Super Bowl VII and Super Bowl XL (#69; Topic G)

As I do this entry, Super Bowl XL has just begun. For this encounter, between Seattle Seahawks and upstart Pittsburgh Steelers, played in Detroit, a ticket commands up to $4,000, and a 30-second commercial on TV costs $2.6 million. Anticipating a large influx of VIPs, hometown officials have rounded up the homeless by giving them a 3-day room-and-board "party," so that they would not become eyesores on the street when dignitaries visit Detroit. Very thoughtful. In my entire life, I have seen only two professional "football" games, the first one being Super Bowl VII, between 16-0 Miami Dolphins and upstart Washington Redskins, played in Los Angeles. If my memory serves me, Miami won the game; the score was something like 14-7. In all frankness, it was a boring game. The stadium was not full, the spectators were rather subdued. I got my ticket on the way in, paying the face-value price of $20. At that time, I was on leave from the University of Washington to serve as an Associate Director of the Cost Accounting Standards Board, a Federal agency responsible for setting cost-accounting standards for defense contractors. A last-minute assignment to visit a defense contractor brought me and an associate to the area. He was from LA and a rabid football fan; with nothing better to do on a lazy Sunday, I had my first taste of professional football. A couple of days ago, over CNBC, the anchor said that, through a simulation, the results of Super Bowl XL would most likely be 21-17 Pittsburgh. I'll just record it here and see how this simulation fares. (In recent years, non-financial futures market fared well. It predicted, correctly, the winner of 2004 Presidential race. It now predicts a warmer-than-normal winter (important for those who trade in natural gas)).
Posted at 7:47 pm, Sunday, February 5, 2006