarterback Ben Rothlisberger holds the record for the lowest passer rating by a winning Super Bowl quarterback.
54. His rating was 22.6 in Super Bowl XL
55. Ben Rothlisberger was also the youngest quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl at 23 years, 340 days
56. The Dallas Cowboys have the most Super Bowl MVPs with 7, followed by the Steelers with 6
57. The Super Bowl MVP award has gone to a quarterback 23 times.  Running backs come in second with 7 awards
58. Jerry Rice has the most touchdowns (7) in three Super Bowls
59. Mike Lodish has played the most Super Bowls (6), four with Buffalo and two with Denver
60. The Dolphins are the only team that failed to score a touchdown in a Super Bowl.  They scored just 3 points against Dallas in VI.
61. The longest field goal in Super Bowl history was 54 yards by Buffalo Bills kicker, Steve Christie
62. The Los Angeles Rams had the most losses (7) of any team to play in the Super Bowl

Super Bowl Trivia

63. Over 700,000 footballs are produced every year for the NFL and 72 of those footballs are used for the Super Bowl
64. There are 12,000 parking spaces at Cowboys Stadium, home of Super Bowl XLV
65. The NFL purchases 150 Super Bowl rings to be distributed however the winning team sees fit
66. Each Super Bowl ring costs about $5,000, bringing the total cost of Super Bowl rings to $750,000 for one year
67. Super Bowl XLV will host a record 105,000 spectators watching the game live in Arlington, Texas
68. Green Bay has a population of 104,000 – 1,000 less than the number of people inside Cowboys stadium on game day
69. Las Vegas odds makers have put money on the Packers to win Super Bowl XLV
70. Super Bowl weekend is the slowest weekend of the year for weddings
71. Rick’s Cabaret, a strip club operator in the Dallas area, expects to see at least $1 million in extra sales at it’s 7 clubs from the Super Bowl
72. The Vince Lombardi Trophy, which is presented to the Super Bowl’s winning team is made by Tiffany & Co.
73. The trophy stands almost 21 inchest tall and weights 107 ounces
74. The Vince Lombardi Trophy is worth over $25,000
75. The Vince Lombardi Trophy takes 72 man-hours to produce
76. Super Bowl XLV in Dallas is forcasted to have a $612 million positive economic impact
77. The Metrodome in Minneapolis has the distinction of being the only stadium to host the Super Bowl, the World Series and the Final Four within a six-month span
78. The Steelers have played in the Super Bowl in the most cities with 7: New Orleans, Miami, Pasadena, Tempe, Detroit and Tampa
79. There are 14 teams that have never won a Super Bowl
80. The only team to win back-to-back Super Bowls twice is the Pittsburgh Steelers
81. The fewest passing attempts in a Super Bowl happened in VIII
82. The Dolphins beat the Vikings 24-7 and passed the ball only 7 times
83. The only non-profit, community-owned franchise in American professional sports is the Green Bay Packers
84. In the last ten years, there have been 10 NFC teams in the Super Bowl: Packers, Eagles, Saints, Cardinals, Giants, Rams, Seahawks, Panthers , Buccaneers and Bears
85. Cowboys stadium is home to the largest video board in the world.  It runs from 20-yard line to the opposite 20-yard line
86. The Super Bowl has been designated a National Special Security Event by the U.S. Secret Service and Homeland Security
87. The Super Bowl has never been played in a city without an active NFL franchise
88. The designated home team alternates between the AFC team in even numbered games and the NFC team in odd numbered games
89. Only three Super Bowls have been played in northern cities.  Two in Detroit and one in Minneapolis – all three in domed stadiums.
90. The coldest Super Bowl on record was VI in New Orleans.  The Cowboys beat the Dolphins in 39 degree weather.
91. Three Super Bowls have been tied in the final minute.
92. No team has ever played a Super Bowl in their home stadium.

Super Bowl TV Facts

93. Of the to 10 most watched TV programs of all time, 9 of them are Super Bowls
94. Budweiser has been the exclusive Super Bowl beer advertiser for the past 13 years
95. Since the 1980s, the Super Bowl has always started around 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
96. The Super Bowl is broadcast in 34 languages
97. 1.5 million TV sets will be sold during the week of the Super Bowl
98. 6 car makers ran a combined 5 1/2 minutes worth of ads in Super Bowl XLIV, costing over $31 million
99. The first famous Super Bowl ad appeared in 1974.  It was an ad for Noxema featuring Joe Namath
100. The 2010 Super Bowl contained a record 47 minutes and 50 seconds of network ads in an all time high 104 messages
101. A 2010 Nielsen poll found that 51% Super Bowl viewers tuned in more to watch the commercials than the Super Bowl

Bakers Vs. Cooks: Gender Deathmatch

That title sounds way more intimidating than I meant it to sound, but it’s out there, so I guess I’m stuck with it at this point.  The bakers vs. cooks conversation is one I’ve had many times with quite a few different people and the conversation always revolves around gender roles in the kitchen.  Eventually, the conversation always gets around to the fact that women are better bakers and men are better cooks.

This is particularly true in my house where my husband can grill or cook just about anything into a culinary delight.  Unfortunately I am more renowned for my incredible failures in the kitchen, rather than my successes.  (Check out my polish lasagna as case in point for this.)  As deficient as my cooking skills might be, even my husband would agree that I can make some mean beer bread and when I want to, some pretty stellar cookies.

Now there are obvious exceptions to this rule: my mother for instance is an amazing baker and an amazing cook.  But if I had to choose between her pot roast and her sugar cookies, I’d choose sugar cookies every time.  I’m also assuming that that Buddy guy from Cake Boss is a pretty good baker – I mean he has a show on cable.  He has to be good, right?  Exceptions aside, I think that for the majority of people, the gender divide holds true in the kitchen and here are a few reasons why:

1. Men Like to Color Outside the Lines

There is a distinct difference between the amount of eyeballing that is allowed in cooking and in baking.  In cooking, you can throw various spices into the mix, you can test out different vegetables and you can make a pretty mean soup or chili if you have some beans, meat and water.  It’s a little more difficult to improvise when in the baking world.  Baking requires a lot of exact measurements of very specific ingredients.  The wrong measurement or the wrong type of flour can doom your cake to be flat and tasteless.

In a nutshell, I think that the nature of cooking allows the chef to be more flexible with ingredients and measurements.  And that’s why men excel more at cooking than women do.  By their nature, most men are more likely to take risks and push boundaries than your average woman.  I’m not sure if this is due to genetic programing or that as a society we’ve raised our men to take more risks, but I believe that a man is much more likely to put their own spin on a recipe than a woman is.  That kind of creativity and flexibility works well in cooking, but does not work as well in baking.

2. Men Don’t Like to Follow Directions

Ok, so I’m generalizing a bit here, but you know the stereotype that a man will never ask for directions?  I think the same applies in the kitchen.  A man could have the directions right in front of him, but inevitably, he’ll try and find a faster, more interesting way to get to his destination.  This mentality can yield some amazing results when it comes to pasta or pot roast, but will likely spell disaster for muffins or cake.

On the other hand, women are generally very good at following directions.  Most women I know want to make sure things go according to plan and believe that if something was written in a book or a blog, the writer had to know what they were doing.  Inevitably, a women won’t take the unmarked side road or throw in some cumin when the recipe doesn’t call for it.  The ability to color within the lines and adhere to the directions is what makes most women excellent bakers.

3. Men Have Bigger Egos

So along with not following directions and coloring outside the lines, men are generally also equipped with larger than average egos.  This means that a man will generally believe that he is correct, that his way of doing things is better and that he is smarter than most people.  This superiority complex extends to those who write recipes and so an ego-driven male won’t hesitate to “improve” a recipe found in a book, magazine or blog.  With confidence, he’ll add new ingredients, cook something longer or scrap the recipe altogether and create his own dish.

On the other hand, a woman is much more likely to keep her ego in check and defer to the “experts”.  Again, having your ego in check when it comes to baking is a good thing – it keeps the boundaries in check and allows your cake or rolls to rise when they are supposed to.  On the other hand, a little more ego when it comes to cooking is probably a good thing since you can easily bring in new tastes and flavors without destroying your dish.

So what do you think?  Am I pre-programmed to be a better baker because I’m female?  Are the cooking genes embedded in my uber-masculine husband merely because he’s male?  I may be way off base here, but according to my cooking skills, I think I’m right on.  What do you think?

Textures Of Home

In an effort to get more artsy and to practice using the awesome Canon 40D that my parents and sister gave us, I wanted to take some pictures yesterday.  Since it was kind of cold out and I didn’t really want to go outside, I thought I’d take some shots around the house.  It’s funny because I see these things and interact with these things on a daily basis, but when you look at something through a camera lens, everything looks a little bit different.  These are the textures of my home:

My Snakeskin Heel

Blue Jeans

Kitchen Mirror

Orange Flower

Kitchen Faucet

Tess Close Up

Living Room Carpet

The Circle Chair

The Zebra Ottoman

Rustic Sofa Table

Alternate Text

Funky Decorative Balls

Side Table Version 2

Unfinished Bedroom Door

Black Footboard

Are Parents The Ultimate Managers?

I had an interesting conversation last night with my sister-in-law, Amberly (check her out at AmberlyAndRyan.blogspot.com).  We had just enjoyed a delicious meal and I was watching her clean up (remember – I’m lazy :)) and we started talking about motherhood.  Don’t worry, I’m not planning on popping out a little Rubin anytime soon, but talking about the prospect of motherhood is a topic that comes up on a pretty regular basis when we’re hanging out.

It was during this conversation that I made a random comment that got me thinking.  A parent is the ultimate manager.  Think about it – as a parent, your ultimate job is to help set your child up for success.  Good managers in business do the same thing.  Now I know that a parent is much more important than a business manager, but I think the goals and skills of good parents and good managers are strikingly similar.  To prove my point, here are 5 reasons why parents are the ultimate managers:

1. They Know How to Motivate

Good managers know how to motivate their staff to get the best performance out of them.  They use a variety of tactics to help motivate their staff, including financial incentives, verbal encouragement, contests and even prizes from time to time.

Good parents use many of the same tactics to motivate their children.  A $5 allowance is given to a child who makes his bed and walks the dog every week.  A mother praises her little girl for practicing the piano.  A father challenges his children to a contest of how quickly they can tidy their toys and a good report card might be rewarded with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese.  The tactics to motivate a staff in the workplace and to motivate a child are the exact same.  The incentives are different, but the tactics are the same.

2. They Know When to Delegate

In business, as in life, there are too many daily tasks for one person to take care of.  Those who try to handle everything on their own in either business or life are doomed to failure.  That’s why good managers and good parents know how to delegate.  They retain control of the big decisions, but they teach and instruct others how to take care of the smaller, every day tasks.

A manager might give the responsibility of pulling daily reports to one of his or her employees.  A mother might turn over the task of feeding a pet to her 7 year old.  In each situation, the child or employee learns something new and the parent or manager lessens the burdens on their plate.

3. They Let People Make Mistakes

An essential part of growth comes from making mistakes and learning from them.  Good managers and good parents both give people the space to make those mistakes so that they can learn on their own.  In business, great success rarely comes by following the norm.  Big successes come when individuals take risks, try new things and push the boundaries.  Good managers cultivate an environment where employees feel safe to take those risks and find those successes.  Mistakes will inevitably be made along the way, but instead of penalizing an employee for a mistake, good managers find a way to help the employee learn from it and move forward.

Good parents do the same thing.  A mother cannot live life for her daughter and a father cannot live it for a son.  Good parents give their children enough freedom to try new things and make decisions for themselves.  All children will make mistakes, but good parents, like good managers, use those mistakes as teaching moments.

4. They Set Boundaries

Even though mistakes are to be expected in business and in life, many mistakes can be avoided if the right boundaries are in place.  The right boundaries leave enough room for growth and learning, but they help minimize the cost if and when a mistake is made.  An example of this in business would be a manager telling an employee to develop an advertising plan.  The manager is hoping that the employee will come up with something creative and unique that will get people excited about their company’s brand.  To minimize the risk, the manager sets a budget of $10,o00.  That budget is the boundary.  The employee has the freedom to test things out and to learn new things, but if things don’t go according to plan, the cost is minimized.

A parent does the same thing.  A father may let his 14 year old girl go to a movie with friends, but before she leaves, he’ll say, “No rated R movies, no drinking, no smoking, no riding in cars with boys and be home by 10 p.m.”  This gives the daughter the freedom to make friends and improve her social skills, but sets some firm boundaries as well.  The daughter may not always stick within the boundaries, but if they are there, she’ll be much less likely to make those big mistakes.

5. They Set People Up For Success

For a manager, when their employees look good, the manager looks good.  People assume that if an employee makes a big sale or brings on a new client, that the manager also had a hand in the success.  Even if the manager did not directly contribute to the win, they gave their employee enough freedom to go out there and make it happen.  Good managers want their employees to succeed both for their own benefit and hopefully for the benefit of the employee as well.

While I am not a parent, I have been told that a child’s success is one of the greatest sources of pride for a parent.  Good grades, a solid career, a happy marriage – those are all things that bring happiness and pride to a parent.  When a child succeeds, a parent gets to share in that success because out of all the people in the world, a parent is the person who helps shape that child the most.  A parent is the person who influences, guides, teaches and challenges their child.

So in that respect, parenting is like management amplified, which absolutely makes a parent the ultimate manager.  What do you think – did I hit the nail on the head or am I way off base?

Links Of The Week: Ping Pong Style

Alright kids, it’s here, your favorite time of the week.  The time when I round up all of the awesome crap that’s been going on around the internet and put it in one place for you.  This week, we’re going ping pong style because news broke about a crazy apartment that is furnished with ping pong balls.  25,000 ping pong balls to be exact.  Don’t believe me?  Check out my photo evidence:

(Courtesy of Snarkitecture)

The apartment is only 90 square feet, which coincidentally, doesn’t even leave you room for an actual ping pong table, but hey, to each his own.  You can check out the full article at Yahoo.

Fake Jeopardy Interview Intros – You know how Alex Trebek always does those lame intros for every contestant on Jeopardy?  Well this is like that, but all of the intros are fake and they are hilarious!  You just have to picture Alex actually saying these things and you will be busting a gut for sure.

Miniature Golf Hero – I would consider miniature golf to be about 90% luck and 10% skill.  This crazy video is 100% luck and 100% awesome.

When Parents Text – This is one of the funniest sites I have seen in about forever.  For anyone who has a parent (and we all do :)), you will absolutely love this site.  I can picture my mom or dad texting me just about every single one of these.

Oregon Trail Part Deux – This may be the most exciting thing that has happened to me in the last 10 years.  Two of my all-time favorite games are being remade Facebook style.  It’s like Christmas in January!

Your Memory and Sleep – Scientists are discovering new things every day and now we have a proven way to remember those new things.  I thought this was especially interesting, since I have a terrible memory.

What’s Your Career Color? – Have you ever wondered if you’re in the right career?  Here’s a test that could actually help you – they claim it’s the most accurate one out there.  Turns out I’m a creator and a persuader – who knew!

Super Animals – With the Super Bowl coming up in just over a week (woo hoo!), I thought this article was pretty darn cute.  Take a stroll back through the best animal-themed super bowl commercials from the last few years – you won’t regret it.

Catalog Living – Without a doubt, this is one of my top 5 favorite sites ever.  If you don’t find this site hysterically witty, you have no soul.

And to close this week’s edition of links of the week, I thought I’d throw out my favorite Twitter quote.  This week’s quote comes to us from the very funny mind of Mr. Stephen Colbert:

“I didn’t actually read about Rahm Emmanuel’s mayoral disqualification in the news.  I heard his swearing in the wind.”

And I’m out.  How about you?  Any favorite links you’d like to share?  Drop them in the comments for all to enjoy!