What great timing! The holidays are long since past, snow is (still) on the ground, and whether you are a fan or not, you have to love the Superbowl. It is the quintessential excuse to eat poorly, have a drink, visit with friends, and park yourself in a lazy boy lounger with no guilt. It gives us cold weather people something to look forward to, a reason to plan a party, and THIS year...so much more. Since Denver gave up the good looking, promising yet risky fan favorite Tebow, our hopes have been 100% in Peyton Manning. Every time he gets hit, I think about the fact that he had the same neck surgery that I did (and I am avoiding any jarring activities which may or may not include house cleaning). The pressure must be incredible. Any time you play under these circumstances, it is two great teams and anything goes. Men...I know it feels like "I could have done that!" when you watch, but...honestly, if you were over 37, can you imagine playing in the Superbowl? This man deserves the "W"!
I remember during one of our first year's of marriage, we spent money to go to a "scab" game in Seattle (we lived there for 8 LONG years). We thought we had died and gone to heaven to be able to afford an NFL game...even if the players had to cross picket lines. I am excited that my cousins and auntie will have something to do other than splash around in the rain, pick out a new umbrella, or wait for the sun to shine (That is about as TRASH TALKIE as I can get!)
I have to admit, if the Broncos were not in the Superbowl, I would be cheering on the Seahawks.
Unfortunately for the Seattle fans, this CoffeeTalkMom will be wearing her orange and blue, pacing the basement of a friend's house, and shouting "OMAHA!" Now...if this whole thing would, "Hurry Up, Hurry Up!"!!
Here is an easy refresher on a game pool. We, here in Denver, are a little out of practice!
Have everyone BRING QUARTERS (well...you can always use them later for the drinking game if your team loses)...You can do dollars, but you will need $100=lots of people playing!Create a game sheet containing a 10×10 grid of boxes where each row and column will be assigned a number from 0 to 9. The top row 0-9 is one team, the side row 0-9 is the other team playing. (We do have a free Super Bowl Squares Pool Game Sheet for you to print if you don’t want to make your own.)
Each square of the grid is claimed by a guest by writing his or her name in the square. Choose a price per square and let people buy as many squares as they want. You will have 100 squares to sell to your guests, and you’ll need to sell all 100 squares. Most people charge $1 a square, but if your friends are high rollers you can up the ante. This money goes to the prize pool.
Once all the squares are filled, to keep people from only picking the squares with 7′s, 3′s and 0′s, pull numbers from zero to nine randomly to designate the order of the numbers that go along the top and the left of the grid. Make sure to do this randomly and AFTER all the squares are filled to keep it fair.
At the end of each quarter of the Super Bowl, the last digit of both NFL teams’ score is compared to the grid to determine a winner. For example, a player has the 7-3 square, 7 for the Redskins and 3 for the Ravens. If, at the end of the first quarter, the Redskins were ahead 17-3 the 7-3 square would be a winner.
The prize pool is usually awarded by percentage with the largest going to the final score winner. $1 a square yields $100 prize pool, so you could pay out $12.50 to the 1st quarter winner, $25 to the halftime winner, $12.50 to the 3rd quarter winner, and $50 grand prize to the final score winner. If you don’t want to charge, split the squares up between your guests, then hand out prizes to the winners. Fun “Football party” prizes work well, like a large bucket of pretzels, or a 6-pack.
This is a great game for even the football novice to play since it requires no real knowledge of the game, just some luck.
Cheers and Enjoy your wings!
CoffeeTalkMom