Big Game Hype: From Swifties to soup recipes to super fun games to… sloths? We’ve got the St. Louis buzz

From Swifties to soups to sloths –there’s a lot of hype surrounding the Super Bowl just as there is every year. Where will you be watching it? Ballpark Village has some special tickets available, but for those who just want to watch it with a bunch of people but not have the trouble of making a spread or paying for a ticket– pretty much all bars will be showing it on the television.

The Pitch at Union Station and Westport Social at Westport Plaza are great places to watch the game because of all the big screen TVs. There are no specials. Both are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

For those who want to watch it at home, planning small parties for their families from big, elaborate parties for their friends, there are a lot of ways to enhance your enjoyment of the Big Game. We’ve got the broadcast information, some easy soups to prepare for your buffet table, some fun games you can prepare and  you want to find out a prediction of who will win, keep reading.

Grocery stores and bakeries around town are busy preparing items for your party. McArthur’s Bakery made the cake shown left and the one at the top of the page.

Savory Soup for your Super Bowl Party

If you want to add a pot of soup to your Super Bowl spread be sure it’s a hearty soup– worthy of the big game.

You really can’t lose when you add a soup or chili to your buffet table because if served in a crock pot it can sit out most of the game.

We’ve got a few suggestions you can make ahead and put in the crock pot.

Burgershire Soup

1/2 cup raw barley

1 1/2 cup dried celery

1 to 2 cans diced tomatoes

1 1/2 cup chopped oniions

1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce (or less depending on your preference)

2 T Granulated sugar

2 lbs. ground bee

1 1/2 cup diced carrots

3 1/2 cups beef stock

1/2 t black pepper

Cook barley according to package directions. Set aside. In large soup pot, brown the beef and leave it in chunks. Add celery, carrots, tomatoes, onions; simmer until tender– about eight to 10 inutes. Skim off fat and iscard. Add beef stock Worchstershire sauce, sugar, and pepper. Bring to boil. Add cooked barley. Simmer 1/2 hour. Yield: About 8-10 servings.

Easy Vegetable Soup

1 (14 ounce) can chicken broth

1 (11.5 ounce) can tomato-vegetable juice cocktail (V-8)

1 cup water

1 large potato diced

2 carrots, sliced

2 stalks of celery, diced

chopped onion to taste

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 cup chopped fresh green beans

1 can of corn or fresh corn kernals

In large stock pot, combine broth, tomato juice, water, potatoes, carrots, celery, undrained chopped tomatoes, green beans and corn. Season with salt, pepper and whatever spices you like. (Creole seasoning is a suggestion) Bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until all vegetables are soft.

This soup can be made in the crock pot- just dump all the ingredients in the crock pot in the morning and cook all day.

Fun and Games for Your Super Bowl Party

You can have a party or just enjoy the game with your family. Whether or not you are a football fan there are fun things to help you enjoy: good snacks and games.

Squares

Super Bowl parties everywhere feature the Squares game. Some make large charts and tape them to the wall; others use a regular piece of paper and set it out where everyone can see it.

ESPN says “The Super Bowl Squares Pool is one of the most popular games to play” and they  make it easy by providing for the squares game.

Here’s how you play: Everyone writes their name on a square. If you have more squares then gage how many squares each person will have. Then randomly pick numbers to go across the top and down the side from 0-9.

After each quarter,  see if those two numbers match the end digits of each team’s point total. Example: at end of first quarter, if it is Chiefs 7, 49ers 3, then the player with the square that corresponds with 7 for the Chiefs and 3 for the 49ers is the winner for that quarter. If the score is Chiefs 14, 49ers 3 then  it would be 4 and 3. If playing with coins or dollars, the payouts can be made after each quarter and then the end of the game. You could also use poker chips and give out prizes.

Fun Prop Bets

We are not big gamblers here at STL Sports Page and don’t promote it.  But along with the squares game, it is fun during the big game to make predictions– prop bets– and there are a lot of them for this year’s game. You might want to copy this list for starters and add your own ideas.  Make copies and let everyone in your household or at your party fill them out to see who wins.

While prop bets are a big thing with the gambling sites and  there are lines on the bets, you can play it with your family or group just for fun and offer prizes for the winners.

Here a few suggestions:

How long will the National Anthem be– Reba McEntire singing it. Longer than a minute, 29 seconds, less than.

Will the coin toss be heads or tails.

Which team will score first.

What color of Gatorade will the winning coach get dumped with.

Will there be a safety in the game.

Will there be a defensive touchdown.

When wiill they first show Taylor Swift. Before the game, first 10 minutes, first quarter, second quarter.

What Taylor Swift song the announcers will reference first?

The number of songs Usher sings at Halftime.

The number of guest performers with Usher at Halftime.

You can add more like if Usher will wear a hat, what will Taylor Swift wear, will Reba sing the Anthem a capella and more. You can even add which family member will go back for seconds first.

Prediction being made at St. Louis Aquarium ths Friday

We thought one of the sillies was: This Friday Feb. 9 at Union Station at 1 p.m. “Chewy” the sloth will be predicting the winner. Will it be the Kansas City Chiefs who complete with all their hype around Travis Kelce dating Taylor Swift or will it be the San Francisco 49ers? Head to the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station to find out.

Turns out it is Chewy, an adorable Two-Toed Sloth who is going to slooooooowly make her pick for the winner of this Sunday’s game.

Chewy will predict who is going to win Super Bowl LVIII on Friday, February 9 at 1 p.m., two days before the Big Game.

Sloths spend most of their lives hanging upside down in the trees. Chewy will select one of the football helmets dangling from her favorite tree’s branches to make her prediction.

CHEWY’S PLAYER STATS:

• She is a Linne’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus)
• She is 9 years old (born May 05, 2014)
• Chewy is weighing in at 9 kg, or just shy of 20 lbs
• She eats approximately 660g (1.5 lbs) of food a day, primarily veggies, fruit, and protein biscuits
• Under human care, sloths can live into their 30s or 40s.
• Two-toed Sloths are native to South American rain forests

And speaking of “Chewy”– Those who don’t prefer the football might want to check out the “Puppy Bowl”

Puppy Bowl

The annual matchup between Team Ruff and Team Fluff for the “Lombarky” Trophyl Organizers say it will feature more puppies than ever, including the smallest dog to ever enter: 131 adorable dogs from 73 shelters and rescues, representing 36 states and territories. Several players have names fitting the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, like Patrick Mabones, Bark Purdy and Niner. Player pup Guy Furieri promised to take the team to Flavortown if they pull off a win.

How to watch: Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, TBS, TruTV, Discovery Plus and Max.