THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
 207-780-4249 www.usm.maine.edu/planet
 70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
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 Founded January 1970
                      Take two: "Earth withOUT art is Eh!"
                                             -Copied by someone who
finally paid attention to details.




THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Friday, February 5, 2016
The Annual Superbowl Quiz!

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 Dedicated to two of my favorite people:
 My brother, Richard, and my Uncle Richard.
 I offer you both this quiz with affection, and, of course, sympathy,
as both of your favorite teams were mathematically eliminated from
playoff contention around Columbus Day. Ha ha!
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We realize that the world is presently confronting an array of
formidable challenges. However, we are pleased to report that at least
one "crisis" has been averted. Last week, CW, the NFL announced that
it will revert back to enumerating Super Bowls with Roman numerals
staring next year. This year, of course, they've used the Arabic
numerals 50 in place of ____________ (Yes, that will be one of the
questions.) We have to tell you how gratified and surprised we are
that the NFL has exhibited at least a modicum of respect for its fan
base! We also understand that the NFL had no choice but to use 50
instead of _______ for Sunday's Super Bowl, as market analysts
predicted that retaining the Roman numeral would have shriveled the
ratings by an estimated 0.000000000000001%.

In celebration of this holiest of holidays, we're offering our annual
Super Bowl Quiz! This utterly un-astronomical examination will test
your knowledge about the game once described as "Twenty two grown men
running around a field trying to agitate a bag of wind."

Of all the quizzes we post throughout the DA school year, this one
uses a unique scoring system. Each "question set" consists of three
questions. If you answer the first question correctly, you've scored a
touchdown and are awarded six points. If you then answer the "extra
point" question correctly, you'll earn an extra point. If you then
answer the "two point conversion," question, you will receive an extra
two points. Of course, if you miss the first question, you can still
earn points by correctly answering either or both of the questions in
the set. Sometimes, it will be exceedingly difficult to answer the
extra point and/or two point conversion questions if you miss the
touchdown question.

You are not penalized for missing a question, unless, of course,
you're actually a New England Patriots player because, well, that's
just fair.





1. Which two teams are competing in Super Bowl 50?

EXTRA POINT: Which one of these two teams hasn't yet won a Super Bowl?

TWO POINT CONVERSION: Who are the starting quarter backs?


2. What is the Roman numeral equivalent for 50?

EXTRA POINT: What was the last Super Bowl designated by only a single
Roman numeral?

TWO POINT CONVERSION: Let's assume that the Super Bowl games continue
until Super Bowl 1000. Between now and Super Bowl 1000, inclusive, how
many Super Bowls will be designated by only a single Roman numeral?
(Yes, please count the Super Bowl on Sunday.)


3. Which coach has the most Super Bowl rings? (Rings won by the person
when in another position do not count.)

a. Chuck Noll

b. Don Shula

c. Vince Lombardi

d. Bill Belichick

e. Both a and d

f. Both b and c

EXTRA POINT: How many rings does he/do they have?

TWO POINT CONVERSION: How many players have the same number of rings
as this coach/these coaches?

a. none

b. 5

c. 15

d. 22



4. Which Super Bowl had the greatest number of US viewers?

a. Super Bowl II

b. Super Bowl XLIX

c. Super Bowl XXXI

d. Super Bowl XLVI


EXTRA POINT: Approximately how many US viewers watched the game?

a. 103 million

b. 108 million

c. 114 million

d. 167 million

TWO POINT CONVERSION: Which two teams competed in this Super Bowl?


5. How many Super Bowls have gone into over time?

a. 0

b. 1

c. 2

d. 4

EXTRA POINT: Which Super Bowl (s), if any, went into over time?

TWO POINT CONVERSION: Which teams, if any, participated in the Super
Bowl (s) that went into overtime?


6. Three of the following teams have tied the record for most Super
Bowl appearances. Which team listed below is NOT one of those teams?

a. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

b. San Francisco 49ers

c. Dallas Cowboys

d. Pittsburgh Steelers

EXTRA POINT: What is the record for most Super Bowl appearances for a
team? (Or, as it turns out, for these three teams?)

a. 6

b. 7

c. 8

d. 9

TWO POINT CONVERSION: Which of these three teams has the best Super
Bowl record? (Greatest number of Super Bowl wins)


7. Who was the first Super Bowl winning quarterback to have proclaimed
on camera "I'm going to Disney World?!"

a. Terry Bradshaw

b. Joe Namath

c. Joe Montana

d. Phil Simms

EXTRA POINT: For which team was this quarterback then playing?

TWO POINT CONVERSION: He made this proclamation at the end of which Super Bowl?


8. Which team has the dubious distinction of having lost the greatest
number of Super Bowls?

a. Denver Broncos

b. Minnesota Vikings

c. Buffalo Bills

d. New York Giants

EXTRA POINT: How many Super Bowls has this team lost?

TWO POINT CONVERSION: This team lost their first Super Bowl during
Super Bowl ______.

a. XII

b. XV

c. XXI

d. XXVI



9. How many possible Super Bowl match ups are there in today's NFL?

a. 116

b. 144

c. 212

d. 256

EXTRA POINT: Which non-expansion team is the only one to have never
played in a Super Bowl?

TWO POINT CONVERSION: Which medieval mathematician is credited with
having introduced Europe to the Arabic number system?


10. Which quarter back has started in the most Super Bowls?

a. Tom Brady

b. Joe Montana

c. Terry Bradshaw

d. Roger Staubach

EXTRA POINT: This quarterback was/is a part of which team?

TWO POINT CONVERSION: In how many Super Bowls has this quarterback participated?


ANSWERS



1. Carolina Panthers vs. Denver Broncos

Extra point: Carolina Panthers. They were in Super Bowl XXXVIII, but
were beaten by the NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

Two point conversion: Cam Newton and Peyton Manning

("The remains of Peyton Manning" is also an acceptable answer.)

2. L

Extra point: Super Bowl X

Two point conversion: Four Super bowl L (50); Super Bowl C (100);
Super Bowl D (500) and Super Bowl M (1000)



3. e. Both a and d

Extra point: 4

Two point conversion: d. 22


4. b. Super Bowl XLIX (Last year's Super Bowl!)

Extra point: c. 114 million

Two point conversion: NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS and Seattle Seahawks


5. a. 0

Extra point: No teams

Two point conversion: No teams


6. b. San Francisco 49ers

Extra point: 8

Two point conversion: Pittsburgh (6 W 2 L)



7. d. Phil Simms

Extra point: New York Giants

Two point conversion: Super Bowl XXI


8. a. Denver Broncos

Extra point: 5 (If you're taking this quiz on Monday morning, AW, the
answer will, of course, be 6.)

Two point conversion: Super Bowl XII (1978)


9. d. 256

(16 AFC teams vs. 16 NFC teams.)

Extra point: Detroit Lions

Two point conversion: Fibonacci



10. a. Tom Brady

Extra point: NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

Two point conversion: 6