Today's trivia is all about groundhogs.
Just kidding. Other than questions about the movie starring Bill Murray, what can you ask about groundhogs?
OK. There are the names of some of the more notable groundhog prognosticators: Punxsutawney Phil, General Beauregard Lee, Buckeye Chuck. There is the supposed meaning of a groundhog seeing his shadow. There are a few more questions about the origin of the ritual.
But it would be entirely too much work to come up with a full trivia column and ten questions about Groundhog Day, so this column is about sports.
The big event that most sports fans are talking about this time of year is the Super Bowl. The game will involve the playing of football — the American version, not what people call soccer in most of the rest of the world.
To the consternation of many people who do not live in New York or Boston, who are not fans of the teams of those cities, or who are not NBC executives, the game this year will be played by the New York Giants and New England Patriots.
There is no real underdog in this game. Neither team can be called an upstart or a Cinderella. Either Patriots quarterback Tom Brady or Giants quarterback Eli Manning will get another championship ring.
For those who are less than thrilled with the match-up, there is at least the promise of entertaining commercials. These commercials are so worthwhile that the advertisers paid an average of $3.5 million to air them during the Super Bowl. Now that's entertainment.
I am stoked to see all of these commercials. I expect it will be a good year for them. Anything has got to be better than the dot.com-era Super Bowl commercials. It seemed like every company with a website bought air time to give us the commercial equivalent of an Ambien.
Then there is the halftime show. This year's halftime headliner is Madonna. It's good to see the Super Bowl will finally feature a young, relevant entertainer on stage at halftime.
At the rate the halftime show is burning through big name acts of yesteryear, I wouldn't be surprised if it tabs Tony Bennett for next year.
Despite my grumbling, I will be tuned in to the game in eager anticipation of hard-nosed running, bone-crushing tackles, pin-point accurate passing and all the other hallmarks of a game between two talented teams. It will be the opposite of watching the Rams play this past season.
Here's hoping the Rams will turn it around under new head coach Jeff Fisher. Maybe next year's Super Bowl trivia will have a hometown flavor.
The topic of this week's trivia is Super Bowl 46.
1. What is the name of the venue where Super Bowl 46 will be played?
2. In what year did the Patriots and Giants last face off against each other in the Super Bowl?
3. At what college did Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski play football?
4. In what year did Super Bowl 46 halftime performer Madonna most recently have a No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart?
5. What is the number of this Super Bowl in Roman numerals?
6. How many New York Giants were selected as starters for this year's Pro Bowl? (They did not play due to participation in the Super Bowl.)
7. Who is the owner of the New England Patriots?
8. In what city is Giants Stadium, "The Meadowlands," located?
9. What former St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator recently rejoined the staff of the Patriots?
10. Which Giants player had the most receiving yards in the 2011 season?
ANSWERS: 1. Lucas Oil Stadium, which is home to the Indianapolis Colts. 2. It was for Super Bowl 42 in 2008 in Glendale, Ariz. The Giants won 17-14. 3. University of Arizona. 4. The last one was "Music" in 2000. 5. XLVI. 6. Two. Eli Manning and Jason Pierre-Paul. Seven Patriots were selected. 7. Robert Kraft. 8. East Rutherford, N.J. 9. Josh McDaniels. 10. Victor Cruz.
Shawn Clubb is managing editor of the Suburban Journals for St. Louis and St. Charles counties. You can contact him at sclubb@yourjournal.com.
