News and Notes from Indianapolis

With Super Bowl 46 less than 48 hours away from kickoff and over 170 million people from around the world prepare to have the biggest party of the year, which is now the world’s No. 1 sports holiday, several countries from around the world will be watching.

We know two things are for certain on Sunday: both the New England Patriots and the New York Giants will show up to play the game; that is for certain. The Super Bowl XLVI officials have been named and are ready to call the game of their lives.

Position                               Official                                 NFL Seasons       Career Playoff game experience

Referee                                John Parry                              12                           9

Umpire                                 Carl Paganelli                          12                         10

Head Linesman                     Tom Stabile                             17                           9

Line Judge                            Gary Arthur                              15                          11

Field Judge                           Gary Cavaletto                            9                           6

Side Judge                            Laird Hayes                               17                         15

Back Judge                            Tony Steratore                          12                           9

This officiating crew has 94 NFL seasons of experience and 69 years of career playoff games. They are the highest-rated officials at their position and the highest rated among their peers. This crew shouldn’t make any mistakes, but if they do there are two important men who will play a very important part in getting it right: Larry Nemmers is the replay assistant and Lou Nazzaro is in charge of the video operation.

The top 10 things you should know about Indianapolis and Super Bowl XLVI:

1. Indianapolis is second only to Washington D.C. in number of monuments and memorials.
2. Skywalks connect the Indiana Convention center and Lucas Oil Stadium, Circle Centre Mall and 4,700 hotels rooms more than any other city in the country.
3. There are more than 250 restaurants and 50 major attractions within walking distance of your hotel.
4. Indy, short for Indianapolis, has hosted 55 NCAA Championships, including eight men’s and women’s Final Fours.
5. Centrally located downtown is White River State Park, 250 acres of urban greenscape.
6. The world’s largest Children’s Museum is located in Indy.
7. In honor of the 2012 Super Bowl, more than 2,012 trees were planted for downtown to beautify the downtown and surrounding areas.
8. More than 40,000 Super Kids, Super Welcome cards dressed the tables of Radio Row, and were also placed in every hotel room in Indianapolis and surrounding areas where NFL fans are staying.
9. Indianapolis is home to the world’s largest JW Marriott, with more than 1,000 rooms. It is the Media Center for Super Bowl XLVI and currently has the Lombardi Trophy that stretches all 32 stories.
10. Marriott Place is a collection of five Marriott properties totaling 2,248 rooms all connected via a skybridge.

I tip my fedora to the NFL, which organizes and runs a fine-tuned machine and makes the lives of the media extremely comfortable for this complete week. Also the Super Bowl Host Committee for a great job of preparing this city, all the restaurants and hotels, down to the cab service; they were extremely organized and polite across the board. Along with the NFL they delivered an outstanding experience for both children and adults.

In tomorrow’s blog, I will break down both teams, injuries and give my predictions along with some did you know facts.