Happy Tuesday folks – and that means today is all about football!

The AFC and NFC Championship games on Sunday were pretty darn good.  We can only hope the Super Bowl comes close to this.  With the history of recent games between the Giants and the Patriots, I think it will be a close game. My pick is at the end of the column.

Today I take a look at some of the facts about the upcoming game, the Pro Bowl, Montanans doing well in the NFL, people being stupid, an interview with Peyton, JoePa, and much more – so read on!

Picks from Last Week:

I was so close – I just missed winning the pigskin pick contest.  I picked the correct winners, but missed the final score of the Giants/49ers game which ended 20-17.  I thought the final score would be 28-16 Giants.

Pro Bowl:

Don’t forget – the NFL put the Pro Bowl game between the AFC/NFC Championship games and the Super Bowl.  The Pro Bowl is this Sunday (January 29) and NBC is carrying the game, which starts at 5:00 p.m. (Mountain Time).  The game is in Honolulu.

At least we will have some football to watch this weekend!

Super Bowl XLVI (46) – some facts:

-Teams:  New York Giants versus New England Patriots

-Date:  Sunday, February 5

-Time:  4:20 p.m. Montana time

-TV:  NBC has the coverage (Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth)

-Location:  Indianapolis (Lucas Oil Stadium).

-Capacity:  About 70,000

-Halftime Entertainment:  Madonna

-Previous Meeting:  The Giants beat the Patriots in week nine, 24-20.  That game was in New England.

-Previous Super Bowl Meeting:  In 2008, the Giants beat the Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII.

Death Threats:

OK, San Francisco 49ers punt returner Kyle Williams made a couple of mistakes (two fumbles) on Sunday, but it is totally wrong for fans to threaten him (and his family).  Read the story HERE.

Sodapop Curtis and Peyton Manning:

Have you wondered what Peyton Manning is up to?  Here’s the story.

Previous Super Bowl Columns:

To read some of my Super Bowl columns from last year, go to the right side of the screen and scroll down to “Categories” and then pick “Super Bowl.”  You can read about Super Bowl trivia, records, and a bunch of stuff to impress your friends!

Fletcher to the Super Bowl:

Former Montana State Bobcat Dane Fletcher will be playing in the Super Bowl for the New England Patriots.  Fletcher is a 6’2″ 244 lbs linebacker for the Patriots.  He wears #52.

Cleveland Browns:

Former NFL and University of Montana player Tim Hauck has been hired by the Browns as defensive backs coach.

Joe Paterno:

RIP JoePa.  He coached for 46 seasons and he had a winning record in 40 of them.  Remarkable.

Paterno broke my heart once.  It was in October 1980; the #17 Penn State Nittany Lions marched in to Columbia, Missouri, and beat my #9 Missouri Tigers 29-21.  The 75,298 in attendance is still a record at the University of Missouri.  I was there sitting on the rocks of the big “M.”  Penn State was lead by Freshman QB Todd Blackledge that day.

Mike Lopresti of USA Today says it better than most in his column “Scandal shouldn’t define Paterno.”  You can read it HERE.

THE PICK:

PATRIOTS 24, GIANTS 20.

For Independent Commentary about Politics, Sports, the Media, and Current Events follow Jack on Twitter @TheWesternWord.