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Our family hosts a Super Bowl watch party each year that is designed to appeal both to football fans and to those who are not as enamored by the game, but who enjoy getting together to eat, talk and watch the commercials. Last year, we started a new tradition. A trivia contest that was constructed to give a chance at victory all of our participants; not just the football fans.

I have created another trivia contest for the upcoming Super Bowl, but I don’t want to release the answers ahead of the game. So I am publishing last year’s trivia contest. Last year’s winner took home a Chris Paul bobblehead doll.

To see the answers, scroll down to the post below the questions.

1. Which of these performers has never performed the National Anthem at a Super Bowl?
A. Billy Joel
B. Neil Diamond
C. Wayne Newton
D. Dixie Chicks
E. Backsteet Boys

2. Who was the first celebrity to perform the National Anthem at a Super Bowl
A. Al Hirt
B. Andy Williams
C. Perry Como
D. Englebert Humperdink
E. Anita Bryant

3. What percentage of all Super Bowl tickets are set aside for the general public?
A. None
B. 1 percent
C. 10 percent
D. 20 percent
E. 50 percent

4. The cheapest ticket to Super Bowl I cost how much?
A. $6
B. $9.99
C. $12
D. $20
E. $50

5. Which of these has NOT been a theme for the Super Bowl halftime show?
A. Happiness Is…
B. Founding Fathers of Rock ‘n Roll
C. KaliedoSUPERscope
D. Indiana Jones & Temple of Forbidden Eye
E. Be Bop Bamboozled

6. Who was the first non-official to toss the coin?
A. Ronald Reagan
B. George Halas
C. Bronko Nagurski
D. Red Grange
E. OJ Simpson

7. Sales of this item increase 20 percent on the day after a Super Bowl
A. Drano
B. Antacid
C. Tylenol
D. Toilet paper
E. Footballs

8. What was the Super Bowl named after?
A. Super Ball
B. Superman
C. Super Duper
D. Soup or nuts
E. Super glue

9. Heading into this year’s playoffs, the New England Patriots and the Dallas Cowboys were the top-seeded teams. When was the last time the two top-seeded teams met in the Super Bowl?
A. 2006: Indianapolis Colts vs. Chicago Bears
B. 2002: New England Patriots vs. St. Louis Rams
C. 1998: Denver Broncos vs. Green Bay Packers
D. 1993: Dallas Cowboys vs. Buffalo Bills
E. 1979: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Dallas Cowboys

10. This player played in more Super Bowls than anyone else.
A. John Elway
B. Preston Pearson
C. Charles Haley
D. Cornelius Bennett
E. Mike Lodish

11. This player holds the record for most career fumbles in Super Bowl play.
A. Roger Staubach
B. Terry Bradshaw
C. Joe Montana
D. Thurman Thomas
E. Jim Kelly

12. What has occurred more often in Super Bowls, missed extra points or safeties?
A. Missed extra points.
B. Safeties.

13. True or false: All nine interception returns for touchdowns in Super Bowl play have been by a member of the winning team.
A. True.
B. False.

14. Quarterbacks wearing this uniform number won nine consecutive Super Bowls. What number is it?
A. 7
B. 8
C. 10
D. 12
E. 16

15. What Dallas Cowboy had has helmet stolen at the Super Bowl in 1994?
A. Troy Aikman
B. Michael Irvin
C. Daryl Johnson
D. Jay Novacek
E. Emmitt Smith

16. Ten of the top 20 most-watched television events are Super Bowls. But the last episode of what program is the single most watched show in history?
A. “The Fugitive”
B. “The Tonight Show”
C. “Friends”
D. “M*A*S*H”
E. “Roots”

17. ABC rejected 13 commercials from this company for the 2006 Super Bowl before signing off on the commercial depicting a girl and her highly-stressed, about-to-snap bra strap?
A. GoDaddy.com
B. Meineke Auto Parts
C. Cialis
D. Keystone Beer
E. Paul Meade Insurance

18. Which of the following shows did NOT premeire immediately following the Super Bowl
A. “The Wonder Years”
B. “Friends”
C. “Family Guy”
D. “Survivor”
E. “Grey’s Anatomy”

19. A 1996 extended episode of “Friends” is still the biggest post-Super Bowl draw ever, with 52.9 million viewers. Who were the two big guest stars?
A. Cher and Sean Connery
B. Julia Roberts and Jean-Claude Van Damme
C. Bob Berry and Linda Cavanaugh
D. Jodie Foster and Brad Pitt
E. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

20. Who makes the Lombardi Trophy?
A. Faberge
B. Saks
C. Midwest Trophy
D. Tiffany & Co.
E. Jostens

Don Mecoy
Business Writer

The answers to the Super Bowl trivia quiz posted above:

1-C (Wayne Newton)
2-E (Anita Bryant)
3-B (1 percent)
4-A ($6)
5-B (“Founding Fathers of Rock ‘n Roll)
6-D (Red Grange)
7-B (Antacid)
8-A (Super Ball)
9-D (1993: Cowboys vs. Bills)
10-E (Mike Lodish was in 6 Super Bowls)
11-A (Roger Staubach fumbled 4 times)
12-A (missed extra points)
13-A (true)
14-D (12-Bob Griese, Roger Staubach, Terry Bradshaw, Ken Stabler won every Super Bowl from VI through XIV)
15-E (Emmitt Smith)
16-D (”M*A*S*H”)
17-A (GoDaddy.com)
18-A (”The Wonder Years”)
19-B (Julia Roberts and Jean-Claude Van Damme)
20-D (Tiffany & Co.)

May I have just two seconds of your time for this important word?

“Weatherproof.”

In a tiny fragment of the annals of time, you just read what was to be the shortest Super Bowl advertisement in the history of the Big Game.

A company called Weatherproof Garment Co. sent out a news release this week that claimed it was airing the shortest TV ad ever for this Sunday’s Super Bowl game between New England and the New York Giants.  Two seconds, the release said. Just long enough to say the word “Weatherproof.”

It’s not exactly the stuff that made history such as Apple Computer’s “1984” ad introducing the Macintosh more than 20 years ago, but the brevity of such an ad would have people talking, I guess.

Except, if viewers blinked or sneezed or turned their heads or reached into the beer cooler when the ad appeared, they would miss the historic moment. Or seconds.

“We are under the impression that the entire world is borderline A.D.D. and keeping the public’s attention is nearly impossible, less is more and we think our two seconds will be more effective than 30 seconds,”  Weatherproof President Freddie Stollmack said in the news release.

Well, just as I was pondering the historic precedent this ad would set, the company followed up with a second e-mail.  The 2-second ad is a no-go. 

Seems the ad time — at $100,000 per second — was no longer available.

Jim Stafford
Business News Reporter

I wrote yesterday about the difficulty of finding things one can buy with a single quarter. The story was related to Monday’s issuance of the Oklahoma quarter, part of the U.S. Mint’s long-running program to highlight each of the 50 states through coinage.

Part of my research for the story involved using a couple of inflation calculators to compare the value of a quarter today and in the past. These things are actually kind of fun. Here’s a graphic that didn’t make the paper showing how much it would cost today to buy 25 cents worth of goods in the past. The timeline at the bottom of the graph runs from 1913 to 2005. 

I bought two rolls of shiny new Oklahoma quarters during lunch on Monday, and those were the quarters that appeared in a photo on the front page of The Oklahoman today. But at the end of the day, I had a couple of pounds of quarters rattling around in my pocket. My kids only needed a few, so I started handing out the rest (and I sold a few to folks who wanted more than one).

So far, I’ve handed out about $5 worth of quarters and it’s fun to observe people’s initial reaction to the coin. In general, even people who didn’t vote for the scissortail flycatcher and Indian Blanket artwork find the coin to be attractive. The most critical comments I’ve heard are that the coin isn’t “Okie” enough.

In the past two days, I’ve handed quarters to colleagues in the newsroom and my wife and four kids. I even slipped one to Boone Pickens after completing an interview.

So, to amend my earlier story, handing out quarters is the best value I’ve found for the new coins.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer

The Integris Cerebrovascular & Stroke Center at Baptist Medical Center is participating in the American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines–Stroke program.

The goal is to improve stroke treatment and prevent future strokes.

The program was developed to help hospitals employ “science-based treatment guidelines,” according to an Integris press release. The guidelines address stroke management and prevention, and the establishment of stroke centers.

“As a GWTG-Stroke participating hospital, Integris Cerebrovascular & Stroke Center at Baptist Medical Center is encouraged to develop a comprehensive system for providing rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke when patients are admitted to the emergency department. This includes always being equipped to provide brain-imaging scans, making neurologists available to conduct patient evaluations and using clot-busing medications when appropriate,” according to the release.

Treatment and prevention of strokes includes use of statins and anti-platelet medications, treatment of atrial fibrillation and atherosclerosis, and management of weight, diabetes and cholesterol.

Through the GWTG-Stroke program, the American Stroke Association provides Baptist with training and staff recommendations, “care maps,” discharge protocols, standing orders, and data collection and measurement tools.

According to the stroke association, approximately 700,000 people suffer a stroke each year.

For health and medical news and commentary, read The Medicine Bag blog at http://blog.newsok.com/health.

Jeff Raymond, Medical Writer

The Miss America Live! pageant took on a new look Saturday night on The Learning Channel. What did you think of the trendy, updated show featuring jeans and tank tops, and a sexy swimsuit competition for contestants who made it into the finals.

Captain America is back — and this time he’s brandishing a firearm.

The famous red-white-and-blue patriot was killed in “Captain America” No. 25 last March. In Wednesday’s issue, “Captain America” No. 34, Captain America’s former teen sidekick, Bucky, now carries the star-spangled shield.

Bucky, who spent decades under hypnosis as a Soviet agent, carries a firearm as well as the shield.

“It’s a little jarring for some people to see that,” said the book’s writer, Ed Brubaker, in an interview with the New York Daily News. “[But] people forget that Captain America carried a gun a lot in World War II. Every three covers there was a shot of Captain America with a machine gun or a flamethrower - or an atom bomb.”

Jim Lane, owner of Dragonfyre Comics, 1501 N Meridian, said he’d heard some customers complain about the new Captain America carrying a gun in preview images released by Marvel, but he thinks it works with the character.

“He doesn’t have the power that (original Captain America) Steve Rogers had, so he’s had to pick himself up an equalizer,” Lane said.

Brubaker told Vaneta Rogers at Newsarama.com that Bucky’s ongoing redemption dovetailed nicely with the death of Captain America, even if it wasn’t planned in advance.

“I had no clue until I wrote issue No. 26 or No. 27 that Bucky was actually going to end up taking the mantle,” Brubaker said. “It didn’t occur to me that it was the next evolution of where Bucky was going. I knew all along that we would also have a redemption of Bucky storyline. So once I realized how big this story was getting, I realized I needed someone back in the costume with the shield eventually. And Bucky fit so perfectly into that. It all came together.”

Lane said he thinks fans will accept the new character.

“They’ll see it as the evolution of the character,” Lane said. “It seems like a natural step.”

Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Joe Quesada will appear on the “Colbert Report” tonight to discuss the state of Marvel Comics, including the new Captain America.

“It’s an experiment,” Marvel Entertainment editor in chief Joe Quesada told the New York Daily News. “Every day, every story, I’m ready for backlash.”

“Captain America” No. 25 was the best-selling comic book of 2007 in comic-book shops, according to Diamond Comic Distributors.

Captain America was created in 1941 by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon. Steve Rogers was a scrawny teen who volunteered for a secret experiment. The results of the experiment turned him into a super-soldier, ready to fight the Axis powers of World War II. At the war’s conclusion, Captain America went missing — he was frozen in a block of ice, until being revived by the Avengers in 1963’s “Avengers” No. 4.

Lane praised the storyline of “Captain America” No. 34, which he called “relevant to today’s times,” even though Lane doesn’t agree with all the decisions made by Quesada. And, Lane says, he thinks just because there’s a new Captain America, it doesn’t mean fans will never see Steve Rogers again.

“In the back of my mind, I keep saying they’ll find a way to bring him back,” Lane said. “It may be five years down the road, but I think we’ll see Steve Rogers again.”

– Matthew Price
Acting Assistant Features Editor

It’s time to see how much attention you’ve been paying to the news in the past week or so. From The Oklahoman’s news copy editors and designers, here’s a quiz.

1. What method is NOT being used, or in the works, for providing tips to Oklahoma City Crime Stoppers?
a) Web site.
b) Text messaging.
c) MySpace.

2. What will be the most visible change to the Ford Center if voters approve a March sales-tax election?
a) A new entrance.
b) A retractable roof.
c) Rotating seats.

3. What will be the new capacity of Oklahoma State’s Boone Pickens Stadium in 2008?
a) 50,000.
b) 60,000.
c) 70,000.

4. The Wounded Marine Career Foundation aims to help wounded and disabled Marines and Navy corpsmen land jobs in what industry?
a) Security.
b) Film.
c) Medical.

5. Why has a Turkish court blocked access to the Web site YouTube?
a) Perceived insults to the country’s founding father.
b) Unflattering images of Muhammad.
c) Sexually explicit videos.

6. Fort Bragg soldier Carlo Meth died recently in a training accident. His parents and daughter live in what Oklahoma city?
a) Kingfisher.
b) Lawton.
c) Norman.

7. Which historic figure shares a holiday with Martin Luther King Jr. in three states?
a) Robert E. Lee.
b) Robert F. Kennedy.
c) Roberto Clemente.

8. What could prevent state circuses from traveling this year?
a) The owners’ inability to get elephants and other animals for their shows.
b) Delays in a visa provision that would allow immigrants who were in the country last year to return.
c) Slower profits than in previous years because kids are no longer interested in circuses.

9. Tinker Air Force Base housing will be privatized by spring. Which company was awarded the multimillion-dollar, 50-year project contract?
a) GMH Military Housing of Newton Square, Pa.
b) Benham Cos. of Oklahoma City.
c) Science Applications International Corp. in San Diego.

10. Tony Dungy has agreed to remain as the head coach of what NFL team through next season?
a) Miami Dolphins.
b) St. Louis Rams.
c) Indianapolis Colts.

11. How many Oklahoma companies are on Fortune magazine’s list of the 100 best places to work?
a) Six.
b) Four.
c) Two.

12. Actor Heath Ledger died in New York. What comic-book role does he play in a blockbuster film coming this summer?
a) The Joker.
b) Superman.
c) The Incredible Hulk.

13. John Baker, one of the U.S. Army’s last surviving Buffalo Soldiers, was laid to rest Tuesday at the Fort Sill National Cemetery. Which of the following statements is not true about the group, which was formed in 1866?
a) It was the first peacetime, all-black regiment.
b) They were experienced buffalo tamers.
c) They participated in the hunt for Geronimo and the battle of San Juan Hill.

14. State officials will reward children less than 18 years old who attend a ceremony Monday at the Oklahoma History Center by giving them what?
a) Candy
b) Balloon
c) Money

15. In a recent report released by the United Nations, which country has the highest child mortality rate in Asia?
a) Afghanistan
b) Myanmar
c) India

16. Which museum plans to move to Bricktown?
a) American Banjo Museum
b) Science Museum Oklahoma
c) American Brick Museum

17. Wes Welker will be only the second Oklahoma City football player to play in a Super Bowl. Who is the other?
a) Josh Scobey
b) Hollywood Henderson
c) Steve Largent

18. The Shawnee Tribe hopes to build a $400 million casino in what city?
a) Oklahoma City
b) Tulsa
c) Lawton

19. College basketball coach Rick Majerus was chastised by an archbishop last week for airing his views at a rally for what presidential candidate?
a) Mitt Romney
b) John Edwards
c) Hillary Rodham Clinton

20. What Las Vegas hotel was evacuated after the top floors caught fire?
a) Luxor.
b) Mirage.
c) Monte Carlo

Answers: 1-C; 2-A; 3-B; 4-B; 5-A; 6-A; 7-A; 8-B; 9-A; 10-C; 11-B; 12-A; 13-B; 14-C; 15-A; 16-A; 17-B; 18-A; 19-C; 20-C

Sometimes it’s easy to miss an event, so here’s a look back at the past week or so to help bring you up to date.

The Dow Industrials have been as erratic as Britney Spears on her way to a child custody hearing. On Wednesday, the index of 30 of the largest U.S. stocks plummeted more than 200 points, reversed course and closed the day up more than 300 points. It was an impressive bounce, in a neck-snapping sort of way. But was it unprecedented?

Paul Kedrosky ran the numbers on his “Infectious Greed” blog, and determined that only one other trading day moved from at least a 1-percent loss to a positive close to produce a wider variance than Tuesday’s 625-point swing. That was a 701-point reversal on July 24, 2002.

But, as Kedrosky correctly points out, it’s all relative. A 600-point swing in the Dow sounds impressive, but the index currently is wobbling around the 12,000-point level. Ranking those dips and dives by percentage is a more accurate way to compare today’s volatility with that of other decades. And by that measure, Wednesday’s wild trading day is not even among the top 10.

Four of the six biggest percentage swings occurred from 1929 to 1937. The largest ever was a 12.9 percent move in October, 1987.

So the next time someone tells you the Dow is up or down 200 or 300 points, consider the percentages.

Don Mecoy
Business Writer