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The USA’s largest gladiatorial sporting event, Super Bowl XLVI, takes place tonight. 68,000 spectators will cram into Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, 113 million Americans will watch the game on TV, along with unknown millions of viewers in more than 180 other countries. A 30-second Super Bowl television ad cost $3.5 million. You may have read these facts as well as speculation on the physical condition of Giants and Patriots players, but you probably overlooked these critical 2012 Super Bowl stories:

“Super Bowl is the No. I event for Roman numerals,” Frank Reust, St. Louis Post Dispatch

“Over 1.25 Billion Wings, 4.4 Million Pizzas Eaten During Super Bowl Weekend,” Ryan Tepperman, NESN.com

“Nuns plan to tackle Super Bowl sex trafficking,” Douglas Stanglin, USA Today

“Super Bowl 2012 Prop Bets: The Weirdest Ways to Make Money,” Anthony Riccobono, International Business Times (compare this spoof)

“The Super Bowl is not a job creator,” Alexander Heffner, Salon

“The 21 Rules of Surviving a Super Bowl Party,” Jason Gay, Wall Street Journal

“Driving Fatalities on Super Bowl Sunday,” Donald A. Redelmeier, MD, Craig L. Stewart, M.Sc., New England Journal of Medicine

“Super Bowl 2012: Marketing hype runs from beer and cars to condoms and cookies,” Barry Svrluga, Washington Post

“Super Bowl Science: Are Football Coaches Irrational?” Joseph Stromberg, Smithsonian blog

“Injuries, overwhelming crowds reported in Super Bowl Village,” John Tuohy, Indianapolis Star

“Super Bowl Tackles Climate Change,” Tim Wall, Discovery

“The child molesting glam rocker who almost profited from the Super Bowl,” The Week  

“‘Mind over matter’! Madonna overcomes hamstring and nose injuries just in time for Super Bowl performance,” Dianne King, Daily Mail

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Image (“Super Bowl 2012, after Henri Rousseau”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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A player's first Super Bowl is always a revelation, not only for the player, but also for those watching.

It can ultimately reflect his status and ability by either reiterating his regular-season persona, or distinguishing that self from the one that does or doesn't show up on the big stage.

Jason Pierre-Paul was a sophomore at Fort Scott Community College in 2008 when the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots 17-14, and probably could not fathom then that the trajectory of his career would place him on the roster of the current Super Bowl 2012 contending Giants.

Nevertheless, Pierre-Paul has arrived as a regular-season stalwart in his second year with the team, registering 16.5 sacks (the most since another decent defensive end named Michael Strahan led the team in 2003 with 18.5), and is primed to be one of the more impacting Giants in tomorrow's game.    

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Rarely do the top two players taken in the NFL draft earn awards following their first years in the league. Well, this year we can say that both the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos chose wisely at the top of the 2011 draft.

Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was named the NFL's 2011 Offensive Rookie of the Year, while Broncos linebacker Von Miller won the 2011 Defensive Rookie of the Year award. While guys like Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton and San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith both had excellent seasons, Newton and Miller were both completely deserving of the honors they received.

When Carolina made Newton the top pick in last April's draft, there were tons of questions concerning his character and his ability to adapt to the NFL. While character questions can only be answered over time, those regarding his on-field ability were resolved rather quickly—and emphatically. 

Newton set an NFL record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 14, while he became the first player in league history to throw for 4,000 yards and rush for 500. He broke several rookie records along the way, including passing yards in a game (432) and passing yards in a season (4,051), while also totaling the most touchdowns by a rookie at any position with 35 (21 passing, 14 rushing).

The Auburn product was the best rookie all season long in the NFL, and the voters rewarded him with 47 votes, while Dalton had only three. 

Miller was one of the few can't-miss prospects in the 2011 draft, and he rewarded the Broncos for selecting him instead of guys like Marcell Dareus or Patrick Peterson. The Texas A&M product finished the season with 64 tackles, 11.5 sacks, four passes defended and two forced fumbles. He did all of that despite missing one game and playing the team's final four contests with a bulky cast on his hand to protect a surgically-repaired thumb.

It could be argued that Miller's emergence was more responsible for Denver's run to the playoffs than anything quarterback Tim Tebow did. In fact, Miller had at least part one sack in each of Denver's wins this year, including the team's Wild Card Round victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers (he actually only had a half-sack in the Broncos' 38-24 win over the Raiders in Week 9, but I'm counting that).

He earned the award despite the fact that Smith was excellent this year as well. I believe Miller had much more to do with Denver's success than Smith did on San Francisco's. The voters apparently agreed with me, giving him a 39 to 11 edge over the 49ers' linebacker.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

At tonight's NFL Honors award show, Randall Cobb won the award for Play of the Year for his 108-yard kickoff return touchdown on opening night against the Saints.  If you recall, Cobb essentially did a barrel roll in the middle of his return without being touched down and then outraced the stunned Saints coverage team to the end zone.

While that was certainly a phenomenal play, with all due respect to the NFL awards committee, that was not the best play of the season.  Click through the slideshow for five other plays that were more deserving of the honor.

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Here are four bold predictions for the Super Bowl tomorrow:

Tom Brady Throws Two Interceptions

Tom Brady will be expected to play a big game on Sunday, and I'm not saying he won't. The Giants ranked 29th in pass defense in the regular season, and Tom Brady threw 39 touchdowns and 5,235 passing yards this year.

However, the Giants have been playing remarkable defense as of late, and they were even able to stop Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers offense in the NFC Divisional Playoff game. The Giants have a ferocious pass rush that will be able to get to Brady early and often in the Super Bowl. 

I think Brady can have a good game overall, but the Giants' pass rush will make enough of an impact on at least one play to force a bad pass by Brady.

Rob Gronkowski Plays and Catches Eight Passes

While Gronkowski is listed as questionable for the Super Bowl, I think there's almost no way he doesn't play unless he literally cannot walk. 

In the biggest game of his career, Gronkowski will play. Also, I think he'll catch quite a few passes because Tom Brady will look to him as often as he did all season.

While Brady knows he's injured and will try to throw to his other receivers more, he will end up passing to his best option because that's what he knows to do.

Rob should see plenty of balls thrown his way on Sunday, but he won't be as good on yards after the catch as in the regular season because of his injury. This will hurt the Patriots down the stretch.

Jason Pierre-Paul Has Two Sacks

Pierre-Paul was a viable Defensive Player of the Year candidate in 2011 and he will show the world why on Sunday. He created a lot of pressure for this Giants defense and also a lot of turnovers, and he is a huge reason the Giants are in the Super Bowl.

I think Jason will come up big in the biggest game of the year and sack Tom Brady twice.

Eli Manning Wins the MVP

I have the Giants winning because they have a better defense and their quarterback is playing amazing football. Tom Brady may be one of the best quarterbacks of all time, but Eli Manning is playing just a tad better than him at this time. 

If Eli can beat Rodgers, then he can beat Brady on Sunday.

Since a QB almost always wins the MVP nowadays, I'll predict Eli will get the Super Bowl MVP award for the second time in his career. I think he can throw for at least three touchdowns and 300 yards.

Giants Win, 41-31.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

In 2011, we saw one of the best passing seasons in NFL history. The single-season yardage record was broken, as was the passer rating record. 

Rookie—and 2011 No. 1 draft pick—Cam Newton may have been the NFL's most impressive player. As a result, Newton was rewarded with the NFL's Rookie of the Year award.

Newton passed better than anyone thought he ever could while rushing as well as his biggest proponents said he would.

Prior to 2011, Peyton Manning owned nearly every rookie passing record. Now, they belong to Cam Newton.

Newton passed for an astonishing 4,051 yards and 21 touchdowns while completing 60 percent of his passes. The Heisman Trophy winner also added 706 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground.

Newton became the NFL's first player to pass for 5,000 yards and rush for 700 in a season. Any time a rookie is effortlessly breaking NFL records, he's doing something right.

As historic as Aaron Rodgers sand Drew Brees' seasons were, Cam Newton's may have been more so. The NFL finally has a true dual-threat quarterback, and Newton is the guy.

Make no mistake about it: Andy Dalton, A.J. Green and Von Miller were all fantastic as rookies. However, none of them had the impact Newton did, and none of them will be remembered like Newton will be.

The one reason for Newton not winning Rookie of the Year was Carolina's record.

The Panthers finished 6-10 with Newton starting every game. How can a quarterback not lead his team to a .500 record and be the league's best rookie, you ask.

Because Newton didn't lose those games; Carolina's defense did. The Panthers scored 25.4 points per game—the fifth-most in the NFL—which is more than enough to win.

In 2011, Cam Newton was not just good. He was outstanding, and no other rookie came close to reaching his level of performance.

He was a very deserving winner of the NFL's Rookie of the Year award.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Randall Cobb started out his Green Bay Packers career in a big way and boy was he rewarded for it.

At tonight's NFL Honor awards, Cobb was given the Best Play of the Year award. There was a lot of tough competition, and many would argue that he stole the title from Jerome Simpson of the Cincinnati Bengals.

For those of you who don't remember, Simpson became infamous for his Week 16 front flip over the Arizona Cardinals' defense that landed him in the end zone for a touchdown.

While that play will go down as one of the best in football history, there is no denying how great of a play this was by Cobb in the team's opening game against the New Orleans Saints.

Being the second pick of the 2011 NFL Draft, it was going to be tough for Cobb to get himself on the field considering the team's strength at receiver.

He was given return duties to start out the year, and he made the most of it by taking it to the house in the early goings of the third quarter.

The most impressive part of the play was when Cobb was nearly taken down but managed to barrel roll over the Saints to continue his race to the end zone.

This play was incredible, but it is still hard to imagine that it beat Simpson's remarkable score.

Both plays had some crazy acrobatic movement, making either one an amazing highlight to look at over again and again.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

NFL stars, beware! The Madden Cover Curse might just be after you.

EA Sports has decided to expand the pool of potential cover boys for Madden 2013 to 64 after opting for a field of 32 players in the online polling for last year's edition.

Fans still won't have the freedom to choose whomever they please from whichever team they prefer, with the candidates instead being handpicked by the developers before the voting is opened up to the public.

Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis somehow emerged as the winner of the competition for the 2012 cover, edging out Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick in the inaugural fan vote.

Both players were seemingly struck by the Madden Curse anyway. Hillis played in a career-low 10 games for the Browns last season amidst injuries, illness and an apparent contract dispute with the organization. As a result, Hillis finished the season with just 587 yards and three touchdowns on 161 carries.

Though, with that drop in production, at least Hillis won't have to worry about catching the curse twice.

As for Vick, he regressed considerably from his resurgent 2010 campaign, throwing for 18 touchdowns against 14 interceptions while fighting through a seemingly never-ending slew of beatings behind the Eagles' inept offensive line.

Superstars like Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Tom Brady can only hope their rampant popularity among NFL fans doesn't come back to bite them by way of the most dubious of honors—being pictured on the most popular sports video game franchise of all time.

Follow @J0shMart1n 

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Whenever there's an award that involves voting, there's always going to be someone who gets dissed. 

For the first-ever NFL Honors ceremony, the AP pretty much did a great job and awarded everyone accordingly based on who deserved it the most. 

However, in my opinion, there were four players who were dissed at the NFL Honors 2012 ceremony. 

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Once again, Cris Carter was not elected into the NFL Hall of Fame. That's insane.

Carter is one of the greatest receivers of all time, and he still missed out on the Hall of Fame.

His stats are great, his accolades are good and he was one of the best receivers of his generation.

When you look at Cris Carter's stats, it's a little surprising how good he actually was.

He caught 1,101 passes in his career, which puts him at fourth all time. When he retired, he was second on the list, which is even more impressive, considering the new rules that facilitate passing/receiving records.

Carter's 130 career receiving touchdowns puts him at fourth on the all-time list. In the history of the NFL, there are only three other players who could find the end zone through the air more often.

That's not too shabby.

In addition, Carter had 13,899 receiving yards, putting him at eighth on the all-time list. He is dropping on that list as well, but that doesn't take away from his eight straight 1,000-yard seasons.

He was an incredible player, and his numbers, as well as his accolades, prove that.

Carter made eight straight Pro Bowls. Therefore, he was one of the best receivers in the NFC for eight straight years.

That's pretty incredible.

Finally, Carter was one of the best receivers of his generation. He was great for a long period of time, and somehow, that seems to be forgotten.

He was a great receiver, and he was a focal point on the second-best offense of all time. Carter could do some great things, and that shouldn't be forgotten.

Unfortunately, it has been forgotten.

That's just a shame.

The Hall of Fame is supposed to be an honor to all great football players. Right now, a great player has been snubbed once again.

At some point, this wrong needs to be righted.

Carter is one of the best receivers of all time, and he continues to be on the outside of the Hall, looking in, which is completely unfair.

Carter is more than deserving to be nominated. Until he is, the Hall of Fame will continue to be a disappointment.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

The 2011-2012 NFL season was yet another exciting campaign, with plenty of precision passes, acrobatic catches and thundering hits.

The season also included any number of jaw-dropping plays. While it's hard to narrow it down to just a handful, here's one man's take on the top five plays of the season.

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A few weeks ago, I picked up a handful of books. One of them, Man’s Search for Meaning, has been on my list for a long time.

For years, I’ve been falling back on quotes by the book’s author, Viktor Frankl. They’ve at various times inspired me, kept me going, given me direction. But I’d never actually read anything of length by him.

Man’s Search for Meaning consists partly of Frankl’s memoir from his three years in Nazi death camps during World War II. It’s during one early morning march to a work site, across frozen land, undernourished and wearing only the thin clothing of a prisoner, that he had this revelation:

A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth–that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist of enduring his sufferings in the right way–an honorable way–in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words, “The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory.”

While I’ve never read this passage before, I instantly recognize the feeling, meaning, and, ultimately, the most definite Truth of it.

This is one of the things that keeps me going. Has for years.

Maybe you recognize it, too.

If you don’t… maybe you should read it a few more times and then look at your own life.

Do you know that kind of Love? Is it what you’re looking for?

More importantly, is it what you give?

The hairiest game of year is this Sunday, February 5th. It kicks off at 3:00 PM Eastern. That’s right; it’s Puppy Bowl VIII, on Animal Planet.

More:

“Forget the Super Bowl, It’s Puppy Bowl Time!” David Mizejewski, Animal Oddities

“The Puppy Bowl (and Kitty Halftime Show),” Washington Post photo gallery

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Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-coY

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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The Orange Line Special band will hold a Reunion Concert on Saturday, February 4, 2012 as part of the Folklore Society of Greater Washington’s annual Mid-Winter Festival (“Mini-Fest’) in Takoma Park. The event runs from Noon to 10:30 pm, and Orange Line performs in the Roots Americana Room (104) during Charlie Bean’s “DC Doin’s” session from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM.

Takoma Park Middle School 7611 Piney Branch Road, Takoma Park MD 20912 (off Piney Branch Road two blocks North of MD 410). Map.

More details here.

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Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-cp6

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine