Totally Random
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Eighteen percent of pro football fans are so dedicated to their teams that they would never marry a fan of their team’s biggest rival.
More than four in 10 pro football fans would rather have their child become an NFL star than win a Nobel Prize.
Those disturbing findings were produced by Expedia’s “Go Like Pro Survey,” which also revealed:
Forty-one percent would miss their own birthday party to see a game.
Thirty-nine percent would skip a “hot date” to see a game.
Twenty-five percent have a better memory for pro football statistics than they do for the birthdays and anniversary dates for family and friends.
One in five fans would travel 1,000 miles or more to see a favorite team play an important game.
Of course, Southern Californians who still are interested in seeing the Rams or Raiders play live have no choice but to travel to see their team in action.
Trivia time
Who was first Heisman Trophy winner to play in the Rose Bowl?
Red flag warning?
How formidable is agent Scott Boras within the realm of Major League Baseball?
Oakland Athletics owner Lew Wolff recently told the Associated Press his team was preparing for an amateur draft when he noticed that certain prospective selections were positioned on one board with different colored cards.
“What is that?” Wolff asked his baseball operations staff.
Reply: “Scott Boras clients.”
Big Apple Bowl
With the Giants and the Jets in first place in their respective divisions, New York already has begun to discuss the once-unthinkable: a Subway Super Bowl.
Noting that the Super Bowl is “only 68 days away,” Tuesday’s New York Daily News published position-by-position matchups for “the dreamiest of Super Bowl dreams.” The Giants get the edge at every position except wide receiver, linebacker and secondary -- including quarterback, Eli Manning over Brett Favre, which is a claim that wouldn’t have been made before the last Super Bowl.
The Daily News favors the Giants to win this one, 27-23.
Now, about the next two months ...
Said the pieman
After wolfing down 41 mince pies in 10 minutes to win an eating competition, Denzil Gunner told the London Daily Telegraph he was thankful for the timing of the event. “I’m glad it’s over a month to Christmas when I have to eat another one,” he said.
Trivia answer
Frank Sinkwich of Georgia, in the 1943 victory over UCLA, was the first Heisman winner to play in the game.
And finally
Headline at the satirical Onion.com website: “Jimmie Johnson’s car put out to stud.”
-- Mike Penner
Editor’s note: The answer to the Totally Random trivia question was incorrectly given as O.J. Simpson. Correction made at 2:40 p.m. on Wednesday.