super-bowl

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Instant Replay: Live-Tweeting the Super Bowl

Last month, Colin Perkins had the idea that we should live-tweet the Super Bowl, in the spirit of Pop Up Video. So for the past few weeks, Colin, Stacy Conradt and I have been digging up weird facts related to the game, the ads, and the entertainment. People seemed to enjoy it. Here are some of the... READ ON

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A Brief History of the Super Bowl Coin Toss

If the ceremonial coin toss before Sunday’s Super Bowl turns up heads, everyone enrolled in the Papa John’s customer loyalty program will win a free large one-topping pizza and a two-liter bottle of Pepsi Max. Thousands of other fans will collect on a 50-50 prop bet. The Super Bowl coin toss hasn’t always been such a big deal. Here’s a brief look at the history of the pre-game spectacle. Red Grange Breaks the Ice For the first 11 Super Bowls, a game official conducted the coin toss. In 1978, at... READ ON

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A Brief History of the Super Bowl Broadcast

© Anthony J. Causi/Icon SMI/Corbis Sunday will mark the 17th time that NBC has broadcast the Super Bowl, tying it with CBS for the most in NFL history. Here’s a brief history of the Super Bowl on TV. The AFL-NFL World Championship Game Simulcast In 1967, NBC and CBS simulcast the first Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers, which was then called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. NBC and CBS used the same video feed, but different announcers. NBC was still in... READ ON

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The True Story of Apple's "1984" Ad's First Broadcast...Before the Super Bowl

Setting the Record Straight Last Monday I ran a story on how Apple's "1984" Super Bowl ad was almost canceled. If you haven't read the article, take a look; it concerns one of the most famous Super Bowl commercials of all time. Among other things, I mentioned that Apple's "1984" ad actually ran once before it "premiered" on 1984's Super Bowl -- it ran late at night in December 1983. But I got my facts wrong on the specific date and time of that first airing: I was two weeks off. I was working... READ ON

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14 Super Bowl Sideshows and Subplots

At Super Bowl XV in New Orleans -- my first Super Bowl -- wildman defensive lineman John Matuszak of the Oakland Raiders nominated himself as a most unlikely Bourbon Street chaperone. "I'm going to see that there's no funny business," The Tooz said. "I've had enough parties for 20 people's lifetimes. I'll keep our young fellows out of trouble." A day later, Matuszak didn't just break curfew. He shattered it, rolling in at 3 a.m. Dick Vermeil, the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Oakland's... READ ON

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10 Susceptible Super Bowl Records (and One That Definitely Won't Be Broken)

© John A. Angelillo/Corbis Admittedly, I haven't paid as much attention to this year's Super Bowl as to previous NFL championships. (Having the new issue of mental_floss on deadline has plenty to do with that.) Still, I love delving into the numbers, so this collection of Super Bowl records - most related to the upcoming Patriots-Giants matchup - is the result. Enjoy! First, here are five records already held by those involved in Super Bowl XLVI: 1. Patriots receivers Deion Branch and Wes Welker... READ ON

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The Late Movies: Classic Super Bowl Commercials

If you, like me, learned everything you know about football from Friday Night Lights (the TV series, not the movie. Duh.), you probably watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. Whether it was famous frogs, talking babies, thirsty supermodels or something a little more outrageous, advertising during the big game has become almost as relevant as the football. Here's six of our favorite classic Super Bowl ads. Did we forget yours? Tell us in the comments. 1973 In 1973, Master Lock ran a famous ad where... READ ON

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How Apple's '1984' Ad Was Almost Canceled

In 1984, Apple defined the Super Bowl Commercial as a cultural phenomenon. Prior to Super Bowl XVIII, nobody watched the game "just for the commercials" -- but one epic TV spot, directed by sci-fi legend Ridley Scott, changed all that. Read on for the inside story of the commercial that rocked the world of advertising, even though Apple's Board of Directors didn't want to run it at all. The AdIf you haven't seen it, here's a fuzzy YouTube version:Why 1984 Won't Be Like 1984The... READ ON

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9 Questionable Choices for Previous Super Bowl Halftime Shows

The NFL has announced that Madonna will be your halftime entertainment for Super Bowl XLVI in February. As the press release informs us, "Madonna joins an esteemed list of recent halftime acts that includes The Black Eyed Peas, The Who, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Prince, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and U2." Here are some of the previous acts not being touted by the NFL this morning: 1. Be Bop Bamboozled in 3-D. Back in 1989, Super Bowl XXIII... READ ON