Super Bowl Party Tips

Whether you look forward to Super Bowl Sunday for the game, the commercials, or the food, here are some vital tips to add to your party-planning playbook:

Chart Out Your Game Plan

Before heading to the grocery store, plan your menu and make a list. Be sure to shop early so you don’t get tackled by last-minute shoppers in the aisles or shut-out of great selections.

Stock Your Roster

Game-day parties bring hungry crowds, so when planning for food quantities, think big. To avoid a rush of fourth-quarter food frenzies, consider preparing dishes that you don’t bring out until half-time.

Decorate Your Sidelines

Decorate the area around the television with football posters and pennants of your favorite team.

Top the table with a piece of artificial turf, found at your hardware store. Then, use white athletic tape to add yard lines and white self-adhesive numbers, found at the craft store, to finish your themed tablescape with yardage markers.

Be Replay Ready

Set up your DVR or Tivo the night before the big game so you can be sure to capture close calls and commercials for a second look or laugh.

Warm Up

Prepare the night before so you don’t have to miss the pre-game action. Make prepare-ahead recipes, which can be finished right before guests arrive.

Score With Sweets

After the delicious appetizers and main entrees, don’t forget dessert. Display cupcakes on a platter and add green “turf” and “yard lines and markers” with frosting.

Send Your Guests Off In Style

Create sports-themed gift bags for guests, featuring team-colored tissue paper and small prizes, such as a freezable plastic mug, bottle koozies and a team bottle opener or coasters. These gift bags also make great prizes for any contests you have during the party, as well.

Koozies – good fit or not!

This comes from the Futon Report – make no mistake about it.  Thanks for the writing.

FUTON REPORT: Rockets’ free koozies escalate “war on 20-ounces”
Written by Matt Sussman | | news@toledofreepress.com

At first I thought it was just a mere misunderstanding when I wrote last weekend that the 20-ounce bottles sold at Savage Arena don’t quite fit in the armrests. But it appears I was mistaken.  (It is important to keep up with these things.)  After attending UT’s win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday, I really have to wonder if the Rockets care at all about the ease and comfort of 20-ounce bottles in their arena.

As fans approached the turnstiles Saturday they were handed little blue- and gold-colored drink koozies in the shape of what appear to be cheerleader outfits. They’re adorable, yes. But the real question is: do they fit a 20-ounce bottle? It’s a tight fit, but let’s just say O.J. Simpson’s lawyer would probably move for acquittal. It seems more designed for certain slimmer water bottles and alcoholic beverages which are not sold at Savage.

And here’s something more mildly disturbing. The 20-ounce fits in so snugly, the cheerleader outfit appears to be featuring a couple of … um, let’s just say if you stare at them too long, you’ll get slapped. Know what this means? Even though the inside tag reads “MADE IN CHINA,” it’s entirely possible that perverts were involved in the design.

Nevertheless, the Rocket koozie — which has no bottom — serves its purpose in keeping one’s hand safe from slightly cold sensations while drinking from containers that hold 19 ounces or less. It also functions as a great way to spruce up your conversation, provided you’re talking to a claims adjuster. Or a cameo star of “To Catch A Predator.